oops; xp fails to boot

Toshiba Laptop XP/ home SP2 shutdown successfull last night, but
this morning, an attemp to boot produced:
Unable to boot, file \windows\system32\config\system notfound
edit: or is corrupt

mounting the OEM CD and booting it, started correctly BUT the warning
"continuing will erase the HD and reinstall the system ..." spooked me to
abort the so called "recovery".

moving to a Knoppix Linux CD, I can verify that the file (noted above) is
actually present and contains ~700kb(if I recall properly) of data.

I actually have the Recovery Console system loaded and a BOOT.INI which
points to it, but as Knoppix will not mount the HD in R/W, I can not swap
BOOT.INI files nor edit the existing instance.

I was all set a few weeks ago to Slipstream a bootable image, but stopped
and ASSUMED that the OEM CD would be sufficient
(to assume: Making an A** out of U and ME :knock: )

A friend has offered to retrieve a retail XP/Pro cd from his office, which should
give me access to the HD via a DOS prompt and/or the ability to inspect the
system; just need to wait 24 hours to begin.

Your insight/suggestions please ??

TIA; Jeff

reseat your hard drive.
If it still fails, your HD may have went tits up.

pst: I updated the message details.

I don't think the HD is SOL, as the Linix mount r/o finds everything.
If I could get the HD mounted r/w with a drive letter I think have have
a copy of config\system squirled in the Slipstream dir.

Also, the laptop has been setting on my desk and has NEVER been
dropped or treated poorly, so it's hard to see the cables being jarred --
but I'll take a look.