Windows XP help!!

IrishMan · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 6:23 pm Post subject: Windows XP help!!

hey guys

my new comp that i just built wont boot up. Its been working great for about a month now, but when i got home today and tried to boot it up, i get this error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONGIFG\SYSTEM

ive read up on stuff to fix it, but i can never get past this or even to a prompt. What do you think i can do beside wipe out my hard drive??

oh and also it wont boot the windows xp disc when its inside of it either.

shovelnose · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 6:52 pm Post subject:

you're screwed.

same thing happend to one of jackthehomeless's computers, and it had to be reformated....even after his dad ( who is a computer manic ) tried everything to fix it.

sorry bud.

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Meat Juice · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 7:44 pm Post subject:

I bet boot discs would be helpful. Just a thought.

`RaphX · Registered User Joined: 24 Mar 2002 Posts: 1556

Yeah, I think the boot disks have to be downloaded and copied onto 6 floppy disks.

ROOFCUTTER · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 10:32 pm Post subject:

Me wonders if it even has a floppy drive...??? it is new...
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Simpleman · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 10:47 pm Post subject:

Last time I seen that message I had a VIRUS.

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SpeCies · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2004 11:31 pm Post subject:

If you are getting this error message first diconnect the printer and network cable (if you have one). After that disconnect all USB devices.Then Restart your computer and go to BIOS set all USB devices to no boot.

You will not get that error messages again if this is the case.
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YourPowersAreWeakOldMan · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 3:40 am Post subject:

That can be repaired, if you have your Windows install disk go through the motions of installing windows, but when you get to the screen that asks Install? or Repair? choose repair and pick the files to repair, if that doesn't work there is another way you can do it, but It escapes me at the moment.

That error message is a common problem with XP if you improperly shut the computer off while it's shutting down or booting up and it freezes. If you unplug it or hit the power toggle in the back on teh power supply or another type of hard shutoff it could corrupt that file because it's writing to it when you suddenly disconnect all power. It can be repaired, and the Windows site probably also has a list of fixes for it you can read.

The last person who I saw had that happen said her computer froze, so she crawled under the desk and pulled the plug from the surge protector

Lo and Behold, same error as your right now. When she tried to reboot.
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Rata-tat-tat · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 7:58 am Post subject:

LOL, yeah listen to Powers hes had a many of problems with his computer he he.

Rebel_Rouser · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 1:57 pm Post subject:

ugh I had basically that same problem with my new computer, and jsut about nothing would work, and well i tried my system recovery and well some computer geek forgot to install recovery, so there was nothing to recover, and I wiped out everything, and could not recover anything, so i had to send my computer back to HP

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Jfet Zener · Server Admin Joined: 19 Feb 2003 Posts: 3353

if he cant get it to boot off cd, he cant reinstall windows. what you need to do is go into bios, and there should be a page that has the boot order. make sure your cdrom is higher on the list than your hard drive and it should boot from cd.

once you get into the setup, there should be an option to repair windows. that usually works, so try that (select all the options when it asks you what to repair). if that doesnt work just do a compelte reinstall. you will have to reinstall all your programs, but your data will still be there in c:\documents and settings (your new doc&set folder will be c:\Documents and Settings.COMPTUERNAME where computer name is what you called your computer during setup). if you have any issues you can IM me on AIM (jfetzener) or ICQ (5061075) or and ill do what i can to help you. im assuming you have access to another computer, since you posted this.

Jfet Zener · Server Admin Joined: 19 Feb 2003 Posts: 3353

i just realized you are in dallas....you can even give me a call (PM me for #) and if we cant get it to work i might even take a trip over to help ya with it. itd be good to meet more villuns anyway...speakin of that, go here... http://www.theville.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16062

BitterBeerFace · Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 3:01 am Post subject:

You can install winXP on top of itself without formatting the HD. Just go through the normal setup, and where it asks you if you want to do one of these five:
Format as NTFS (quick)
Format as FAT32 (quick)
Format as NTFS
Format as FAT32
Leave file system intact <---- do that. You won't have to reinstall much, if anything at all... and it'll replace all system files, not just the ones "repair" thinks are corrupt.

Good luck

IrishMan · Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:27 pm Post subject:

well for some reason, the computer wouldnt read the XP disc on boot up. so i got my 98 disc, installed that, and then reinstalled XP. stupid machine yar...

`RaphX · Registered User Joined: 24 Mar 2002 Posts: 1556

Having two dreadful operating systems is better than having the one, I guess...