XP will not start & access to md tmp denied

[Dave]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

At start up get following message: windows\system32
\config\system missing or corrupt. Went to microsoft
knowledge base article 307545. First step is "md tmp".
When entered "access is denied". Would like to recover
old files at least.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Make sure you do a

cd \windows

first to insure positioning. You can also try

md c:\windows\tmp

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp|


"dave" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:208801c47cb1$253bd3f0$a601280a@phx.gbl...
> At start up get following message: windows\system32
> \config\system missing or corrupt. Went to microsoft
> knowledge base article 307545. First step is "md tmp".
> When entered "access is denied". Would like to recover
> old files at least.

 

[Dave]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Thanks but both those options return the same message.
Access denied

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Presumably you're doing this from within recovery console? If so, your
options are pretty limited. There are settings in the registry as well as
permission settings that need be altered but you can't do that inside RC.
:-/

Since you're currently posting from some working machine you have some
options, but they'll depend on how technically competent you are and what
kind of OS install media you have handy. One option you have is to
physically remove the HD and temporarily drop it in the machine you're
currently using and do the prep work there. You'll still need to put the
drive back in the original machine in order to complete the system restore
operation. Or, you can try a parallel install if you have a setup CD that
allows that; note that going that way with standard OS tools will put in the
situation of having to redownload all security patches since the parallel
install will overlay everything in the program files directory. One way to
avoid that is with a 3rd party partition and boot manager. With the latter
you can create a small partition, install isolated there, mount the old
partition, etc.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp|


"dave" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1d0001c47cb5$9294b300$a301280a@phx.gbl...
> Thanks but both those options return the same message.
> Access denied

 

[Dave]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Thanks for your help. I originally had partitioned my
hard drive so I went ahead and installed a new system on
a different drive. It appears everything is back up and
I can access all of the drives. I don't know if there is
a way now to repair the other system but I'm going ahead
and removing important info regardless. Thanks again for
your help.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (More info?)

Cool.

Yes, you can now salvage the original OS image. Just follow the steps as
outlined in the KB. If need be, and likley, you may have to take ownership
of the old windows directory if you can not currently write to it.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp|


"dave" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1df001c47cdb$cfb82390$a301280a@phx.gbl...
>
> Thanks for your help. I originally had partitioned my
> hard drive so I went ahead and installed a new system on
> a different drive. It appears everything is back up and
> I can access all of the drives. I don't know if there is
> a way now to repair the other system but I'm going ahead
> and removing important info regardless. Thanks again for
> your help.

 

[lisiwo]

OK, I decided to refresh this thread as I had the same problem and there was no solution to this case anywhere I googled.

problem:
____________

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

You try to follow instructions in this article (which btw is a way to solve this):
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B307545&x=20&y=15

but You get stuck because when You type:

"md tmp"

and You get:

"ACCESS DENIED"

but in fact there's no password


reason (in my case):
_____________

recovery console(windows installer) did not recognize my system disk and accesed another one.
My system disk was a 2xSSD RAID array volumine (and recovery console accesed my "regular" - WD black caviar hdd instead of the RAID array where the system was).

note: if the first line (the one You begin typing with) looks like this: "C:\" instead of this: "C:\WINDOWS"
it most likely means that for some reason recovery console picked and accessed a different disk - not the one with Windows.

solution:
_____________

You have to load RAID drivers before You acces the recovery console so it can see the system drive.
when the installer loads You have to hit F6 (at the begining - there will be a prompt)
and then load the RAID driver ICH10R from the floppy (just the same way You'd set up the RAID before installing OS).

now You can follow the microsoft support article. For me everything worked fine - all data is there and the system is fully operational.

note: in my case after loading the RAID driver the recovery console listed the system disk as "D" (originally, before it crashed, it was "C") so remember to put the proper path when following the recovery instructions

"...copy d:\windows\system32\..." and so on instead of "copy c:\... and so on"

note2: my OS is Windows XP Professional x64 bit eddition


I hope the solution in Your case is as simple as it was in mine.
cheers from Poland!


lisiwo

 

[technohic]

I just had the same issue on one of our PCs. Thing was slow to get to the recovery console and gave the accesss denied. Typed in DIR and got an error I ran Fixboot and fixmbr for just wild shots in the dark and no luck. Then I ran chkdsk and after that, Windows booted.

From the console, rund chkdsk /p/r and be patient as it will take a while to even show that its doing something, but it will.

I would be very suspicious of your hard drive after that though, and make a back up somewhere.


-Technohic