Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bill Stock
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Bill Stock

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Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

I've got the following message when the system boots:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "

which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but I
get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's missing
lots of Windows updates.

The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the
Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue
installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the
system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?

This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on
the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be
nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen
regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other
options?
 
Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

If the system hive is corrupt, and assuming you already tried LKG (F8 and
choose Last Known Good), It may be possible to rename the system hive found
in
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
to system.old
then rename
%systemroot%\system32\config\system.alt
to
%systemroot%\system32\config\system

You can also try using the most recent backup found in
%systemroot%\repair\regback

If that fails you haven't much choice but to copy/ use the
original-as-installed system hive from
%systemroot%\repair\system
to
%systemroot%\system32\config\system
You'll need to reinstall the device drivers for any hardware added since the
original OS install.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer: drive
root, %systemroot% or %windir%


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Bill Stock" wrote:
> I've got the following message when the system boots:
>
> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "
>
> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but
> I get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's
> missing lots of Windows updates.
>
> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the
> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue
> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the
> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?
>
> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on
> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be
> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen
> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other
> options?
>
>
>
 
Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced


"Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...
> I've got the following message when the system boots:
>
> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "
>
> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but
> I get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's
> missing lots of Windows updates.
>
> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the
> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue
> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the
> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?
>
> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on
> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be
> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen
> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other
> options?
>
>

I would take a closer look at the hidden file c:\boot.ini.
 
Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced


"Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...
> I've got the following message when the system boots:
>
> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "
>
> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but
I
> get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's missing
> lots of Windows updates.
>
> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the
> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue
> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all the
> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?
>
> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on
> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still be
> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen
> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other
> options?
>
>
>


I've found that in some cases like that the repair console does not detect
a windows installation.

What I've done is to pop the drive into another system
and copy over a backup of "SYSTEM"
 
Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced


"philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:umCJF%23jVIHA.5396@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
> "Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...
>> I've got the following message when the system boots:
>>
>> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
>> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "
>>
>> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt, but
> I
>> get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's missing
>> lots of Windows updates.
>>
>> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from the
>> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue
>> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all
>> the
>> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?
>>
>> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs on
>> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still
>> be
>> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've seen
>> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other
>> options?
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> I've found that in some cases like that the repair console does not detect
> a windows installation.
>
> What I've done is to pop the drive into another system
> and copy over a backup of "SYSTEM"

Thanks,

I can copy files around by booting into the other partition. I'll try
copying the SYSTEM file from the Repair directory, but it's quite out of
date. I guess there's no way around a fresh install. I'll have to invest
some time setting up the backups for that PC, I use Acronis for backing up
the other PCs. It's saved my butt a couple of times.
 
Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

Re: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced


"Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:5uvqi7F1kdifhU1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:umCJF%23jVIHA.5396@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> >
> > "Bill Stock" <me7@privacy.net> wrote in message
> > news:5uv3bqF1k1765U1@mid.individual.net...
> >> I've got the following message when the system boots:
> >>
> >> "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
> >> corrupt:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced "
> >>
> >> which I realize means the registry is hosed. I've renamed System.Alt,
but
> > I
> >> get the same message. The Repair copy is over a year old, so it's
missing
> >> lots of Windows updates.
> >>
> >> The wierd thing is that I can't get into the installation on C: from
the
> >> Win2K CD to repair it, Windows cannot see it. If I boot into my rescue
> >> installation all the disks and files look fine, chkdsk runs OK and all
> >> the
> >> system files check out OK. Any idea why Windows can't see itself?
> >>
> >> This PC runs the home automation and has the backups for the other PCs
on
> >> the LAN, so there is not much configuration to lose. But it would still
> >> be
> >> nice to get the registry back without having to do a reinstall. I've
seen
> >> regchk, but did not want to go through the six disk routine, any other
> >> options?
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > I've found that in some cases like that the repair console does not
detect
> > a windows installation.
> >
> > What I've done is to pop the drive into another system
> > and copy over a backup of "SYSTEM"
>
> Thanks,
>
> I can copy files around by booting into the other partition. I'll try
> copying the SYSTEM file from the Repair directory, but it's quite out of
> date. I guess there's no way around a fresh install. I'll have to invest
> some time setting up the backups for that PC, I use Acronis for backing up
> the other PCs. It's saved my butt a couple of times.
>
>
>
>
>
>

Well when it happened to me, the backup "SYSTEM" file I had was not terribly
recent...
but it got the machine up and running. I now have the drive cloned several
times...just in case it happens again
 
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