I was restarting windows and for some reason I got this message: "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt ...\windows\system32\config\system You can attemp to repair this file by starting windows set up uding the original CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair" Well, I selected 'r' at the first screen but nothing happens, it just restarts. And the cd is in the cd-rom drive too. :o) Katerina

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_s.htm http://miscmail.home.mchsi.com/xpfix/xp.htm http://sft-cyber.com/Corr%20Reg.htm http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q314874 Cannot Start Windows XP if the System or Software Hive Is Missing or Damaged (Q303012) http://ntcanuck.com/tq/TQ_Pg17.htm#Item_400 «400» Pci.sys Error When Starting Windows When you start Windows, you could receive an error similar to:

Thank You for the info. But for some reason I can't get windows to boot from cd. Is there a way a I can restart it in MS-DOS so I can fix the files and run setup? Pressing F8 during startup doesn't work. Katerina

Katerina , here are some excerpts from the above links . See if one of these , gets you going . ====================================== What below means is , change the boot order in the Bios , so the 1st device to boot up , out of HD , floppy & cd rom , is your cd rom . Now your cd should boot . http://www.pcmech.com/show/bios/16/ http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q314874 You may need to change the boot order in the basic input/output system (BIOS) in order to boot from the CD and launch the Recovery Console. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 307654 HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;307654 =========================================== http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545 Boot to Recovery Console (or by using a Windows 98 Boot Disk). ==================================== http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_s.htm System32 - Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM Suggestion: To fix the "windows\system32\config\system file is missing or corrupt" where XP wont boot, go to recovery console and type: cd system32\config ren system system.old ren system.alt systemalt.old copy c:\windows\repair\system copy c:\windows\repair\regback\system exit =========================================