Dear Group: Here is what led up to the 'System32\config folder entirely unreadable' message. 1) Left my PC on overnight, next morning I had a blank desktop. 2) Moved the mouse around and clicked a few times, no response. 3) Restarted PC. 4) Missing NTLDR so booted from install CD. 5) Went to 'r' for 'repair' and did a 'FIXBOOT' and 'FIXMBR'. 6) Resart in normal mode. 7) Earlier shutdown was a powerdown so now computer is checking boot drive. 8) Messages I see during this check... -Folder \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Config is entirely unreadable. -Folder entry removed. -File and folder verification is complete. -Convert lost chains to files(Y/N)? Yes -28640KB in 209 recovered files. -Windows is verifying free space... 9) Then 'physical memory dump' screen appears. 10) Restart by power down. 11) Tried to restart, press f8 and chose 'Last Known Good Configuration' 12) Message says - 'Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\Config\System Now, here is what I have to work with... I used Norton Ghost over a month ago to make a bootable copy of the problem drive. The duplicate drive HAS NOT been updated since. Also, the duplicate drive has been used as a boot drive for other work I do. This means additional programs have been installed on the duplicate drive so there have been registry changes since over a month ago. What are my best option for restoring the Config folder on the problem drive? I sure hope someone can help!! Thanx!! wayne

Greetings, The first thing I would do is to do a virus scan. Boot off the norton CD and scan your entire computer. If nothing is found, I would then try a restore of XP. Run the set up off of a bootable cd or your XP boot disks. If the restore fails, you'll have to do a fresh install. XTC

Hey XTC, Thanx for the speedy reply. Question 1: After the virus scan can I copy the Config folder from the backup to the problem drive even though it has not been updated for over a month? Question 2: I am not clear about how to restore XP from the bootable CD. How do I do this? Thanx!! wayne

You will want to check out Microsoft article 307545. If you have the System restore turned on this will bring you back to right before this problem occurred.

The answer to your questions: 1) System restore may not work, because it seems to me that you can't boot into XP. If you can get into XP via safe mode (Hit f8 during startup), then try the system restore option. Copying the config folder from your backup might solve the current problem, but if it hasn't been updated in a while and you have installed new software since the last backup, it could cause more problems. This would also be an issue if you have done a windows update since the last backup. 2) As for booting off the cd and restoring. Download and copy the boot disks (6 of them) to floppy. Here's the link: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/q310/9/94.asp&NoWebContent=1 Put the floppy’s in when you start up the xp machine. Once loaded you'll hit the blue menu screen. Select R for repair, and follow though the instructions. Chances are though; you'll need to do a fresh install. Seems like something corrupted your files in your config folder, and the best thing from here is just to back up all data that you can, and do a fresh install of XP. The best way to find out, if no virus was found, what exactly caused the problem, think back to the last thing that you installed on your system. That's probably what the culprit is. XTC

There is another option. Lots of typing but it will put your system back to normal. You have a corrupted system registry files and the restore for them is in the following two links. You will need your XP CD to boot into the repair console and then follow the first link. First Link Second Link Good Luck.

If teri would have read my reply, he/she would have known I already suggested that and provided a link to get the boot disks. I know we are all here to help, but reading each others replies might be a prerequisite before replying.