Ok im trying to reformat a hp pavilion laptop. when i boot up the laptop i get a black screen that says "windows could not start because the following files is missing or corrupt: \windows\system32\config\system it says i can attempt to repair by hitting the r button ...i treid i put in my windows xp disk. it loads up the disk then i have the the options to repair.. or install a new copy of windows... i tried to repair it says that that setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in the computer. i did a self test of the hard drive from the bios on the mobo it says that it was all fine...so do i need to repalce the hard drive or what? thanks for all/any help in advance
if its a newer laptop, you may need to disable native sata support in the bios in order to install xp
The fastest way is just to get your windows system disk- either came with laptop or one you have bought- and just stick it in the disc drive and boot it from there- you will be given the choice to either format the hard drive or you can keep the files- i recommend reformating because you may have been given a virus that corrupted the files in your hard drive.
