Laptop won't boot

Recently my Dell Inspiron laptop stopped booting. Upon turning on the
machine, there was some hard drive activity, but nothing displayed on
the screen. Finally, an error message appeared:

"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."


Then what do I do? Should I attempt to copy the "System" file and
reboot? A search of the Windows Setup CD-ROM on another machine did not
find that particular file.

Thanks for any help,

Owkmann

"Owkmann" <owkmann.no@junk.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e0xhF0qRJHA.1164@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Recently my Dell Inspiron laptop stopped booting. Upon turning on the
> machine, there was some hard drive activity, but nothing displayed on
> the screen. Finally, an error message appeared:
>
> "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."
>
>
> Then what do I do? Should I attempt to copy the "System" file and
> reboot? A search of the Windows Setup CD-ROM on another machine did not
> find that particular file.
>
> Thanks for any help,
>
> Owkmann

You could try : last good configuration

if you are comfortable copying over the backup "System"
file however it should be in your Windows\repair folder

philo wrote:
> "Owkmann" <owkmann.no@junk.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:e0xhF0qRJHA.1164@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Recently my Dell Inspiron laptop stopped booting. Upon turning on the
>> machine, there was some hard drive activity, but nothing displayed on
>> the screen. Finally, an error message appeared:
>>
>> "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."
>>
>>
>> Then what do I do? Should I attempt to copy the "System" file and
>> reboot? A search of the Windows Setup CD-ROM on another machine did not
>> find that particular file.
>>
>> Thanks for any help,
>>
>> Owkmann
>
> You could try : last good configuration
>
> if you are comfortable copying over the backup "System"
> file however it should be in your Windows\repair folder
>
>
Unfortunately I was not able to get to "last good configuration".
However, I was able to copy the "System" file from \Windows\repair. That
at least got me to a Windows boot screen - which eventually timed out.
Finally I got "HDD Hard Disk error!" and that was it. I assume my hard
disk either was killed by a virus or just died.

Thanks anyway,

Owkmann

Owkmann

I suspect you've gone way and you've totally misunderstood the nature of
your problem and solution.

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
starting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Owkmann wrote:
> philo wrote:
>> "Owkmann" <owkmann.no@junk.yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:e0xhF0qRJHA.1164@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> Recently my Dell Inspiron laptop stopped booting. Upon turning on
>>> the machine, there was some hard drive activity, but nothing
>>> displayed on the screen. Finally, an error message appeared:
>>>
>>> "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." Then what do I do? Should I attempt to copy the "System"
>>> file and
>>> reboot? A search of the Windows Setup CD-ROM on another machine did
>>> not find that particular file.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any help,
>>>
>>> Owkmann
>>
>> You could try : last good configuration
>>
>> if you are comfortable copying over the backup "System"
>> file however it should be in your Windows\repair folder
>>
>>
> Unfortunately I was not able to get to "last good configuration".
> However, I was able to copy the "System" file from \Windows\repair.
> That at least got me to a Windows boot screen - which eventually
> timed out. Finally I got "HDD Hard Disk error!" and that was it. I
> assume my hard disk either was killed by a virus or just died.
>
> Thanks anyway,
>
> Owkmann

"Owkmann" <owkmann.no@junk.yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:OXxUGusRJHA.5164@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> philo wrote:
> > "Owkmann" <owkmann.no@junk.yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > news:e0xhF0qRJHA.1164@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> >> Recently my Dell Inspiron laptop stopped booting. Upon turning on the
> >> machine, there was some hard drive activity, but nothing displayed on
> >> the screen. Finally, an error message appeared:
> >>
> >> "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."
> >>
> >>
> >> Then what do I do? Should I attempt to copy the "System" file and
> >> reboot? A search of the Windows Setup CD-ROM on another machine did not
> >> find that particular file.
> >>
> >> Thanks for any help,
> >>
> >> Owkmann
> >
> > You could try : last good configuration
> >
> > if you are comfortable copying over the backup "System"
> > file however it should be in your Windows\repair folder
> >
> >
> Unfortunately I was not able to get to "last good configuration".
> However, I was able to copy the "System" file from \Windows\repair. That
> at least got me to a Windows boot screen - which eventually timed out.
> Finally I got "HDD Hard Disk error!" and that was it. I assume my hard
> disk either was killed by a virus or just died.
>
>


That is definitely the sign of a failed harddrive.

You will need to replace it and install Windows on the new drive.

Once you have Windows reinstalled, you can slave your original drive back
into your system
and hopefully be able to retrieve your data

Gerry wrote:
> Owkmann
>
> I suspect you've gone way and you've totally misunderstood the nature of
> your problem and solution.
>
> How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from
> starting
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545
>
>
The Knowledge Base article you mentioned has a warning for OEM machines:

Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if
your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive on
OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist
previously. If you use the procedure that is described in this article,
you may not be able to log back into the recovery console to restore the
original registry hives.

Do I need to be concerned about this?

Thanks,

Owkmann

Owkmann

Yes if you proceed it closes down options.

Do you have a second computer? Do you have data you need to recover?

What is the Dell Inspiron model number?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Owkmann wrote:
> Gerry wrote:
>> Owkmann
>>
>> I suspect you've gone way and you've totally misunderstood the
>> nature of your problem and solution.
>>
>> How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP
>> from starting
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545
>>
>>
> The Knowledge Base article you mentioned has a warning for OEM
> machines:
> Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if
> your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive
> on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not
> exist previously. If you use the procedure that is described in this
> article, you may not be able to log back into the recovery console to
> restore the original registry hives.
>
> Do I need to be concerned about this?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Owkmann

Gerry wrote:
> Owkmann
>
> Yes if you proceed it closes down options.
>
> Do you have a second computer? Do you have data you need to recover?
>
> What is the Dell Inspiron model number?
>
>
Yes, I have a second computer. The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 6000.

Owkmann

Gerry wrote:
> Owkmann
>
> Yes if you proceed it closes down options.
>
> Do you have a second computer? Do you have data you need to recover?
>
> What is the Dell Inspiron model number?
>
>

There is some data that I would like to keep if possible.

Owkmann

To facilitate the recovery of your data files you can remove the hard
drive from your desktop and place it in an external cradle hooked up to
your desktop. The link below is to the Service Manual for your desktop,
which advice on removal:
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1130376

The next link illustrates what I mean by an external cradle:
http://www.storagedepot.co.uk/Enclos...c884/p753.aspx

You can also use an external cradle with another drive and software such
as Acronis True Image as part of a future backup strategy.

Pages 71 onwards of the Owners Manual covering restoring the system may
help:
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...m/D5181bk5.pdf


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Owkmann wrote:
> Gerry wrote:
>> Owkmann
>>
>> Yes if you proceed it closes down options.
>>
>> Do you have a second computer? Do you have data you need to recover?
>>
>> What is the Dell Inspiron model number?
>>
>>
>
> There is some data that I would like to keep if possible.
>
> Owkmann