Windows will no longer start, Please Help!!!

[WWS]

I was having problem with steam program (for running half life 2) not installing correctly and not being able to remove it from my hard drive. I went to my computer and right clicked on the hard drive then to properties. When in properties I may have disabled the drive on accident and this is when my compter automatically restarted and gave the following:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\windows\system\config\system


Now windows will not run in safe mode, tried to recover using the OEM windows xp disk.

Do I have to perform a complete reistall of XP from scratch??

Also if i have to sdo this can I reregister windows with microsoft since I have already installed XP and registered??

Please Help

 

[Osiris]

XP Repair install

Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order.
When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you Do Not want to load Recovery Console). I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R".
Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations.
Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, read this Warning#2!
Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact.

 

[WWS]

Shoot I wish I would have read sooner. I already formatted the c drive to perform a clean install. I will keep this in mind if future problems occur.

 

[Osiris]

I didnt think you tried that, you said recover so that why i posted that

 

[WWS]

I tried to recover window but I got this:

The system registry does not appear to have an active control set key, the system registry may be damaged. I figured I better just start fresh.

Will I have trouble re-registering windows XP with microsoft???

Thanks for you info

 

[Osiris]

sounds like you had a recovery partition and it was deleted or somehow corrupted. what cd did you use? did u register it yet?

 

[WWS]

I used the OEM windows XP with SP2 software that I bought from NEWEGG when I built my rig about 2 months ago. I registered it when I first downloaded windows

 

[Osiris]

you should be fine.

 

[WWS]

Thanks again, If I need help in the future is it ok PM you.

 

[Osiris]

sure is...