How to repair Windows XP/2000 if you are unable to boot into Windows

Hey people, I just registred here since I saw you guys help everyone and i have kkind of he same problem ,but can't get it to work...
I run windows 2000, and I'm missing a file from the system32 folder, now windows can't load, not even safe mode.
I tried to boot with the windows 2000 cd but it asks for the windows repair disc, which I don't have...Any other way to repair it?
Thanks

Why not just do it over again.You can't have any thing to lose.
Just overwrite what you have now.I think you might get a repair option.
Watch closely during the process.
If you never got it to load.How do you know a file is missing though.
What is it's name ?

It's a file called "systemced" in the folder: Windows\system32\config.
It's trying to boot from the hard disk and it can't because it's missing this file.
For now what I did was reinstall Windows on another partition, but it's kind of annoying...
And I can't find this file in my current Windows, so I can't really repair it...

disk error occured

Ok Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here is my problem.

Started up PC last night and it began to go through multiple reboots, turned it off, disconnected the power for a few minutes to see what would happen. I still reboots.

I pop out the XP disk to repair, it prompts: hit any key to start diagnostics, it then says it is inspecting the system...then black screen.

Did some digging on the Western Digital site and downloaded the harddisk tool, reset boot device back to cd rom and waited. Nothing.

I have tried starting with floppy, cd rom and hard drives.

Comp is a ViciousPC (just learned they may be out of business)

MB - P5ND2-SLI
Proc - 2.8 dual core
2 gig of memory
videocard - 7600 overclocked (factory)
HD - 2 western digital SATA II 160 gb in raid 0 config

No matter what I try, I get the "disk error occured" and hit ctrl+alt+del to reboot.

The harddrives feel like they are spinning. I have pulled and reset every SATA cable, plus reset the bios jumpers. Even pulled the battery out overnight to clear the cmos. I am at a loss at what to do. I would go and buy new harddrives, but would hate to not be the problem.

My next step is to disconnect one of the drives and try the xp disk, I am going to lose the data anyways!

Thanks for any help you guys can provide

the guide here is just what i was looking for but i have a quick question, if you have vista installed on a partition separate from your xp partition, will any problems arise, i ask this because i heard that the new bootloader that comes with vista screws up the installation of older versions of windows. I personally don't think it should have any impact but i really don't want to screw up my computer and end up having to format every thing. Sorry if this question has already been asked but i really don't want to search through all these pages.

LEDHED said:

the guide here is just what i was looking for but i have a quick question, if you have vista installed on a partition separate from your xp partition, will any problems arise, i ask this because i heard that the new bootloader that comes with vista screws up the installation of older versions of windows. I personally don't think it should have any impact but i really don't want to screw up my computer and end up having to format every thing. Sorry if this question has already been asked but i really don't want to search through all these pages.

Click to expand...

During the repair process, a new MBR and boot loader will be added by the XP install. I don't know if the XP boot loader can load Vista or not, since I've never tried it. This means you may have to repair your Vista MBR / boot loader using the Vista install disc.

Rick said:

CDROM NOT BOOTABLE: If the XP/2000 CD does not boot...

• Many computers out there are not configured to boot from the CDROM. If you cannot boot from the CDROM, this is probably due to the boot order of your computer being incorrect for CDROM booting.
  
  You have two options:
  
  1.) You can change this in the BIOS during POST, which is usually the very first screen displayed by your computer when you turn it on.
  
  2.) Many newer computers have a selectable boot menu by tapping F8, F10 OR F12 right during/after the first POST screen. This will allow you to temporarily boot from a CDROM.
  
  
  To enter your BIOS, most users here will press the DEL key.
  
  Most users with Dell, Gateway, Sony & HP systems will press F2.
  
  Many Toshiba laptops are F2 or require you hold the ESC key when you turn the system on. Your notebook will report an error and prompt to press F1 to enter setup. Do exactly that.
  
  Compaq users will usually have to press F10.
  
  IBM typically uses F1 or F2.
  
  Other brands may have different keys to press to enter setup, but F1, F2, Del, Tab and CTRL+S or CTRL + ALT + S are the most common ones I'm familiar with. Often, the BIOS will display what button to press to "enter setup" during POST.

When you enter the BIOS setup, you need to change the boot order. The CDROM should be setup before the Hard Drive. Each BIOS is different, but here is an example:

Click to expand...

Ok, I did all of that, but my computer still fails to boot from the CD. It goes to the POST screen, then says "Boot from CD:_" and then to "Press any key to boot from CD...."

It then goes to a pure black screen for about 30 seconds. Next, multiple, white progress bars pop up. After about 5 or so minutes of that it says, "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\Windows\System32\Config\System

You can attempt to repair this by putting in the CD etc."

Now that is fine and dandy and all, but I can't get it to boot from the CD! Any other suggestions that you guys could give?

(Just as a side note, what causes this to happen? I was just talking on aol instant messenger, when my computer started going very very slow and unresponsive. So I tried to restart my computer and it just went completely unresponsive. I ended up just clicking the restart button, and then got into this whole mess. HILF MIR BITTE!!!)

I had to repair install, xp with my recovery disc just as well described here after being infected by a mal. exe. I knew that I would lose all of my OS updates, but now windows update doesn't want to work at all anymore, Im stuck with the standard (unupdated) version. Although I get notified that there are updates available, it is only "Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1", after thinking it is installed, It always gives the message that the update can't be installed. Ive also tried to manually download and install IE7 but that also doesn't want to work (same with MP11).
I also end up at the same spot when I use windows update from the browser.
Could someone help me out, with this one? Thx
Ask me if you need more details.

ummm... not sure if this has been mentioned befor(19 pages is little much....)but my windows scred up becasue i held the on button on my Pc while it was installing an update(i know alil noobish) any ways when i try booting from disk it says "Seup is now inspecting your systems configuration" for justa hundredth of a second then it goes blasck and hags so i cant do anything witha a keyboard ands its entirely balnc. Dammit now i cant even reformat

P.S plz reply bak to me fas t i cant do annnything
___
d--b

Just as SornyPanafonic, I also recently upgraded from an ASRock mobo, 2.4 Celeron with 1G DDR, to a GeForce 6100/64 bit Dual Core Athlon with 2G DDR2. I conducted a repair vice a new O/S install and only get as far as the Win XP Home Edition logo screen before I get a blue screen with the following stop code:

***STOP: 0x0000007E (0x0000005, 0xBA248750, 0xBA4C3450, 0xBA4C3150).

Everything was working fine prior to the upgrade. Please, if there is anyone that can assist me in getting my system back up and running, I would greatly appreciate it.

Rick (or anyone else for that matter):

I'll start from the beginning. The other day, the power went out several times in the span of maybe 45 minutes. After the first power loss, I turned my computer back on, thinking nothing of it...when the power went out a second time. I thought that was strange, but I turned it back on shortly after the second outage, and it had barely finished loading my desktop when the power went out again. I gave up trying to turn the computer on for a while after that, and just let it be. However, when I went back to turn it on, I got the familiar symptoms: "Windows couldn't be activated," a list of choices like, "Start Windows in Safe Mode," "Start Windows Normally," etc. and none of them worked. So I found this thread, and followed Rick's instructions until I came to a screen that showed this:

The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartioned space on this computer

To set up Windows XP on the selected item press ENTER

To create a partition in the unpartioned space press C

To delete the selected partition press D

and when I selected C: Partition2 (Unknown) 76254MB
it told me that "The partition is either too full, damaged, not formatted, or formatted with an incompatible file system. To continue installing Windows, Setup must format this partition". So what do I do next? There is an option to "Format the partition using the NTFS file system"...not sure what that means. I'm just trying to figure out how to get my files back without having to take my computer in and pay a few hundred bucks.

Any help is appreciated (and sorry for the length, but I figured the more details, the easier it would be to help).

"Format the partition using the NTFS file system"

Click to expand...

Do NOT use this if you wish to see your files again. You can at this point, if your files are that important try and use the hdd on another pc to transfer the contents off it just in case, otherwise, try the below:

Load up the bood cd again, instead of going through the installer, hit "R" to get to Recovery Console. Perform these commands in bold (just type in that command when it comes up with C:\>)

CHKDSK /f - this will check the HDD of any errors present and attempt to fix it
sfc /scannow - this will check your windows system files to see if they are ok. You will need the Windows XP cd to perform this step (which you've booted from.. so don't worry).

sfc /scannow might be able to fix up your problem without the need of the repair, so try to boot back into windows again to see if it worked or not. If it still doesn't, then go ahead and try the repair.

N3051M said:

CHKDSK /f - this will check the HDD of any errors present and attempt to fix it
sfc /scannow - this will check your windows system files to see if they are ok. You will need the Windows XP cd to perform this step (which you've booted from.. so don't worry).

sfc /scannow might be able to fix up your problem without the need of the repair, so try to boot back into windows again to see if it worked or not. If it still doesn't, then go ahead and try the repair.

Click to expand...

I did the CHKDSK command, and it found one or more errors on the volume. sfc /scannow was not a recognized command (did I do it wrong?) And should I run Automated System Recovery when the Windows Setup is starting? (it says press F2 to run ASR when I press any key to boot from the disc)

Nevermind, the CHKDSK got me back into my computer. Thanks a million, you saved me big time!!

Rick said:

HOW TO PERFORM AN 'IN PLACE UPGRADE' / SYSTEM REPAIR

Is your system unable to boot into Windows XP/2000 or even Safe Mode? Whether you get a blue screen or XP/2000 just hangs, then this information is for you. This will allow you to repair your Windows XP/2000 installation (hopefully) without having to losing your data or settings.

Indications:

• May allow Windows to load properly if there are critical driver, software or registry problems which have rendered the system unbootable. (Blue screens, hanging, errors etc..)
• May repair/reinstall missing Windows components or solve otherwise quirky behavior
• May allow drive to be installed on another system or motherboard with different chipset
• May allow you to install new motherboards or make other large hardware changes that XP may not readily accept with PnP.

Note: The system repair function will remove any updates you have previously installed that are not included on the CD. Drivers will also be reverted to their original XP versions, as well as some settings (Including by not limited to network & performance settings). It may be necessary to reactivate your Windows XP as well.

Step 1: Determine the problem

• 
  First, figure out what CAUSED the problem. Often times, when Windows is rendered unbootable, there is a good reason. This can often be due to hardware failure (bad hard disk, memory or CPU for example). In these cases, the system repair function will not work. System repair will only repair your software.
  
  I strongly recommend you run a disk utility on your hard drive before performing a system repair. You can find more information about disk utilities here:
  https://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7602
  
  Memory can also cause these problems. A good memory test can be found here: http://www.memtest.org

Step 2: Begin the repair process

• You must boot from your XP or 2000 CD. Please make sure it is the same version of Windows that is currently installed on your computer (ex. XP Home cannot repair XP Professional). Place the CD in your CDROM and start your computer. Newer versions will work as well (ie. Windows XP Pro SP2 CD will work on an older WinXP Pro SP1 installation)
  
  Before the Windows logo appears, you will be asked to press any key to boot from CD, so do just that.
  
  If you are unable to boot from the XP/2000 CD, then please check the last step in this short guide.

Step 3: System repair steps

• A blue screen will appear and will begin loading XP setup from the CD.
  
  RAID/SCSI/Unsupported UDMA users:
  You will be prompted to "press F6 to install any third party SCSI or RAID drivers". Most users will not have to press F6, but if you are running RAID, SCSI or unsupported ATA controllers, then you need your controller drivers on a floppy disk. If you are unsure whether you have RAID/SCSI, then simply let the CD load without pressing F6.
  
  Once completed, you will be confronted with "Windows Setup". You will be asked to setup up Windows, or repair Windows with the recovery console. Choose the FIRST option, NOT recovery console.

Choose F8 to continue.

• Next, Windows Setup will find existing Windows XP/2000 installations. You will be asked to repair an existing XP installation or install a fresh copy of Windows XP/2000.
  
  If no installations are found, then you will not be given the option to repair. This may happen if the data or partition on your drive is too corrupted.

• That should be it. Windows XP/2000 will appear to be installing itself for the first time, but it will retain all of your data and settings. Just follow the prompts, have your CD-KEY handy and hope for the best!

Click to expand...

Hi I googled this forum as I am having problems with my computer not starting up after we had a power surge. Is the information in this thread what I should follow? as I am really scared of stuffing it up and deleting or losing all my photos and stuff on the computer. The computer doesn't get any further than the first screen and just sounds like its working it's a... off trying to boot up....but nothing!

Please someone help (not too technically savvy so please no fancy tech talk)

tamsicle

First repair

It's very possible you might need a new Power Supply.
Would you like an outline of what to do if you have a Power Surge.
1.Use a Quality Power Surge Power Bar if you hadn't been.
Mine has $ 10.000 insurance.
Home insurance might cover this if the computer is destroyed.
More if you ask.

Trying to re-install windows xp

Hello,

I was trying to re-install windows xp just following the instructions here. The problem is after windows installer uploads file to the computer, the computer crashes (blue screen) it says isapnp.sys. Thanks for any help.

Hey newcomer Will here,
I have a /windows/system32/config/system problem and i have read previous articles about going into setup but there is not welcome setup screen it goes from first screen to the second where it says to boot from cd (the origional xp cd) press any key and i do but there is no response, and then i go to the window on the config problem....help....and thanks

Will

windows won't boot and when i follow the directions to repair windows through the setup it says that it is an unrecognisable partition and asks to format the partition in order to install xp i ran chkdsk and it got to 25% before it stopped and said their were unrecoverable errors on the disk.

can anyone help me?

What i just done

I was going to try repair,but decided to Format and reinstall XP.
If you can save all your personal files and things like Favorites to another partition or disk,judgeing by chdsk results that seems best.
I'm not sorry i did as my computer performs much better.
But i also updated Mbd and cpu in a new case.
If you decide to and want to save OExpress email it's very easy.

Computer questions/problems are not supposed to be posted in this forum.

If you have any questions pertaining to any of the topics in this forum, open a new thread in the appropriate forum and ask. I.E for this topic, questions should probably be posted in our Windows OS forum.

Thread closed.

Regards Howard

Topic reopened, in case people insist on using XP or 2000. You know who you are

Thank you, Julio.

I'm still (happily) using XP.