Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ed]

I have a compaq presario laptop and this morning it failed to start up.

error message is windows/system32/config/system missing or corrupt.

I tried to find a solution but gave up after a couple hours and reloaded xp pro while leaving current file intact.

now when I start up I have two xp pros to boot with; the original still fails to boot and the new version boots but is blank.

I have a lot of important files and programs on the original and would like it to work again.

my question is: can I replace the corrupt file of the original registry with the new file in the new registry to make the original xp pro boot again?
and, how would I do that?

then I would like to delete the new xp pro.
the original xp pro had system restore turned off so that cannot be used.

TIA

[Underwaterbob]

If you partitioned your drive and installed a new windows on another partition, then you should still be able to access the old partition, and thus your files. Open up Windows Explorer in your working windows and browse around your drives for the old install. (probably C

[Kryten]

If you can access you old files, back them up and do a clean install of whatever OS you want. What programs do you need to keep that you can't download again?

[Gaber]

If you cant see the files in the My Computer view, you may need to assign a drive letter to one of your drives or partitions. Go to Control panel => Administration tools => Drive Manager. Once that's open if you see any of the "Healthy partitions" (I think they're called, I'm on Kr XP at school right now and cant verify) without a drive number on it, right click on it and hit 'assign drive number'. If that was the issue it should now show up in explorer.

[ed]

okay


I was hoping there was a quick and easy solution to this but after many hours of searching it looks like not.

I have formatted and installed an OS about a hundred times in my life
and I find it tedious and boring.

what's worse is all the updating. hmm, I think this time I will look into making a clone dvd....

[languistic]

Ed...you should answer some of the questions these replies have put up. With the info you have provided so far, there is no way anyone could give you accurate assistance.

Can you see your old files? This is a critical question.

Anyhow, you have to wonder why the file(s) were corrupted. Sure, you could re-install and forget it, but you will probably face this again. Something is on the way out...maybe the HDD, power...this should be on your mind.

Try Spinrite to fix what may be bad sectors on the HDD. If a sector goes bad, the info on it will not be readable. Spinrite will re-map the bad sector to another. Windows has the ability to work around bad sectors, but only on a fresh install; it can't do anything once the system is running...recovering data on bad sectors is not Windows' forte.

[Kryten]

I recently used Ubuntu to recover my files after Windows failed to start up. Was a free download, burnt to CD, ran OS off CD, recovered files, fresh install of Win7. Worked like a charm.

We all know installing a fresh OS is boring and a little time consuming.. but what's the alternative? Having two versions of XP on your computer and files that are misplaced/lost/corrupt? In the time you spent figuring out how to replace your old system files (or whatever it is that you're trying to do) you could have done a clean install 3 times by now.

[languistic]

[ed]

well, I fixed it.

after I installed a second xp pro I went to my computer/local disk C and right clicked and selected properties then chose chkdsk to run at startup then rebooted.

chkdsk ran and found the problem and fixed it.

now both windows xps will boot properly.

now how do I uninstall the second xp?

[languistic]

[ed]

done. thanks