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I had repeat corruption of my \winnt\system32\config\system or \winnt\system32\config\software file during reboot of my system. I am using Win 2k SP4. All the components (CPU, RAM, motherboard, hard drive) were bought new 3 weeks ago. I have read many posts on this site and also tried them out (except diabling the write cache feature on the hard drive since this bug was resolved in Win 2k SP3), including reformating the drive and reinstalling from scratch. But I still got the problem. It most likely seems to be a hardware problem and file corruption happened during the shutdown process.
I couldn't see my hard drive in BIOS (this is because the connector on the motherboard that my hard drive is connected to is configured for RAID by default. Since I could install Win 2000 onto my hard drive and boot to the hard drive, I don't think this is the reason for the repeat corruption of my system/registry files).
Anybody can advise me the real problem and the solution? Your help will be greatly appreciated!!
Below is the specification of my system (I assembled them by myself):
MotherBoard:
ASUS P5GD1-VM 915G 800 PCI-E
LGA775 Socket
Chipset: Intel 915G (Intel 82915G Express Chipset Family)Hard Drive:
Maxtor DiamondMax, Ultra 16, 7200RPM, UltraATA/133 300GB, 16MB Cache (PATA133)
( I am only using the 120GB because hard drive larger than 137GB in Win 2k will cause problem)CPU:
Intel P4 506 LGA775 2.66GHZ
533 MHz FSB, 1 MB L2 cacheRAM:
Kingston 512MB PC3200 CL2.5 DDR400 184-pin DIMMVic
It's a long shot but cleaning the edge connectors of your RAM with a pencil eraser and pop the sticks in and out a few times to clean the socket contacts.
DerekW
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Thanks for your response! Following your advice, I cleaned the 2 memory sticks. My motherboard manufacturer support engineer said this was because of either OS(Windows) problem or memory problem. Why did you also think this is a memory problem? Please elaborate.
Since my last fresh installation (format hard drive) of Win 2k SP4 in last week, I haven't had the winnt\system32\config\system file corruption so far:) But I still had the config\software file corruption once. This made me think there may be some problem with the hardware (either RAM or CPU), because the OS (Win 2k) worked on my old PC. I did a fully scan of my hard drive using the bundled tool and found no problem with the hard drive.
If you guys know any diagnostic tools (hopefully free) useful in my case, please advise.
Thanks a lot for your help!
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Re para 1 post #2.
As I said, it was a long shot - nothing technical. You seem to have eliminated most software problems, to the extent of reformatting. This leaves hardware as a prime suspect.
I have known RAM problems cause all manner of misleading symptoms and quite commonly registry errors. The contact area of edge connectors is very small, so scarcely visible tarnish can sometimes be enough to cause RAM to hiccup.
DerekW
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Forgot to mention that there is a freebie called DocMemory tester. You create a floppy from the download, boot with it and the test runs. No error is acceptable.
Don't assume that I'm harping on RAM, it's just one possibility that is worth eliminating.
I've also known video card edge connectors give problems, although the usual symptom is that Windows won't start.
Nothing lost by rechecking the seating of all cables/connectors.
DerekW
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Hi Derek, thanks a lot for your help and valuable ideas!
The problem still exists, it just doesn't happen every 5-6 reboots. The config/system file corruption happened again 2 days gao. I brought the system back to the seller. Their technical support did a full diagnosis and didn't find any problem with the hardware. I really couldn't think of any other possible reasons except hardware issue. I am really puzzled.... There must be some subtle problem(s) not detected. Can you and other experts advise?
Many thanks!!!
Vic
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I'm about out of fresh ideas so maybe someone else will come along.
I wouldn't necessarily assume that the hardware is perfect just because the seller's technical support say so.
It's not that I'm trying to argue with their diagnosis but often computers (as do other devices) have that annoying knack of behaving themselves just perfectly at the time the techie is testing. I've been there many times.
I could of-course be wrong but I still end up with this nagging doubt about RAM. You probably have more than one stick, so if it keeps playing up try it with just one stick at a time in first position.
DerekW
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Happy new year! Just wanted to update the status of this issue. I return the previous newly bought Maxtor 300GB PATA hard drive (I only used 120GB partition and left other part unpartitioned and unformatted) and get a brand new one (the same brand, same model). Ironically, the same problem occurred. Then I hooked up my old Seagate 10GB drive (should be ATA100) and used it as the boot drive. It performed well for 5 days, but since the new year's eve, I have already had 2 corruption of the system32\config\software file. I didn't do anything crazy (I just followed the normal Windows shutdown process). It made me highly consider the memory or the motherboard the source of the problem. I called Asus motherboard suppor a few weeks ago and that senior technical support said that was problem with memory or the operating system (Windows).
I noticed the Windows shutdown process was a bit fast (the computer was powered off right after the "Windows is shutting down" message was displayed on the screen) -- this is just my observation, since process is measured in millisecond, I can't say if it is really shutting down too quickly-- I was trying to exclude the possibility of disk controller problem.
I tested the memory stick using the DocMemory and both two 512MB sticks passed the test. My box uses dual memory stick (because of the motherboard spec and design). I guess I will return the two memory sticks and get two new one to test if they are really the problem).
If you have any idea based on what I just described, please share your thoughts. Thanks a lot!
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