Annoying vicious circle - Windows XP Pro trouble

[Coryk]

I have a Dell XPS 700 running XP Pro and currently having some issues. It got a file corrupted (\windows\system32\config\system) normally this is an easy fix by just popping in the Windows XP disc. However, when I do this I get a blue screen that does not allow me to run the disk (000007B), so I can't run the computer to fix the blue screen problem (missing system file) and the blue screen problem disallows me running the XP disc...would anyone have some suggestions? I've spent about 4-5 hours reading forum posts about how to fix one problem or the other, but I can't find a solution to fix both at the same time or a bypass to 1 problem to fix the other problem.

I was planning on reformatting the computer soon anyways, so I don't mind losing everything on this computer.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Why not do a repair install? It will rewrite all your system files and keep your personal data.

 

[Coryk]

Honestly, I'm not sure how to do that. Do I use the Windows XP pro disc? That and the resource CD are the only ones I have currently

 

[MindoverMaster]

Repair install instructions: How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install

You need the XP CD.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

The 0x07b stop error is usually caused from bad system memory, or a corrupted file system. Something caused the directory to become corrupt, need to find out what caused it before you do anything IMO.

 

[Coryk]

Oh, I have done those steps before, and I never get a "Welcome to Windows Setup" screen, I don't get any hit enter to start setup or press R for repair option like they talk about, the CD starts loading windows components then when it's done it goes straight into a Stop:0x0000007B error. I could overtired and using the wrong disc or something however.

 

[carnageX]

Try burning a Memtest86+ disc from Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool and run it for a few hours to see if your RAM is bad. If it gives any errors at all, then take out all but 1 stick and test each stick individually to see which one is bad.

 

[Coryk]

I noticed that my Norton Ghost disk allows me to view and delete files even in my desktops current state. Could I possible delete a few files or drivers that are giving me the 7b stop error, or would this further hurt my ability to fix it?

 

[carnageX]

I would avoid deleting any files..

Go into your BIOS and see what mode your HDD is setup as. See if it's setup as AHCI (SATA) or IDE.

 

[Coryk]

It seems to be an IDE setup on the HDD but it has SATA drives. Sorry I'm making this more difficult by not being knowledgeable of this area of computers.

I just realized this XPS has 2 hard drives, would it be possible to swap the C drive and D drive? I've never put anything on the D drive or even used it at all, would windows be installed on it already?