I get this every time I try and boot my system up? and it locks up on a blue screen with the following error..... HELP!!!!!!!!!..lol Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate I cant do nothing but reboot the system and I goes right back to the blue screen ?????

**************************************************************************************** Dear friend, Unfortunately the problem you are facing is due to corrupt registry files.This problem can be solved in two ways: 1) Format and Reinstall. 2)the long way to solve this problem is given below: Part One In part one, you boot to the Recovery Console, create a temporary folder, back up the existing registry files to a new location, delete the registry files at their existing location, and then copy the registry files from the repair folder to the System32\Config folder. When you are finished with this procedure, a registry is created that you can use to boot back into Windows XP. This registry was created and saved during the initial setup of Windows XP, so any changes and settings that took place after Setup completes are lost. To complete part one, follow these steps: Boot to the Recovery Console. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line: md tmp copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak delete c:\windows\system32\config\system delete c:\windows\system32\config\software delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam delete c:\windows\system32\config\security delete c:\windows\system32\config\default copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart. NOTE: This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location. If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example). To create this file, run the following command when you boot into Recovery Console: batch regcopy1.txt The Batch command in Recovery Console allows for all the commands in a text file to be sequentially processed. When you use the batch command, you do not have to manually type as many commands. Part Two To complete the procedure described in this section, you must be logged on as an administrator, or an administrative user (a user who has an account in the Administrators group). If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, you can log on as an administrative user. If you log on as an administrator, you must first start Windows XP Home Edition in Safe mode. To start the Windows XP Home Edition computer in Safe mode, follow these steps. NOTE: Print these instructions before you continue. You cannot view these instructions after you restart the computer in Safe Mode. If you use the NTFS file system, also print the instructions from Knowledge Base article Q309531, which is referenced in Step 7. Click Start, click Shut Down (or click Turn Off Computer), click Restart, and then click OK (or click Restart). Press the F8 key. On a computer that is configured to start to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the Startup menu. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Safe mode option, and then press ENTER. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, use the arrow keys to select the installation that you want to access, and then press ENTER. In part two, you copy the registry files from their backed up location by using System Restore. This folder is not available in Recovery Console and is normally not visible during normal usage. Before you start this procedure, you must change several settings to make the folder visible: Start Windows Explorer. On the Tools menu, click Folder options. Click the View tab. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box. Click Yes when the dialog box is displayed that confirms that you want to display these files. Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to get a list of the folders. If is important to click the correct drive. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder appears dimmed folder because it is set as a super-hidden folder. NOTE: This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders such as "_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}". NOTE: You may receive the following error message: C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied. If you get this message, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to gain access to this folder and continue with the procedure: 309531 How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may have to click Details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There may be one or more folders starting with "RPx under this folder. These are restore points. Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder folder; the following path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot folder: C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the C:\Windows\Tmp folder: _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM These files are the backed up registry files from System Restore. Because you used the registry file created by Setup, this registry does not know that these restore points exist and are available. A new folder is created with a new GUID under System Volume Information and a restore point is created that includes a copy of the registry files that were copied during part one. This is why it is important not to use the most current folder, especially if the time stamp on the folder is the same as the current time. The current system configuration is not aware of the previous restore points. You need a previous copy of the registry from a previous restore point to make the previous restore points available again. The registry files that were copied to the Tmp folder in the C:\Windows folder are moved to ensure the files are available under Recovery Console. You need to use these files to replace the registry files currently in the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. Recovery Console has limited folder access and cannot copy files from the System Volume folder by default. NOTE: The procedure described in this section assumes that you are running your computer with the FAT32 file system. Part Three In part three, you delete the existing registry files, and then copy the System Restore Registry files to the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder: Boot to Recovery Console. At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line: del c:\windows\system32\config\sam del c:\windows\system32\config\security del c:\windows\system32\config\software del c:\windows\system32\config\default del c:\windows\system32\config\system copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_machine_security c:\windows\system32\config\security copy c:\windows\tmp\_registry_user_.default c:\windows\system32\config\default NOTE: Some of the preceding command lines may be wrapped for readability. NOTE: This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder if it is a different location. If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for example). Part Four Click Start, and then click All Programs. Click Accessories, and then click System Tools. Click System Restore, and then click Restore to a previous Restore Point.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B310747 Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 310747 Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker (Sfc.exe) The information in this article applies to: Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Enterprise Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Microsoft Windows XP Professional Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition This article was previously published under Q310747 For a Microsoft Windows 2000 version of this article, see 222471 . SUMMARY This article describes System File Checker (Sfc.exe), which is a command-line utility used with the Windows File Protection (WFP) feature. MORE INFORMATION System File Checker gives an administrator the ability to scan all protected files to verify their versions. If System File Checker discovers that a protected file has been overwritten, it retrieves the correct version of the file from the cache folder (%Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache) or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file. System File Checker also checks and repopulates the cache folder. You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group to run System File Checker. If the cache folder becomes damaged or unusable, you can use the sfc /scannow, the sfc /scanonce, or the sfc /scanboot commands to repair its contents. System File Checker Tool Syntax Sfc [/Scannow] [/Scanonce] [/Scanboot] [/Revert] [/Purgecache] [/Cachesize=x] /Scannow: Scans all protected system files immediately and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions. This command may require access to the Windows installation source files. /Scanonce: Scans all protected system files one time when you restart your computer. This command may require access to the Windows installation source files when you restart the computer. The SfcScan DWORD value is set to 2 in the following registry key when you run this command: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon /Scanboot: Scans all protected system files every time you start your computer. This command may require access to the Windows installation source files every time you start your computer. The SfcScan DWORD value is set to 1 in the following registry key when you run this command: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon /Revert: Returns scan to the default setting (do not scan protected files when you start the computer).The default cache size is not reset when you run this command. This command is equivalent to the /Enable switch in Windows 2000. /Purgecache: Purges the file cache and scans all protected system files immediately. This command may require access to the Windows installation source files. /Cachesize=x: Sets the file cache size to x megabytes (MB). The default size of the cache is 50 MB. This command requires you to restart the computer, and then run the /purgecache command to adjust the size of the on-disk cache. This command sets the SfcQuota DWORD value to x in the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon For additional information about the Windows File Protection feature, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 222193 Description of the Windows 2000 Windows File Protection Feature Last Reviewed: 6/4/2003 Keywords: kbinfo KB310747 http://computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/71865.html Name: LU89 Date: July 26, 2003 at 18:52:41 Pacific Subject: System icons Reply: Have you checked your files to find out if they are corrupted. Use the System File Checker tool to scan your computer: Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type sfc /scannow and then click OK. you may be prompted to use the Windows XP installation disk. Note the space between the c and /

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 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545

I understand what yous are saying but the problem is that I cant get to a promt to bring up the files. it loads then stops after the blue screen.. it goes black and thats it ... nothing no HHD activety at all Confused as hell!!!!!!lol

In order to get a "DOS" prompt, you need to boot with the Recovery Console. This is on your Windows XP installation CD. See http://support.microsoft.com (articles 307654, 314058, 304449, 307545, 314874). It will explain you how to start it etc. If your installation CDs are not handy, and you don't have any bootdisks (1.44"), then there are some web sites that offer bootdisks. I don't know if this is l-e-g-a-l though and could not recommend you any. From a bootdisk, I believe you can still access the Recovery Console in Win XP (it used to be the case with Win 2000). When this situation happened to me, I also used an old "Win 98" bootdisk. I selected the "Dos prompt" boot option and was able to access my files. Please note that you might not have acccess to long file names with such a risky procedure so you should not mess with files that do not have the 8.3 filename format. But for the 1st step explained by the guy named "Amit" above, you should not have any difficulty. In step 2, you would need to rename the "_REGISTRY*.*" files to the 8.3 format. If you don't, then in step 3 you would not be able to complete step 3. So the easiest is: use your Win XP installation disks

By the way, Amit did not mention it, but if you are new to this, you need to know that if you did not create any "Restore Points" in the past, you might not have any "_REGISTRY*.*" files on your hard drive. Unless I'm wrong, it means that you would only have the original registry files that are in your "repair" folder as a way to restart Windows completely... Meaning that you would need to reinstall most, if not all, softwares installed on your computer since your original Windows installation (people reading this, please correct me if I'm wrong or confirm if you have enough experience to do so).