system32 config missing

dom17

can anyone give me some advice please,this afternoon i stupidly deleted a file that was in my documents,not realising what it was, when i started my laptop up later i got the message,
windows could not startbecause the following file is missing or corrupt
windows/system32/config/system
you can attempt to repair the file by starting windows setup using the original setup cd rom
thats where the problem lies,i bought the laptop second hand in australia and it didint come with a cd as windows was already installed ,i have windows xp home edition what do i need to do

robbie_998

which version of windows is it ?? if its XP you can just use the XP disc you have a do a complete in re-install

BUT YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR FILES.

dom17

thanks robbie but i dont have a disk

robbie_998

dom17 wrote: »

thanks robbie but i dont have a disk

sorry. misread your post there,

there are not many options if thats the case.

they are generally installed as part of the original OS.

docmol

You don't have a disk, but do you have a licence? Look underneath the laptop dor a sticker from microsoft (light blue and white with a number on it). Also and more to the point, have you tried to start in safe mode and do a system restore? This wouldn't kill your docs and programs!

Webmonkey

robbie_998 wrote: »

which version of windows is it ?? if its XP you can just use the XP disc you have a do a complete in re-install

BUT YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR FILES.

No you don't. This is a simple corruption of the registry that can be restored from automatic backups that XP does.

All you have to do is either download recovery console iso or have a XP cd and boot into repair console.

Then:

md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default

... and reboot.

I've done it several times and it is very straight forward.

More here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

I think the bootable recovery console ISO is somewhere online in torrents or something. I have the ISO here on my laptop.

Edit: It's here: http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

dom17

thanks webmonkey i cant seem to get into recovery console i downloaded the iso onto a disk and put into laptop but no joy keep getting the same response any ideas

mp22

check that the cd drive is the first boot option in the bios

dom17

done still no joy

Webmonkey

Are you sure you burned as ISO and didn't just simply copy the ISO onto a CD?
Double check the boot sequence as well.

massy086

hi dom17 if you need a lend of a xp disc i have a couple pm me im also in dublin

dom17

i got a re installation copy of xp for a dell pc but my laptop is not a dell so i presume this will not work,or will it,afraid to try it in case of doing more damage

Webmonkey

dom17 wrote: »

i got a re installation copy of xp for a dell pc but my laptop is not a dell so i presume this will not work,or will it,afraid to try it in case of doing more damage

What did you use to burn the ISO? I still have a feeling you just wrote the ISO as a file to the disk instead of burning it properly as an image.

dom17

thanks webmonkey i used a program on my pc called sonic when i downloaded the iso i then hit the burn button the file is about 7mb does that seem too small for what it should be

Webmonkey

dom17 wrote: »

thanks webmonkey i used a program on my pc called sonic when i downloaded the iso i then hit the burn button the file is about 7mb does that seem too small for what it should be

When you open the CD, do you see the i386 folder etc..

dom17

no when i open the iso it opens up the sonic program,so id say it hasnt downloaded the iso will try again now

Webmonkey

Hmm it should handle burning the image then... - but i mean when you've burned the CD and go to my computer to see the contents of it, can you see the i386 folder. Once you get this cd done , the rest is easy.

dom17

ok when i click on the link you put up a window opens saying

you have chosen to open rc.iso which is a ISO Image file

does that sound right

massy086

just use imageburn to burn ur image easy and free http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

dom17

thanks massy got into recovery console screen now says which windows installation would i like to lod onto
1C:\WINDOWS
2D:\MiniNT

not sure what to do

Webmonkey

Windows and finger crossed it won't ask for a password. If it does try blank.

dom17

when i enter 1 for windows nothing happens so i press enter and c:\ windows comes on the screen got me stumped

Webmonkey

Yeah thats it...now do the commands above... Write in one by one and press enter.

dom17

thanks webmonkey and massy got the laptop going but its very different to what it was, cant connect to internet lost alot of files(music,photos)programs i had installed,the icons are there but thats it, when i look in system info it says i have xp pro but im sure its only running on xp guess ill have to bite the bullet and take it to a shop which irks me a bit cause i called into A1 in dunlaoghaire and they want 70 euro just to look at it

Webmonkey

Must be a old registry backup. That can happen.

Webmonkey

Webmonkey wrote: »

Must be a old registry backup. That can happen.

The backup in the repair folder brings the registry back to day one. After you use the repair hives you need to run System Restore to go to a recent backup. If there's no restore points available then you're screwed unfortunately, clean install is required.

Capt'n Midnight

Karsini wrote: »

The backup in the repair folder brings the registry back to day one. After you use the repair hives you need to run System Restore to go to a recent backup. If there's no restore points available then you're screwed unfortunately, clean install is required.

linux live CD's are great for recovering files from c:\system volume information subfolders
if you want to rename and copy back the registry files

Webmonkey

Karsini wrote: »

The backup in the repair folder brings the registry back to day one. After you use the repair hives you need to run System Restore to go to a recent backup. If there's no restore points available then you're screwed unfortunately, clean install is required.

Yeah your right actually

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

linux live CD's are great for recovering files from c:\system volume information subfolders
if you want to rename and copy back the registry files

Might be worth a go of that...

Capt'n Midnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

linux live CD's are great for recovering files from c:\system volume information subfolders
if you want to rename and copy back the registry files

This is the way I normally do it, just easier to suggest System Restore if the user doesn't feel comfortable doing it.

Capt'n Midnight

Karsini wrote: »

This is the way I normally do it, just easier to suggest System Restore if the user doesn't feel comfortable doing it.

LOL

It's just so painful having to type it all out in the windows recovery console

dom17

thanks guys but its getting too technical for an old dog like me
thinking of doing some sort of course on computers in the new year fas do a pc maintenance course might give that a go and see if it gives me some sort of insight into pcs
thanks again