UNSOLVED
PLEASE HELP!!!
I'm not sure what happened, but today my computer locked up. I could not unlock it, and I eventually had to unplug it. Upon reboot, the dell screen appeared like it should, but then went to a black screen for a few seconds. Then, the following message appeared:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\windows\system32\config\system
You can attempt to repair this file by starting windows setup using the original setup cd-rom.
Select 'R' at the first screen to start repair."
...the problem is, I put in the CD, reboot, and nothing but this message again. When I hit a key, it's reboots itself again and starts all over. I can never access the CD (just for clarification, I am using the one that is labeled system restore, and was in the Windows sealed packet.
I do have access to the F2 bios and F12 startup menu, but I can not do anything productive (that I have tried) from these.
Can someone PLEASE help me with this issue...I'm sweating bullets here.
BTW- OS is XP.
- Thank you :)OK, I think I understand what I need to do once I am able to get in to the CD, but the problem I seem to be having is getting access to the Windows setup CD. It doesn't do anything. I have tried several options.1) Letting the system autodetect it2) F12 to access the setup menu, and then select boot from CD3) F12, and select c: (which does nothing but send me to a blank screen)I can't seem to gain access to the CD. The lights come on, and it sounds like the CD is turning, but nothing happens. I have tried it on both CD decks, but so far, nothing.
- Okay, I was never able to get the CD to work, but I did download (on another PC) the boot disk for floppy and was able to use that to get into windows setup.In the article above, I noticed that it warned against using that info on OEM windows. This made me a bit nervous, so is there a procedure for Dell OEM, or is this even an issue?One thing I noticed that I thought odd, once I was in the console command prompt, I was not able to see any content of the hard drive. Is this normal in the console? I was able to see the content of the CD, but was not able to execute the setup.exe.Thanks again.
europa303
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Posted February 19th, 2006 20:00