Help Windows cannot start

kappah · 17 Dec 2008

Hello,
please i need help urgently and i know i am in the right place. I wanted to re-install my windows xp home edition. it started well but after a while the computer shut down itself. I thought the battery was discharged. when i put it back on, the re-installation continued. after a while the following message was displayed by the computer:
"windows could not start because the following file is missing:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
you can attempt to repair this file by starting windows using the original setup CD-ROM.select 'r' at the first screen to start repair"
unfortunately, i dont have the setup CD-ROM to do the repair. Please does anyone have any suggestions on how i can approach this problem. i tried starting it on safemode, but got thesame message. i simply cannot log in.
system information:
notebook model-compaq presario V2000
Procesor type- mobile AMD Semptron (tm)
processor speed-1600 mhz
bios version- f.13
system memory- 256.
please reply. i welcome all suggestions

hethoofd · 17 Dec 2008

How are you able to reinstall without the CD-ROM?

Barman58 · 17 Dec 2008

Hello kappah and welcome to the Windows 7 Forums

Unless you have the original XP install disk or a re-install option from the computer manufacturer I'm afraid there is not much you can do.

You may also wish to post your question on a forum dealing with XP as they may have more help to offer you.

davehc · 17 Dec 2008

hethoofd said:

How are you able to reinstall without the CD-ROM?

Maybe from the recovery partition?

darkassain · 17 Dec 2008

yes you can contact your manufacture for this kinda thing...
hp does not give you cd's (only recovery partittion)
if you deleted it you can boot it from the bios...
there should be an option for recovery partition

if you deleted it (or it was deleted for whatever reason) contact the manufacture
even if you are out of warranty...
you are going to have to pay for the discs but still would of even if were in warranty

if you had vista it would be different...
MS actually heard and actually released a boot dvd thats essentially a vista install dvd but without the installation files...

johngalt · 18 Dec 2008

Also, no offense, but how can asking about XP help in a forum pretty much dedicated to Windows 7 be 'the right place?"

The error message you received indicates the system cannot find a particular registry hive - and a particularly important one. The chances are slim and nil that you'll be able to recover from this, but one thing you might try are some HD diagnostics from your HD manufacturer's website (if it is a Hitachi, forget it...)

davehc · 18 Dec 2008

Yes. I was wondering that. Maybe you would get a better response on
Vista Forums

Antman · 07 Jul 2009

I once partnered in a small computer shop. This problem was sometimes solved by replacing theCD/DVD drive. It is caused by faulty IO from the installation medium.