My friend's PC is not booting up.
He said he got an update and it started failing after that, but that comment didn't make sense to me.

On a normal boot attempt, I see this message:
Stop: C0000218 (Registry File Failure)
The Registry cannot load the hive (file); \Systemroot\System32\config\Software or its log or alternate
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable
I also tried a Safe Boot and a "last known good configuration", but with same results.

I also booted up to an XP Install CD and attempted an XP re-install/Repair, but I received this message:
This partition is either too full, damaged, not formatted, or formatted with an incompatible file system.
To continue installing Windows, setup must format this partition.
Please help, what else can I try to resolve this problem?
I can always attempt a reformat, but I'm trying to avoid destroying his data.

I'm going to google C0000218, but thought I'd try here first.

Thanks!