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

January 13, 2008

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

I've got the following message when the system boots:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or

corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "

which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but I

get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's missing

lots of Windows updates.

The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the

Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue

installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the

system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?

This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on

the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be

nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen

regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other

options?

January 13, 2008

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and

choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found

in

%systemroot%\system32\config\system

to system.old

then rename

%systemroot%\system32\config\system.alt

to

%systemroot%\system32\config\system

You can also try using the most recent backup found in

%systemroot%\repair\regback

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the

original-as-installed system hive from

%systemroot%\repair\system

to

%systemroot%\system32\config\system

You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the

original OS install.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000

Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup

floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,

use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At

the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000

installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery

Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have

the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the

computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery

Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted

or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts

in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot

access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,

and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,

you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard

disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive

root, %systemroot% or %windir%

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.

Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft MVP [Windows]

http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Bill Stock" wrote:

> I've got the following message when the system boots:

>

> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or

> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "

>

> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but

> I get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's

> missing lots of Windows updates.

>

> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the

> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue

> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the

> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?

>

> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on

> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be

> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen

> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other

> options?

>

January 13, 2008

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

"Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message

news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...

> I've got the following message when the system boots:

>

> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or

> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "

>

> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but

> I get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's

> missing lots of Windows updates.

>

> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the

> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue

> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the

> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?

>

> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on

> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be

> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen

> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other

> options?

>

I would take a closer look at the hidden file c:\boot.ini.

January 13, 2008

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

"Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message

news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...

> I've got the following message when the system boots:

>

> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or

> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "

>

> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but

I

> get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's missing

> lots of Windows updates.

>

> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the

> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue

> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the

> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?

>

> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on

> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be

> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen

> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other

> options?

>

I've found that in some cases like that the repair console does not detect

a windows installation.

What I've done is to pop the drive into another system

and copy over a backup of "SYSTEM"

January 14, 2008

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message

news:umCJF%23jVIHA.5396@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>

> "Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message

> news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...

>> I've got the following message when the system boots:

>>

>> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or

>> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "

>>

>> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but

> I

>> get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's missing

>> lots of Windows updates.

>>

>> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the

>> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue

>> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all

>> the

>> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?

>>

>> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on

>> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still

>> be

>> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen

>> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other

>> options?

>>

>

> I've found that in some cases like that the repair console does not detect

> a windows installation.

>

> What I've done is to pop the drive into another system

> and copy over a backup of "SYSTEM"

Thanks,

I can copy files around by booting into the other partition. I'll try

copying the SYSTEM file from the Repair directory, but it's quite out of

date. I guess there's no way around a fresh install. I'll have to invest

some time setting up the backups for that PC, I use Acronis for backing up

the other PCs. It's saved my butt a couple of times.

January 14, 2008

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

"Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message

news:5uvqi7F1kdifhU1@mid.individual.net...

>

> "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message

> news:umCJF%23jVIHA.5396@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> >

> > "Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message

> > news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...

> >> I've got the following message when the system boots:

> >>

> >> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or

> >> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "

> >>

> >> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt,

but

> > I

> >> get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's

missing

> >> lots of Windows updates.

> >>

> >> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from

the

> >> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue

> >> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all

> >> the

> >> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?

> >>

> >> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs

on

> >> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still

> >> be

> >> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've

seen

> >> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other

> >> options?

> >>

> >

> > I've found that in some cases like that the repair console does not

detect

> > a windows installation.

> >

> > What I've done is to pop the drive into another system

> > and copy over a backup of "SYSTEM"

>

> Thanks,

>

> I can copy files around by booting into the other partition. I'll try

> copying the SYSTEM file from the Repair directory, but it's quite out of

> date. I guess there's no way around a fresh install. I'll have to invest

> some time setting up the backups for that PC, I use Acronis for backing up

> the other PCs. It's saved my butt a couple of times.

>

Well when it happened to me, the backup "SYSTEM" file I had was not terribly

recent...

but it got the machine up and running. I now have the drive cloned several

times...just in case it happens again

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