windows wont boot up missing file (help please)

[bub]

Hi, all of a sudden XP wont boot up when I turn on my pc I get this info as in the pic below. I have tried the r button for repair using the Windows disc but that takes me to a dos prompt. Can I bring my xp back to life. All my stuff isnt completely backed up so I will be f@~***



thanks
bub

[godfather1]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545/en-us

that link should sort out the problem using the recovery console matey, it's a bit long winded i'm afraid though

[Shambles]

I'd go for the easier option and use recovery console (that dos prompt you mentioned) to do a "chkdsk /r" (without the quotes). Usually sorts it for me (and I get lots of problems like that)

[bub]

thanks for replies, trying now, just out of curiousity, what caused this. its never happened beore to me on XP

[Shambles]

Dunno about your particular case but in my recent failures I'd lost a registry hive due to a disk corruption. The chkdsk command sorted it all out

[godfather1]

aye the chckdsk command is easier , but i've found doesn't always work. But like the man says , try it . won't do any harm

[bub]

neither worked tried the command lines but after pressing enter on the first line it cant find the file??

[Shambles]

neither worked tried the command lines but after pressing enter on the first line it cant find the file??

So chkdsk /r reported an error about not finding a file?...

Did it say it couldn't find "chkdsk"?

If so, try it again and type "help" when in the recovery console (dos window).

[bub]

it didnt find an error with chdsk, just done its business. Will do again and type help, takes about an hour though.

cheers
bub

[Shambles]

Try repairing the boot path too.

In the recovery console (I know it takes ages to get to that point) try "fixmbr" (or fdisk /mbr) to locate and repair the boot record which holds the path to your system files.

[Shambles]

Hey,

Read this too..

http://swatrant.blogspot.com/2005/11...ecause_17.html

.. particularly the bit concerning restoring the registry hive

[bub]

blimey lots of choice somethings goto work, just waiting for the chdsk to finish and will try the rest.

thanks for help

bub

[bub]

ok tried this
Type cd sytem32\config , and then press ENTER.
Type dir system , and then press ENTER.
Type copy c:\windows\repair\system , and then press ENTER.

Windows now begins to boot but hangs as its laoding up (screen stays black after Windows logo)
I have tried safe mode but that hangs aswell.

Had enough of this am about to format drive and do a fresh install, shame because I had a lot of data I didnt want to lose.

thanks for help
bub

[AD]

Can you not copy the files you want using a m8s pc and a spare drive?

just log your drive on his as a master and copy to the spare drive, then format and reinstall

-=AD=-

[bub]

yes I had a second drive but that broke, it was replaced by seagate, so I will copy files over, I am using the seagate utility to do this but it only copies the whole drive, are there any other utilites I can use? (dont forget I cant boot xp)

[Shambles]

.. shame because I had a lot of data I didnt want to lose.

thanks for help
bub

Reinstalling XP won't destroy any private data. But by the time you read this you'll know that anyway.

Good luck.

[Violator]

Bit late but sounds like it was your system.ced file. Registry hive size was probably greater than 13Mb odd, that'll give you that error. Get it at work a lot, especially if something new has recently been installed.

[bub]

shame done the format, lost loads of stuff but managed to salvage a lot of stuff aswell, Ordered 2 more hard drives so to be double sure I wont lose my data again.

Thanks for help
bub

[/dev/null]

It's actually the registry file that's corrupt. I've had it happen to me and TBH it's a bit of a nightmare getting it sorted again! You have to copy backups from the system restore through DOS and all sorts of similar stuff. Worked in the end though and valuable lesson learned. Seeing as you've formatted now, just remember for next time!

[bub]

It's actually the registry file that's corrupt. I've had it happen to me and TBH it's a bit of a nightmare getting it sorted again! You have to copy backups from the system restore through DOS and all sorts of similar stuff. Worked in the end though and valuable lesson learned. Seeing as you've formatted now, just remember for next time!

so how can i do the backup of whats needed incase it happens again?

thanks
bub