\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced corrupted

[DeusExMachina]

Just a little tip for a problem that I noticed is rather common.

 

 

 

You boot up your W2K or WXP computer one day, and the freaking thing doesn't boot. It starts up normally, going through the text part of your startup... then just before your Windows Splash screen, it all goes black and you see this.

 

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

 

Or it could be a variation like

 

Loader Error 3... bla bla bla

 

 

You try to restart in "Last Known Good Configuration".... doesn't work.

You try to restart in "Safe Mode"... and it still doesn't work.

 

At this point, some ppl will already start to despair and contemplate a total reformat.

 

If you installed Windows on a separate partition from your data, then congrats. You simply have to reinstall Windows, and then all the accompanying drivers, patches, and then your applications and stuff and you're back in business. Time consuming perhaps... but still OK.

 

If you didn't... then you have to physically remove the HDD from your comp... and slave it to another working PC to copy the data out before reformatting and reinstalling (plus... learn a lesson to always install Windows on a separate OS partition just for this reason )

 

Or worse... you don't have another PC at home, so you LL have to bring it to work, or a friend's place for help. heh heh heh. Really FUBAR.

 

 

 

But there's a faster way. This error is actually recoverable within 5 minutes. All you need if your original Windows installation CD.

 

 

1. Use the Windows 2000/XP CD-ROM start the computer. (Boot from CD....)

2. When you see the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R for "repair."

3. Press C to run the Recovery Console tool.

4. Select the installation that you want to repair. (1. C:\Windows or C:\WINNT, usually)

5. Type the administrator password. (the original password when you first installed)

 

6. Once you've reached the console command prompt... it's a few easy command lines.

 

cd system32\config

ren system system.old

copy system.alt system

exit

 

System should reboot... and most of the time, you should be able to boot back normally.

 

 

Your registry or hive was corrupted when you didn't shut down properly... or interrupted the shut down/start up process .... or installed something that totally fvcked up your system. Whichever...

 

Fortunately, Windows does save a copy of your system config as an ALT file. So what this did was to replace the working config with the backup.

 

Voila...

 

If this doesn't work of course, then you probably screwed up something else like the NTLDR file... which you will then need to access the i386 folder and expand some other system files.

[redbeacon]

Originally posted by DeusExMachina

If this doesn't work of course, then you probably screwed up something else like the NTLDR file... which you will then need to access the i386 folder and expand some other system files.

 

Tell me about NTLDR and its associated errors...

 

They're a nightmare to troubleshoot