When I boot up my laptop I get the error, "the following file is missing or corrupt, \windows\system32\config\system".

I have a Toshiba Satellite 1115.
XP Home, NTFS
C only,no partitions

I tried to use F8, to get into safe mode, this didn't work.

I have tried the Microsoft article 307545.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us
I typed in the recovery console
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
When I got here and hit enter, I received the error, "The system cannot find
the files or directory specified".

When I cd into system32\config, I don't see system.
What is there, from the five:
sam
SAM.log
security
SECURITY.LOG
software
software.LOG
software.sav
system.log
system.sav

I also tried to do an xp repair install, but when I got past accepting the License Agreement, there wasn't an 'r' option to start the repair with.

I would appreciate any help.

"I also tried to do an xp repair install, but when I got past accepting the License Agreement, there wasn't an 'r' option to start the repair with".

On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, after you press F8 to agree to the license agreement, did you find your current 'corrupt Installation of Windows XP ' in the partition and folder it was installed to select it? It is only after this step you get the R option for repair. If you find R then Click R for repair.
M

cindyvl,

Sounds like you have a corrupted registry and the Microsoft Article 307545 should fix it. I have used that process about 6 or 7 times to restore a system as long as the System Restore process had been on. What it does is get you back up and running with the original registry installed when windows was installed. Then you have to manually copy a restore point to a Windows folder and boot back to the CD again go through the copy process again to get a recent registry.

Did you get a file copied confirmation when you typed

copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak

If system32 is missing, you will not be able to do a repair. It cannot detect the previous operating system, and will only allow you to do a full install.

Try this site for instructions, http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor2.htm

Most likely you left out a slash or something similar. You'll need to keep trying if saving your Windows installation is important.

SYSTEM is the registry file containg all hardware settings, and as repo man says, you can't do a repair without it. However, I can't understand why you didn't get an error message when you entered the command to copy the file to the ...config\tmp folder if the file is missing?

I'd just carry on with the repair procedure if I were you - you've got more hurdles to overcome yet but there's help available here.