Hi:

My 15 year-old daughter has a Gateway system that is 4 years old, running XP 
Home. Today she encountered a black screen on start-up that essentially 
states Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or 
corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG. We can't find the Operating System CD for 
Windows XP Home, and my XP Professional OS disc I read cannot be used instead.
I have a read a resolution that requires ijnsertion of the OS XP Home disc; 
boot from CD; Windows set-up initializes and press "R" to repair recovery 
console; hard drive is examined; perform a disck check (chkdsk /p and 
fixboot); type exit to restart; exit to restart and then select Last Known 
Good Configuration. Question: anything to download to make a boot disc for 
Home Edition with minimum files that will allow me to attempt a fix? I do not 
want to purchase an OS for Windows XP Home edition.

Thank you.

Adam

On Dec 15, 8:01=A0am, adam <a...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Hi:
>
> My 15 year-old daughter has a Gateway system that is 4 years old, running=
 XP
> Home. Today she encountered a black screen on start-up that essentially
> states Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing o=
r
> corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG. We can't find the Operating System CD=
 for
> Windows XP Home, and my XP Professional OS disc I read cannot be used ins=
tead.
> I have a read a resolution that requires ijnsertion of the OS XP Home dis=
c;
> boot from CD; Windows set-up initializes and press "R" to repair recovery
> console; hard drive is examined; perform a disck check (chkdsk /p and
> fixboot); type exit to restart; exit to restart and then select Last Know=
n
> Good Configuration. Question: anything to download to make a boot disc fo=
r
> Home Edition with minimum files that will allow me to attempt a fix? I do=
 not
> want to purchase an OS for Windows XP Home edition.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Adam

I think I have fixed this one before:

Was the issue preceded by a power interruption, aborted restart, or
improper shutdown?

These can cause corruption in the file system which must be fixed
before you do anything else.

If any of those events have occurred, you should boot into the Windows
Recovery Console using a bootable XP installation CD, or create on a
bootable XP Recovery Console CD. This is not the same as any recovery
disks that might have come a store bought system.

For each of your hard disks, you should then run:

chkdsk /r

You can make a bootable Recovery Console CD by downloading an ISO file
and burning it to a CD.

The bootable ISO image file you need to download is called:

xp_rec_con.iso

Download the ISO file from here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ueyyzfymmig

Use this free and easy program to create your bootable CD:

http://www.imgburn.com/

It would be a good idea to test your bootable CD on a computer that is
working.

You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD ROM
drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk.  These
adjustments are made before Windows tries to load.  If you miss it,
you will have to reboot the system again.

When you boot on the CD, follow the prompts:

Press any key to boot from CD...

The Windows Setup... will proceed.

Press 'R' to enter the Recovery Console.

Select the installation you want to access (usually  1: C:\WINDOWS)

You may be asked to enter the Administrator password (usually empty).

You should be in the C:\WINDOWS folder.  This is the same as the C:
\WINDOWS folder you see in explorer.

RC allows basic file commands - copy, rename, replace, delete, cd,
chkdsk, fixboot, fixmbr, etc.

From the command prompt window run the chkdsk command on the drive
where Windows is installed to try to repair any problems on the
afflicted drive.

Running chkdsk is fine to run even if it doesn't find any problems.

Assuming your boot drive is C, run the following command:

chkdsk C: /r

Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find.  It may take
a long time to complete or appear to be 'stuck'.  Be patient.  If the
HDD light is still flashing, it is doing something.  Keep an eye on
the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress.

Remove the CD and type 'exit' to leave the RC and restart the
computer.

You do not have to adjust the BIOS again to boot on the HDD since the
CD will not be present.

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

"How Do I Repair A Missing Or Corrupt Windows\System32\Conf\System File"
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor1.htm
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

On 12/15/2009 8:01 AM, adam wrote:
> WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG

And the good news is that OP's XP Pro installation CD *will* work (in 
*this* particular situation) because all he needs from it is the 
Recovery Console.

Leonard Grey wrote:
> "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP
> from starting"
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545
>
> "How Do I Repair A Missing Or Corrupt Windows\System32\Conf\System
> File"
> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor1.htm
> --- 
> Leonard Grey
> Errare humanum est
>
> On 12/15/2009 8:01 AM, adam wrote:
>> WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG 

On Dec 15, 12:09=A0pm, "Daave" <da...@example.com> wrote:
> And the good news is that OP's XP Pro installation CD *will* work (in
> *this* particular situation) because all he needs from it is the
> Recovery Console.
>
>
>
> Leonard Grey wrote:
> > "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP
> > from starting"
> >http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545
>
> > "How Do I Repair A Missing Or Corrupt Windows\System32\Conf\System
> > File"
> >http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor1.htm
> > ---
> > Leonard Grey
> > Errare humanum est
>
> > On 12/15/2009 8:01 AM, adam wrote:
> >> WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG

Yes it will for RC, and they can also make a RC CD for those rainy
days.

Jose wrote:
> On Dec 15, 12:09 pm, "Daave" <da...@example.com> wrote:
>> And the good news is that OP's XP Pro installation CD *will* work (in
>> *this* particular situation) because all he needs from it is the
>> Recovery Console.
>>
>>
>>
>> Leonard Grey wrote:
>>> "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP
>>> from starting"
>>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545
>>
>>> "How Do I Repair A Missing Or Corrupt Windows\System32\Conf\System
>>> File"
>>> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor1.htm
>>> ---
>>> Leonard Grey
>>> Errare humanum est
>>
>>> On 12/15/2009 8:01 AM, adam wrote:
>>>> WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG
>
> Yes it will for RC, and they can also make a RC CD for those rainy
> days.

Agreed. It's *always* good to have options. 

<below>
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

On 12/15/2009 1:07 PM, Daave wrote:
> Jose wrote:
>> On Dec 15, 12:09 pm, "Daave"<da...@example.com>  wrote:
>>> And the good news is that OP's XP Pro installation CD *will* work (in
>>> *this* particular situation) because all he needs from it is the
>>> Recovery Console.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Leonard Grey wrote:
>>>> "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP
>>>> from starting"
>>>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545
>>>
>>>> "How Do I Repair A Missing Or Corrupt Windows\System32\Conf\System
>>>> File"
>>>> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor1.htm
>>>> ---
>>>> Leonard Grey
>>>> Errare humanum est
>>>
>>>> On 12/15/2009 8:01 AM, adam wrote:
>>>>> WINDOWS\SYSTEM 32\CONFIG
>>
>> Yes it will for RC, and they can also make a RC CD for those rainy
>> days.
>
> Agreed. It's *always* good to have options.
>
>
Backing up is also an option.

LG