Windows XP Problem

[kefloxin]

Hey guys, I seem to be having a problem with my current Windows and I was wondering if someone here would be able to help me out.

I get the following error when I try to boot:

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

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screet to start repair.

I've tried this and even attempted to reformat. What happens is when I press to set up windows, its on the blue screen and on the bottom, it says "Searching for previous versions of Microsoft Windows" but it just hangs/freezes there and doesn't go anywhere after that. I've tried the recovery console as well where it says to select which operating system, I press 1, and then Enter but nothing happens after that as well. I'm really stumped on this one, so if someone here could help, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[aford10]

Make your optical drive the first boot device

insert the OS disc

restart

press any key when prompted to start the format/install process

 

[kefloxin]

Thank you for the reply, but I know that I have to do that, and I already did that. I get to the install process. It gives me the agreement, I agree, then it just freezes at "Searching for previous versions of Microsoft Windows" and nothing happens after that. Any idea on how I can go about that?

 

[aford10]

Sounds like the disc may be scratched. You may want to try making a copy of that disc and trying the copy.

 

[kefloxin]

I borrowed another CD from a friend but I still have no luck with it. Same problem. Any other ideas?

 

[aford10]

Did it stop in the same spot?

You could try a different optical drive.

You could boot to the repair console and run chkdsk /p to repair any errors on the HD.

 

[kefloxin]

Yes it froze in the same spot. And I tried with his extra drive as well, same problem. I also mentioned that it freezes even in the recovery/repair console, so no luck there either. I've reformatted plenty of computers but this is the first time I've encountered a problem like this. I'm really clueless at this point.

 

[aford10]

Was the extra drive an optical drive or hard drive?

^if it was optical, the HD is likely bad. You could try to hook it up as a slave drive and run a chkdsk on it.

 

[kefloxin]

I managed to fix it and get windows XP running on it, by deleting the partitions and re creating them by booting through a Windows 98 CD, but it was giving me a date/time invalid error every time I started Windows up so I tried taking out the CMOS battery, and re-inserting it hopeing it might fix the problem, but now nothing appears on the monitor at all. The PC seems to be working but nothing comes up on the monitor. (Monitor is perfectly fine because it works with my other PC). Could this be a video card problem? (the video card is onboard)

 

[aford10]

Is it POSTing now? Are you getting the normal beeps even without the video output?

 

[kefloxin]

No it is not POSTing. It seems to make the usual noises, nothing out of the ordinary, just no video output. I'm assuming there's something wrong with the video card (which unfortunately is built into the motherboard).

 

[aford10]

If it's making the normal beeps, it's POSTing. You can try a video card to see if you can get a display.