Corrupt SAM File

u can try this this is a free software that u can used to clean your hard drive and re installed the software

first DOWNLOAD FREE VERSION (Active@ KillDisk Suite(Free)v.5.0  )and than u Can burn a cd or dvd which ever u wan to use ones u r done downloading and burning put cd or dvd into drive and hit F12 and boot from cd or dvd rom there it would give you some options to wipe the hd normally it would take 45min but it depends on how big is your hd hope it helps

1.Boot to the recovery console

Boot the Computer with the OS cd in the cd rom-> press F12 for advanced options -> select IDE CD DRIVE ->when you get PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM CD press some key on the kybd->after this you'll get to a screen where you'll be give two options  here presss R for getting to recovery console”

When it choose the version of windows to logon to press  “1” on the keyboard

It would then ask for a password. Enter for none, as by default there is no password for Administrator Account.

It would boot to the “C:\Windows” prompt.

2.Copy the Registry from a backup using the Snapshot method.

At the “C:\Windows” type CD \ ¿

Then at “C:\” prompt type CD SYSTEM~1  ¿ 

At the “C:\SYSTEM~1\” type CD _RESTO~1 ¿

At the “C:\SYSTEM~1\_RESTO~1\” type dir rp*. *

(There would be a lot of folders by the name RP1, RP2 etc. Look for the highest numbered RP folder. We would work with the second highest numbered rp folder. For e.g. if highest is RP33 we would work with RP32.)

At the “C:\SYSTEM~1\_RESTO~1\” type CD RP32 ¿

At the “C:\SYSTEM~1\_RESTO~1\RP32\” type CD SNAPSHOT ¿

AT the “C:\SYSTEM~1\_RESTO~1\RP32\SNAPSHOT” type as follows:

Copy _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM \windows\system32\config\SAM

Copy _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY \windows\system32\config\SECURITY

Copy _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE \windows\system32\config\SOFTWARE

Copy _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM \windows\system32\config\SYSTEM

Copy _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT \windows\system32\config\DEFAULT

(Note: don’t forget the period before default)

Thank you for the info. I will give this some thought. Thanks

Chipper

asyedh, I have been reading your answer on the net. The only thing is the computer that I am working on has the oem version of windows xp. I just may have to crack open the case and pull out the hd and make it a slave and install it in another computer to get the files I need off of it and then just reformat the hard drive. Thanks you for your info it is gratefully appreciated.

Chipper

typing in a few commands would be saving u the time required for copying your files,formatting and reinstalling the OS