Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: windows\system32\config\sy

Hi

My desktop with an OEM version of Windows XP Home will not startup with the error message:

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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.
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Based on information on another thread in this forum, I attempted the following:

1. Made a BartPE CD with a Windows XP Home CD I had. The Windows XP Home CD is not the same as the System Restore CD I got with the desktop.
2. Booted the desktop with the BartPE CD.
3. Open a cmd window and ran chkdsk c: /f.

4. The chkdsk command output started with "The type of the file system is NTFS" and it found multiple errors in the disk along the lines of "File record segment xxxxx is unreadable". It ended with "Deleted corrupt attribute list entry with type code 128 in file 21929" followed by "An unspecified error occurred."

5. If I enter "dir c:", it comes back with the following error message: "The volume does not contain a recognized filesystem. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and the volume is not corrupted".

At this point, am I looking at a failing drive? Is there anyway to copy the data off the drive to a USB external drive? or correct the XP corruption on this drive to enable me to boot normally?

Thanks
Tom

 

try puppy linux

http://puppylinux.org/main/index.php?file=Download Latest Release.htm

play about with it.. it supports ntfs filesystems and will allow you to back up any data which may be surviving either to disk or to usb.. or even across the network.

windoze isn't always on C on oem installs.. especially with some of the very screwy raid setups I have seen.