I have Windows XP on my HP Notebook last night windows frooze and than crashed. Now I get the following error after the motherboard boot screen


Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt :
\WINDOW\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup
using the original Setup CD-ROM
select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.

Problem is Windows instaltion is partitioned on Hard Drive and I ain't the sole owner of Notebook, No back-up discs where created. I tried to repair windows with my XP recovery disc. When I either press ENTER or R, I get this following message:

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed on your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit setup, press F3.


I want threw to the systems BIOS an it says hard drive is powered on.
Please Help.

Any money its a sata hard drive. If thats the case then you will need a sata driver in order for windows setup to see the drive.

I have an option to press F6 while it's loading.... Am i required to do that?

Yup, thats when you need the sata driver disk.

I am not the soul owner of this machine and she doesn't know if it came with any discs. Can I download the SATA drivers and make it a bootable disc.

Yes,
You'll want to get the system spec's from HP so you'll get the correct SATA driver, (most I've seen are Intel).
After you get the driver you'll have to slip-stream it into an image of your XP recover disk and mount it on to a CD.
When you insert the disk at reboot the driver will then be loaded into memory and you'll have access to your drive.
If you have problems doing this I may be able to help