I installed XP Pro on an older laptop. It ran fine for a while,but now I get the error message Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \windows\system32\config\system. I can not get past this page. I tried the windows 98 boot floppy and the xp pro cd but they don't work. I also tried all the F8 options, including safe mode, but it comes back to that same message and won't go further. The microsoft link on a previous post regarding this didn't help me either I want to reformat the HD and go back to Windows 98. Is there any way I can stop Windows from trying to reboot itself and reformat my HD? I think the computer is too old and slow for XP. I installed XP Pro on an older laptop. It ran fine for a while,but now I get the error message Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corypt: \windows\system32\config\system.

The error you are getting is because the registry file (system) is corrupt. There are fixes for this if you are interested but it seems that you want to format the drive and go back to 98. That should be able to be accomplished with a Win98 boot disk. Boot from the floppy, type format c: and the drive will be formatted. Then put in 98 disk and load the OS.

I tried the Win 98 bootdisk. It still goes back to the error message. Could it possibly be a hard drive issue? I installed XP Pro on an older laptop. It ran fine for a while,but now I get the error message Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corypt: \windows\system32\config\system.

ERRORS: missing or corrupt : \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM, or missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE, or Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from Starting

How do you get the same error message from the Win98 boot disk? The error you are getting is specific to XP and not Win98. Are you sure you are booting from the Win98 Floppy??

I did some research and found that this computer may not have the minimum system requirements for XP. I'm not sure because it isn't mine, and I have found out that when the system doesn't meet the minimum reqirements XP can't properly boot. It gives the system more commands then it can handle. I am off to the computer show to get a new hard drive. Thank you for all your help. I installed XP Pro on an older laptop. It ran fine for a while,but now I get the error message Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corypt: \windows\system32\config\system.