Computer Breakdown

Eircom_Sucks

hey im using a dell desktop in work with Windows XP Media Centre Edition

turned it on today to get this message

\windows\system32\config\system

file is damaged or cannot be found

you can try fix issue but using cd and pressing " R " at first screen to repair or reload xp


Now my issue is , i dont have the orginal cd as its 8 years old , the pc has been flying before , quick etc

my accounts data and payroll are on this machine , how do i fix this , as i didnt back up either , my own fault i know but its been so good i hadnt bothered backing up in months

any ideas ???

it just opens to that message then f2 or f12 , then reverts to opening windows screen then that message again

yoyo

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

hey im using a dell desktop in work with Windows XP Media Centre Edition

turned it on today to get this message

\windows\system32\config\system

file is damaged or cannot be found

you can try fix issue but using cd and pressing " R " at first screen to repair or reload xp


Now my issue is , i dont have the orginal cd as its 8 years old , the pc has been flying before , quick etc

my accounts data and payroll are on this machine , how do i fix this , as i didnt back up either , my own fault i know but its been so good i hadnt bothered backing up in months

any ideas ???

it just opens to that message then f2 or f12 , then reverts to opening windows screen then that message again

It could be hard disk failure, If you can use another computer to download and burn Ubuntu and you can run it as a live disk on the problem machine (Boot off the CD and run live version w/out install), this way you may be able to access your files and copy them onto a external hard drive or USB drive if you have one, The other option is a corrupted registry, try borrow a CD from someone although finding a Win XP MCE cd may be difficult, Microsoft provide Vista and 7 images online its a pity they wont do so for XP...

Nick

hearny

The Registry is most likely corrupt as the file mentioned is part of the windows registry.

If you can download a live CD like Knoppix you should be able to boot from the cd and recover your important files (copy them onto external hard drive).

Your best bet is to get a cd that will allow you to access Recovery Console, if you can borrow another XP disk it doesn't necessarily have to be MCE.

Here is a page with some instructions, See if you can do anything with them. I will see if I can create a bootable one for you but I may not get time tomorrow.

ricman

Try reboot hold down f8,safe mode,use arrows,up,down, enter key, select
directory services restore mode ,it wont do it any harm.It may fix it,IT,LL try and use older copy of the registery to load the os, you can copy data from the drive using a linux live cd eg mint distro ,from a cdr disk,copy to a usb drive.Mint just boots from the cd, set bios ,boot mode,cd=0= 1st boot device = cd/dvd drive.

wolfric

I think booting into a linux live cd and recovering data is an extreme measure. If he doens't have the disk and runs xp, there is no backup partition to reinstall windows. He'd have no way to reinstall windows.

Best bet is to beg borrow or download yourself a copy of that cd. I could be wrong but i think any normal xp cd will do the trick.

Eircom_Sucks

no

xp cd's wont work

hearny

Can you get as far as the recovery console with the xp cd's

tadcan

wolfric wrote: »

I think booting into a linux live cd and recovering data is an extreme measure. If he doens't have the disk and runs xp, there is no backup partition to reinstall windows. He'd have no way to reinstall windows.

Using linux/ubuntu/knoppix is a good first action. Once you know your data is safe then you can work towards fixing the machine without fear of losing it.

If you can boot up with the XP cd you can you the repair option, which will fix most of the issues, and put your data aside. There is a risk of data loss and should not be done without a backup first.

bhickey

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

hey im using a dell desktop in work with Windows XP Media Centre Edition

I have a Windows XP Media Centre Edition CD here. If you want to borrow it, PM me your details.

Eircom_Sucks

ok so i went into the bios and re arranged the boot sequence

1. from usb , cd rom
2. sata drive

etc

then exited , now the windows welcome screen comes up and says press f1 to continue or f2 to enter boot menu so i press f1 and it says boot from cd press any key so i did and it entered into recovery mode ( so least i know the boot from cd is working ) it gave me 3 options , 1 to install xp professional , 2 to repair press " r " or 3 to exit without installation

so i pressed the " r " to fix ( note that im using xp media centre edition ) but i used an xp professional installation cd to see if it would clean up the registry etc , anyway a blue screen came up to say

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer , make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer etc

setup cannot continue . to quit setup press f3

somebody please help me

softdancomputer

If you go to BIOS, can you see the harddisk?

bette

wolfric wrote: »

I think booting into a linux live cd and recovering data is an extreme measure. If he doens't have the disk and runs xp, there is no backup partition to reinstall windows. He'd have no way to reinstall windows.

Best bet is to beg borrow or download yourself a copy of that cd. I could be wrong but i think any normal xp cd will do the trick.

Wrong! You boot up with the UBUNTU disk and have access to the computer without installing! He can then copy all his stuff to an external disk or even flash drives etc. or burn DVDs / CDs.

When the deed is done he simply closes down the machine.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing!

hearny

Sounds like you need to install sata drivers to use that cd.

You either need to find the drivers for the hard drive, or get a newer installation cd.

Does the computer have a floppy drive.

What are the make and model of the computer and I will try to find your drivers.

tadcan

Does the xp pro cd have sp3

If you have access to another computer, you can use nlite to make a cd with the needed drivers.

As said above if you have a floppy drive you can put sata drivers and press f6 to include those drivers.

But I hope you back first

yoyo

Eircom_Sucks wrote: »

ok so i went into the bios and re arranged the boot sequence

1. from usb , cd rom
2. sata drive

etc

then exited , now the windows welcome screen comes up and says press f1 to continue or f2 to enter boot menu so i press f1 and it says boot from cd press any key so i did and it entered into recovery mode ( so least i know the boot from cd is working ) it gave me 3 options , 1 to install xp professional , 2 to repair press " r " or 3 to exit without installation

so i pressed the " r " to fix ( note that im using xp media centre edition ) but i used an xp professional installation cd to see if it would clean up the registry etc , anyway a blue screen came up to say

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer , make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer etc

setup cannot continue . to quit setup press f3

somebody please help me

You will need to slip stream the SATA drivers for your chipset onto the CD and re burn it, NLite is one way to do this, these drivers can be found on Dells driver store section of website, also, I may be totally wrong but I'm not sure a repair install using a pro disc will work on MCE editon, maybe it will as I'm sure theres not too much difference between both at core, but I would think installing pro as a repair install will unlicense your MCE license and leave you with a unactivated copy of XP Professional

Nick