[RESOLVED] Windows XP won't boot--corrupt registry?

Hi folks,

I'm trying to recover my computer from a corrupt registry, I think. :confused: I did a quick search for similar situations, but most sounded slightly different, so here's my situation, and any and all suggestions are immensely appreciated.

Problem: When my computer starts up and is about to boot into Windows XP, a screen comes up that says:

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.

Background: Problem started while media player was ripping some music off of a CD. The computer spontaneously restarted while it was ripping, and I got the message above.

What I've tried:

1. Following its instructions, but no repair option is available using a Magnell Recovery CD (what the computer came with) or XP Pro CD. Perhaps b/s it's an OEM install?

2. I loaded the repair console from the XP CD instead. But I can't make it do much. When I enter chkdsk, it says "The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems" and can't do it. "Fixboot" gives "FIXBOOT cannot find the syste drive, or the drive specified is not valid." Just hitting DIR makes it say "There is no floppy disk or CD in the drive." If I type "e:" it will switch to my other drive, but hitting DIR gives the exact same response. If I try to change directories (say, "cd windows") it also says "There is no floppy or CD in the drive."

3. Someone suggested it might be faulty memory or hard drive, so I downloaded Western Digital's diagnostics and ran full tests on both my hard drives. Neither showed any problem. I also ran Memtest86 for 9 hours, and no errors occurred. That and the fact that both hard drives are responding identically in recovery console makes me think it's not a drive failure of some kind.

4. I couldn't start in safe mode either (never got to the menu to select it).

5. I downloaded something called "BartPE", which let me make a boot disk to boot the computer. Using that, I can get read/write access to all files on both my hard drives.

6. I deleted (after backing up, of course) the System, Security, SAM, Software, and Default files in the Windows/System32/config folder, and replaced them with the seemingly equivalent files from a restore point file in the System Volume Information folder.

7. This now lets me get to the menu where I can select safe mode, safe mode with networking, last known good configuration, etc. But selecting any of them still gives the original error message above, with one difference if I select Safe Mode--the error message has some files above it, so that it looks like this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\hal.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\KDCOM.DLL
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\BOOTVID.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\config\system
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\config\system.alt

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.

But there's still no repair option, and I still can't get into safe mode or anything else, except through the BartPE CD. :(

Using the BartPE disk, I backed up all my files off of the hard drive. But I really want to salvage it if I can. I have had this problem once before (6 months ago) and restoring to the factory image was the only resolution I found.

But I don't want to do that this time! I'll try whatever you suggest! Is there anything left to try?

Here's my hardware, if it's needed at all...it's a pre-built ABS computer.

AMD 64 3400 (754)
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro mobo
1 gig Corsair RAM (XMS series, 2 x 512 DDR sticks, 32MX8 PC-3200)
Windows XP Home (OEM install)
Radeon 128 9800 Pro
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Antec 1000AMG case, with 530W Fortron Power supply
Two Western Digital 120 GB SATA hard drives
Sony DVD ROM
Plextor CD burner (PX-W5224TA)
Floppy drive
8-in-1 card reader sort-of-deal
Phone modem (PCI card)

Any and all suggestions are immensely appreciated! I'm sorry this is so long, but I've been working all week at trying to figure out how to save this thing.

Thank you!

what you can do is windows repair as it seems you have windows xp disk.
how do i repair windows xp

WARNING:it will force you to do all windows update again as it will basically will do reinstall of windows.

Hey ylen13,

I would happily, happily do a Repair installation, but there's no option for that when I use either the recovery CD that originally came with the computer or an XP MCE 2005 CD. I mean, I hit enter at the first blue screen, go past the EULA, and there's just no option for it, only one for doing a clean install.

I was thinking it might be because it's an OEM installation? Anyway, thank you for the suggestion...any other ideas?

Quote:

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multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\config\system
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\config\system.alt

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

---

It looks like your original config\system folder is still there, and the replacement is config\system.alt.

Make sure you only have one system file in the config folder, if there's a system.alt choose which one is the wanted one and rename it system if necessary. Then reboot into Safe Mode w/Command Prompt, and when you get to the system.alt command enter "N" to bypass that. That should boot up--or go to the next blockage. You're going to do some tedious stuff, whether this way or by doing a repair/install. :o

From what you say,I'd suggest this,(but only if you have a valid,full XP-disk and have the key code) Use the WD tool and low level format(wipe)both drives. Install XP fresh on drive #1.(be sure to have a floppy with your SATA drivers onboard and in the drive and the XP disk in the primary optical drive. During setup,it will tell you to press F-6 to install third party drivers. It should then access the floppy for those.(if not,check in bios to be sure SATA is enabled) It should offer to let you partition your drives next. I would suggest you create at least 2 partitions on each drive. When you are given the drives size(in MB's)you can backspace the MB's out and then enter ½ of the original amount. Then just follow instructions to do the rest.
You will have to format your drives other than C:\ from Start>Settings>Ctrl Panel>Administrative tools>Computer management>Disk Management(left window).If you have files on your second drive that are accessible,I'd suggest you unplug it until your #1 drive is up n' runnin'. Be sure to have/and install,your basic drivers first i.e.:motherboard chipset>video drivers>sound drivers>modem drivers. If,that is, Windows does not find and install them for you(which I wouldn't advise)do not connect to the internet to stop Windows from doing this. And be sure to have the XP firewall running when/if you have to go online to get a third party firewall and/or antivirus program or needed drivers.

The problem(s) you have now 'may' be fixable,but with the expense in time and as you have your files already backed up,this would be the easiest way and give you a squeaky clean install to go with...

Hey lgbpop, so I browsed into the config folder and there are three system-related files in there, as far as I can tell, and none of them are labeled "system.alt." They are: system.log, system.sav, and the restore system file I'd copied in there, which is still called _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM. Do you think it's one of those? Which should I rename/delete? I'll try to whatever you suggest! I am so willing to do the tedius stuff! :) Thanks for the help!

Hey Ridgerunr, thanks for the suggestion. That sounds like a clean install though--isn't it? If possible, I'd really like to avoid that. I know I'll have to do some tedious work to get past this (if it's possible at all), and if I can't figure it out by this weekend, I think I will definitely follow your instructions and just reformat it and do a clean install. Is there anyway I might still try to recover though? It's mainly because there are a bunch of programs on there with specific settings I'd really like to keep. Thanks! I've learned my lesson, after this I'm learning ALL about backing up my drive... :o

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bovinda

Hey lgbpop, so I browsed into the config folder and there are three system-related files in there, as far as I can tell, and none of them are labeled "system.alt." They are: system.log, system.sav, and the restore system file I'd copied in there, which is still called _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM. Do you think it's one of those? Which should I rename/delete? I'll try to whatever you suggest! I am so willing to do the tedius stuff! :) Thanks for the help!

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The one the computer sees as system.alt is the REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM file I believe. Don't delete anything, but try this:
1) copy & paste the REGISTRY file you made; paste in the same place as the original.
2) it appears the system file you deleted is actually gone. Rename the copy you just made and call it system. Just leave it there. Now try booting again with the command prompt as I suggested and see what happens. If this doesn't work, you can always restore the names.

It's also possible that system.log or system.sav is actually what you think you deleted; you may have to open them to see which seems closest, then go from there.

BTW--Welcome to VirtualDr!

Hey lgbpop, thanks for the welcome! :)

So I renamed _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to system, and went and tried booting into safe mode (with command prompt) again, and it went past the system file this time! Now it stops and hangs at another file. Basically, it started displaying like 30 files in the Windows/System32/Drivers folder. The last one it stops at and freezes at is

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\Mup.sys

There are a bunch before that, but that's where it freezes. I tried pressing "n", but it won't skip past--it seems solidly frozen. What do you think? I'm excited to be making any progress at all! Let me know if you need a list of the files before that, I can type them out.

Okay, last post for the night...after googling for a bit, it sounds like the mup.sys file may or may not be the culprit. Sounds like many people have tried switching it with mup.sys files from working systems and hasn't affected their problem (I haven't tried it yet though). Found a post on Anandtech suggesting that updating the BIOS might allow you to pass that point, and I figured I was going to update the BIOS anyway after all this in case it was the original culprit of my problem.

So I went ahead and updated the BIOS to the most recent version. Now when I try to enter any Safe Mode, instead of hanging at the mup.sys file, it just reboots altogether, so it seems to be in a rebooting loop, huh?

Anyone else have any suggestions? I will check back tomorrow morning. I am soooo wishing this was not an OEM install right now--from what I've read, that's what's not allowing me to do a repair install. What do you folks think? Anyway, keep those suggestions coming! :)

:( See this thread; that's where I am too. Don't bother posting the file list, I have it written down.... :o

I may get a chance to work on it tonight or tomorrow, but that's back-burner stuff now. Gotta get the house ready before Wilma roars by this weekend. If I figure it out, I'll let you know. One hint: If you have access to another (working) XP machine, try adding the Mup.sys file from a proven working copy (rename the existing one, don't delete it!) before resorting to the default file off a CD--although it may be identical, it's way easier to find than digging through .cab file folders. Also, I think the Mup.sys file actually is the last good file to load, and the freeze point is at the next command in the boot sequence. I have the dump file with the command file name, but it's encrypted and need to know the decoder name to see what's next to replace.

bovinda: lgbpop just asked me to add some instructions for a possible solution: Boot a working XP system in Command Prompt mode, and make a note of each file in the boot sequence, then you'll know what needs fixing when the system in question freezes.


Liam

Have a look on your recovery CD and tell us if there is a folder called I386 on it. If there is, then we can tell you how to boot into the normal Windows Setup and run a repair install.

Hey lgbpop, thanks for the help, and take care man, Wilma sounds like a monster! I'll keep an eye on your thread too. Liam858, thanks for passing that along also, I will try that too.

SuperSparks, there is a I386 folder on the recovery CD! I would so happily do that, just let me know what to do! :)

No probs for passing on the info.:)

Here is what to do with the recovery CD:

Insert the disc with the i386 folder into the CD-ROM drive, and then go to Start|Run|type d:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons (where d is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive, change as applicable) A Windows Setup Dialog Box appears and describes the Recovery Console option to confirm the installation, click Yes, restart the computer. The next time that you start your computer, "Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" appears on the startup menu.

Liam

Thanks Liam, I'll give that a shot right now.

Hey, I just had a thought about something. Could the Recovery Console not be able to do anything to either drive or read them because they're SATA drives? BartPE couldn't read them either until I bundled a driver package with it. And at the beginning of loading the recovery CD, it says "Press F6 to install SATA drivers" or something like that. Does that seem like a possibility?

Are SATA drivers specific for drives, or are they a motherboard thing? (Sorry, I'm pretty ignorant about this stuff. :o ) Maybe I'll see if I can find some and install when it asks. I'll also try doing the I386 thing. Thanks guys!

I shouldn't be fussy on drive interface, when it asks for drivers for the SATA drives, that's before a fresh install, and because they are above standard, it requires somthing extra for them to be read = drivers, the above fix should be okay to get you to the normal windows setup.


Liam

So I installed the recovery console to the HD through BartPE, restarted, and selected it. It started loading, then it gets to a blue screen that says

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down...etc.

...Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0XF7C7D63C, 0XC0000034, 0X00000000, 0X00000000)

I noticed it also said to "press F6 to install drivers for SCSI or RAID" (sorry, it wasn't SATA).

Things keep changing! That's good! Progress is progress. Thanks Liam! Anything else I should try?

Hmmm, i would suggest, downloading the drivers for the hard drive, put them on a floppy, and when you get to the F6 prompt, press F6, direct it to the floppy A: and then see if it loads the device before the repair.

That BSOD is usually when a driver cannot be located for the drive.

Liam

Thanks Liam, the drivers did the trick! No more blue screen, instead it loads the recovery console, and indeedy, now it can read the drives as well! I am in unfamiliar territory. I can chkdsk! I can dir! Wow. So...what should I do now to try a repair install?

Incidentally, earlier I properly restored the registry from a System Restore point from within BartPE, but it still hasn't done anything (still hangs at mup.sys, reboots, etc., still can't get to safe mode, etc.).

So I am open to new suggestions! :p Should I try fixboot? Fixmbr? I don't even know what they do, but I seem to recall reading about them elsewhere...would that be appropriate? Or is there some proper way to try to reinstall?

So you are at the recovery console?

Do you get to the setup screen?

https://discussions.virtualdr.com/im...2006/07/32.jpg

If so, press R, then at the next screen agree to the licence agreement, and then select the OS you would like to repair, and the process should start.....you will need to remove that driver floppy disk.

Here is the basic roundup of what this repair does:

Quote:

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Sometimes the only way to repair XP is to reinstall. You do not have to wipe your partition and start over. Just as with previous versions of Windows you can reinstall right over top of an existing setup. This has the advantage of retaining your installed applications, data and settings. You will lose previously saved System Restore Points but System Restore will begin creating new restore points again immediately following the Repair Install. You will need to reinstall SP2 and any Critical Updates from the Windows Update Site. Be aware that a Repair Install will leave your system vulnerable to the Blaster and Welchia worms. Do not go on line until you have enabled XP's firewall first. Then visit the Windows Update Site to patch your system

---

Liam

Hey Liam, it doesn't go to that screen, it seems to skip it altogether when I boot directly from the hard drive. What happens exactly is I let it boot up normally, and it gets to a screen that says "Please select the operating system to start." The choices are MS Windows Home XP Edition or MS Windows Recovery Console, so I pick recovery console, and it just goes straight there (after letting me install the SATA drivers, so that now recovery console works).

I'll try doing it from within the recovery CD and see if it will now give the option for a repair install, since maybe installing the drivers there will let me do it.

Also, I was overwhelmed with power and went ahead and "chkdsk /p", since the recovery console was working. It went through it and said that one or more errors were found. Does that mean anything? Does it mean errors in the OS or errors in the hard drive? I'd used WD's diagnostics and they never found anything. Anyway, I'll go try to repair with the recovery disk and report back. Thank you so, so much for the help, it's really exciting! :)

Oooooh, the option to repair the installation is there! I'm going to try it! :)

Phew, lol, glad you found it.:)

Good Luck

Liam

OK, so it repaired it, rebooted, and is going through the set-up process, and a pop-up appears entitled "Software Installation" that has a big yellow-sign exclamation mark and says:

has not passed Windows Logo testing to verify its compatibility with Windows XP.

Continuing your installation of this software may impair or destabilize the correct operation of your system either immediately or in the future. Microsoft strongly recommends that you stop this installation now and contact the software vendor for software that has passed Windows Logo testing.

Do you want to continue installing the software? Yes/No

There's no name for the software its mentioning anywhere. Any harm in just selecting "yes" to continue, you think?

It's cool, it's just Windows Certified Software or something like that, MS runs some tests on companies software before it is released to their OS, some companies don't do it, this message simply means the software was not submitted for this test.


Liam

It seems like it's doing stuff! I went and clicked "yes". It went a little more, then a screen popped up to insert the disks with the SATA drivers on them again. For some reason, I had to download them again, put them on a CD, and pop it in, but it worked. Then it asked for the Modem installation CD, so I gave it that and pointed it to the drivers. Now it seems like it's still working...this is awesome! I'll check with you guys if it runs into any stumbling blocks or how it turns out. Thank you so much for the help so far!!! :) Periodically the monitor turns on and off, and I freak out, thinking it's rebooting, but then set-up comes back on... :o

No probs for the help so far:)....you're nearly home and dry....


Liam

So it went through set-up, and restarted. The Windows logo pops up with the little green bars moving across the bottom of the screen. It does this for a little bit, then freezes, so that I had to reset. I tried booting into Safe Mode with Command Prompt, and guess what, it freezes at mup.sys again, only now it doesn't restart! Should I try doing some things in recovery console, now that I can use it? What else should I try? Sorry guys, thought I was almost there... :o

Dammit! Nearly!....go back into the recovery console scrolldown to the screenshots here: http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm and try the different repair commands, when you type help, a list will appear fixboot etc, try different repair options.

There are a few fixes around, some work, some don't, try this:

IF:
1) Locking up at MUP.sys in both normal boot and any safe mode boot.
2) Any attempt to read from the disk locks up the application that is attempting to read/modify etc.

Problem:
Corrupt sectors on the disk.

Solution:
1) Take the harddrive and add it to another bootable WinXP image.
2) Chkdisk should automatically run on the corrupted disk.
3) Chkdisk will delete and replace corrupted files and mark the sectors as bad.
4) Add the disk back to the original system.
5) Boot twice (The first time you boot it may give you some form of "No OS exists on this disk, the Bios will update the drive information after the first boot).

If this doesn't help try resetting the CMOS, by removing the CMOS battery from the motherboard for a few minutes and then re-inserting it.

Liam

Here's where i found most of the info on mup.sys: http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/31874 looks like quite a popular problem....unfortunately.


Liam

OK, while I was browsing around on the sites looking for information, the green bar started to move again, after probably several minutes or so. It keeps going, then stopping, then going again. It seems like maybe it's just loading suuuuuuper slow? When the XP logo first came on, it took it about 15 seconds just to fade in to view.

Should I just let it try to load for awhile? Even now, the green bar is moving some, sporadically. This is so strange. :confused: Before I tried that, I also went and "chkdsk /p" both my SATA drives, and they BOTH came up as having one or more errors. But again, Western Digital's diagnostics said they didn't have any problems.

Thanks Liam, I browsed through that thread for awhile. Sounded like it wasn't very hopeful, and since I am getting short for time (I'm a med student, and already horrendously behind in my work b/c of the computer crashing) I decided to just try and restore the factory image of the recovery disk, because that is the only thing that has resolved this problem in the past (this is the second time it's happened, last was 6 months ago).

It seeemed to restore the factory image okay, but I think I did something to it in the process of trying to fiddle with it earlier, because now it won't boot the factory image either--it reboots. Wow! I've never messed it up this much before. :) I guess my last choice really is to just reformat it.

Thanks for all the help Liam and others. :) I learned a lot in the process of doing this, and I really appreciate your efforts.

So, I guess I have two--no, three--questions then. First, the second drive in the computer, can I just leave that alone and format the first drive and put the OS on it, and it will be okay, so that I can just read all the files on it after I've clean installed XP?

Second, would you guys recommend doing the clean install from the recovery disk, or should I try and find a real copy of Windows XP somewhere? Are there any negatives to using the recovery disk to reinstall XP?

Third--what might I have done that would make the factory image also unable to boot? What affects that?

Thanks folks. :p

So, I reformatted, and everything is going okay, except sometimes it lags on installing some of the applications I was putting on there (Net 1.1, AOL, Adobe Version Cue in particular) or has trouble restarting after it has lagged (have to just push the reset button). I guess that's another issue though. :o Thanks everyone.

EDIT: Why am I unable to edit my original post? I'd like to change the title somehow to indicate that a resolution was reached via reformatting. Is there a time-limit to edit posts? I notice I only have the option to edit about half of them.

You can't edit the original post manually, but to mark this resolved, go to Thread Tools at the top of the posts, and click Mark This Thread Resolved.

You're Welcome for the help:), sorry it had to end so badly.


Liam

Got it. Thanks Liam.