\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM is missing or corrupt

[14luvmusic]

I'm working with an XP computer. As I started it up it came up with the message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

It have to have a 32 in it didn't it.

When I start it up I don't have an option to start it in Safe Mode by the way. But I have Recovery Console if that's any use?

Any help will be much appreciated, thanks!

[Elise]

Hello, lets try to use the System Restore registry hives to restore your registry.

Try this please. You will need a USB drive.

Download GETxPUD.exe to the desktop of your clean computer

• Run GETxPUD.exe
  
• A new folder will appear on the desktop.
  
• Open the GETxPUD folder and click on the get&burn.bat
  
• The program will download xpud_0.9.2.iso, and upon finished will open BurnCDCC ready to burn the image.
  
• Click on Start and follow the prompts to burn the image to a CD.
  
• Next download http://noahdfear.net/downloads/rst.sh to your USB drive
  
• Remove the USB & CD and insert it in the sick computer
  
• Boot the Sick computer with the CD you just burned
  
• The computer must be set to boot from the CD
  
• Gently tap F12 and choose to boot from the CD
  
• Follow the prompts
  
• A Welcome to xPUD screen will appear
  
• Press File
  
• Expand mnt
  
• sda1,2...usually corresponds to your HDD
  
• sdb1 is likely your USB
  
• Click on the folder that represents your USB drive (sdb1 ?)
  
• Confirm that you see driver.sh that you downloaded there
  
• Press Tool at the top
  
• Choose Open Terminal
  
• Type bash rst.sh
  
• Press Enter
  
• After it has finished a report will be located on your USB drive named report.txt
  
• Remove the USB drive and insert it back in your working computer and navigate to report.txt
  Please note - all text entries are case sensitive
  

Copy and paste the report.txt for my review

[14luvmusic]

One question. My clean computer is a Mac, will it still run correctly on that?

[Elise]

No, in that case you will have to download the .iso file and burn it yourself to a CD with a Mac CD burning application.

You can download the .iso from here: http://noahdfear.net/downloads/bootable/xPUD/xpud-0.9.2.iso

Note, you have to burn the image to disk, which is not the same as copying the file to a CD.

[14luvmusic]

So does the Mac already have a CD burning application or will I have to download it?

[Elise]

Hi, I think this article explains it (the .iso file you download is a disk image).

[14luvmusic]

Is the report called enum.log?

[Elise]

Last time I ran this not, but it may have changed. Be sure you let the script finish to run. If not sure, let me know what is in enum.log

[14luvmusic]

Is this it?:

36.3M Mar 24 17:55 /mnt/sda1/WINNT/system32/config/software

10.8M Mar 24 17:55 /mnt/sda1/WINNT/system32/config/system

36.2M Mar 5 16:40 /sda1/~/RP54/~SOFTWARE

36.2M Mar 5 16:43 /sda1/~/RP55/~SOFTWARE

36.2M Mar 5 16:46 /sda1/~/RP56/~SOFTWARE

36.2M Mar 6 11:04 /sda1/~/RP57/~SOFTWARE

10.2M Mar 5 16:40 /sda1/~/RP54/~SYSTEM

10.2M Mar 5 16:43 /sda1/~/RP55/~SYSTEM

10.2M Mar 5 16:46 /sda1/~/RP56/~SYSTEM

10.6M Mar 6 11:04 /sda1/~/RP57/~SYSTEM

[Elise]

Yes, that is it!

et's see if there is an available registry backup we can use to help get your computer booting properly

• Insert the USB drive and CD in the Sick computer and boot the computer from the CD again
  
• Press File
  
• Expand mnt
  
• Expand your USB (sdb1)
  
• Press Tool at the top
  
• Choose Open Terminal
  
• Type bash rst.sh -r
  
• Type 57
  
• Press Enter
  
• After it has finished a report will be located at sdb1 named restore.log
  
• Please try to boot into normal Windows now and indicate if you were successful
  

Please note - all text entries are case sensitive

Copy and paste the restore.log from your USB drive for my review

[14luvmusic]

I've tried booting the computer again from the cd but I don't get the xPUD welcome screen any more.

[14luvmusic]

Hold on no worries I've got it now!

[14luvmusic]

I can't find restore.log in sdb1

[Elise]

Did you power off xPUD with the USB plugged in? If not, the file might disappear.

Anyway, if the script run normally, try to reboot and see if you still get the error message.

[14luvmusic]

SOFTWARE hive restored from RP57

SYSTEM hive restored from RP57

SECURITY hive restored from RP57

SAM hive restored from RP57

[14luvmusic]

IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS!!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

[14luvmusic]

So what would've cause this to happen then? Would it be the fact that there's too much memory being used up on the hard drive?

[Elise]

Unfortunately this is very hard to say. Sometimes it "just happens" without a clear cause, other times it is after an infection, and it can even be caused by hard disk failure.

Do you know what triggered this problem?

Please let me know if everything is running fine or if you have any other problem.

[14luvmusic]

I've got to be honest I wouldn't have a clue why it happened but I have had a lot of pop ups telling me that there's not much space on the hard drive and I probably have thousands of files saved on it. But it just seemed to happen, no warnings, nothing. Since downloading a new antvirus programme security has been tighter as well, so who knows. But it was just my luck that it happened when I needed desperatly, lol!

[Elise]

It is possible this happened because you ran out of disk space. Windows needs at least 25% to run optimally. I recommend you use personal data like music or pictures to an external storage device.

To be sure, I also recommend you run a diskcheck. To do so, click Start > Run, type chkdsk /r and press enter. Type Y and press enter to schedule a scan for next reboot.

Restart your computer and let the disk check run unhindered. Note - this may take some time. This will check your disk for errors and repair them if present.

[14luvmusic]

It appears to be running stable now, yay!

Thank you for all your help it was nice working with you, you've been a great help.

[Elise]

You are most welcome!

I will request this topic to be closed.

[LDTate]

Since this issue is resolved I will close the thread to prevent others from posting here. If you need assistance please start your own topic and someone will be happy to assist you.