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Windows XP repair installation - help
When I try to boot the computer, I get a message saying that the file C:\Windows\System32\config (or something similar to that) is missing or corrupted.
Now I've tried to do a repair installation, but when I boot from the Windows XP CD, and after I press F8 to agree to the license, I don't get any installations of Windows XP, I just get two partitions of my hard drive: one for FAT, and a much bigger one for NTSF. There's no option to press 'r' and repair an installation. I've called tech support and they're not really much help, people here seem to have a better idea what to do. The screen I see doesn't match up with what's supposed to happen in the knowledge base guide to doing a repair re-installation.
I don't really know how my computer got this way; I cleaned it out pretty regularly with ad-aware (tho I don't think I was free of spyware) and I think if I had a virus my computer would have been fried by now. Here are the specs- it's a 3 year old Dimension 8200:
1.9 ghz Pentium 4
256 MB RAM
80 GB HD
Not really sure what else is relevant...
Now I've tried to do a repair installation, but when I boot from the Windows XP CD, and after I press F8 to agree to the license, I don't get any installations of Windows XP, I just get two partitions of my hard drive: one for FAT, and a much bigger one for NTSF. There's no option to press 'r' and repair an installation. I've called tech support and they're not really much help, people here seem to have a better idea what to do. The screen I see doesn't match up with what's supposed to happen in the knowledge base guide to doing a repair re-installation.
I don't really know how my computer got this way; I cleaned it out pretty regularly with ad-aware (tho I don't think I was free of spyware) and I think if I had a virus my computer would have been fried by now. Here are the specs- it's a 3 year old Dimension 8200:
1.9 ghz Pentium 4
256 MB RAM
80 GB HD
Not really sure what else is relevant...
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0
Posted December 24th, 2004 14:00
damagus,
A repair reinstallation will not correct the problem, which is caused by a damaged registry. The procedure which will correct it (short of a clean reinstallation of Windows XP) is here.
Are you booting from the XP CD or simply letting it autorun when you insert it? The procedure for setting the CD-ROM as the first boot device is here.
450
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Posted December 24th, 2004 15:00
damagus,
I assume that based on the error you are receiving that you can't boot to Windows, which means that System Restore is not an available option.
450
0
Posted December 24th, 2004 15:00
Yes, I've set the CD device as the first in the boot sequence. I suppose I'll follow the instructions from that site, then, and report back to you. Would you recommend doing a system restore to a point, say, a month ago?
damagus
3 Posts
450
0
Posted December 24th, 2004 14:00
(And I don't think I should have kept this message at the top... sry, I'm a n00b... =P)