Thread: Need help with Windows XP

I got this message when starting up the laptop the other day:

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

Anyone know how to fix this? It says i can attempt to repair using the original Setup CD, but the laptop never came with one.

Try running a repair or go back to an earlier date (i forgot the actual term). You cab also go to the manufacturer's website and get the disk to your laptop.
Posted via Mobile Device

You gotta love Microsoft.

Here is an article for you to read:

System Restore Using XP Cd and Recovery Console config/sytem /software missing

If you don't have a CD, theres a chance the laptop came with a utility partition on it to boot to.

What kind of laptop is it? Like, DELL, for instance, brings up the boot selection screen when you press f12 during boot.

It's an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC.

Pressing f12 does nothing

f11 !!!

It brought up the PC Recovery. Now, will messing with this erase my documents? pic/music/etc?

PC Recovery stated that it will only reset application files. All User Created files will not be deleted. I'm hoping it works. I started it a while ago, and Windows is restarting.

/me crosses his fingers!

How did it go?
Posted via Mobile Device

when I started, it said it was backing up my files. But once it finally rebooted, all my programs were installed, and no files to be found. I'm pretty devasted because there were tons of pictures and music files. When it first booted up, it mentioned that it couldnt' unzip one of the zip files it created because winzip wasn't installed. So I installed winzip, and now I can't find the zipfile.

On another note,there's a document folder with my name on it in my hard drive, but it won't let me access it. any ideas why, and how i can access it?