Registry corruption, Windows XP cannot start recovery method

SUMMARY This article describes how to recover a Windows XP system that cannot be started due to registry corruption. This step does not guarantee that the system will be fully restored to its previous state; however, with this step, you should be able to recover the data. Office Software Trouble Notebook Repair Training If recurring issues related to registry corruption occur, Microsoft recommends that you obtain the fix described in the following article and install it: Monitor failure 318159 Repair and recovery of corrupted registry in Windows XP When you try to start or restart Windows XP-based computer, you may receive one of the following error messages: Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \\ WINDOWS \\ SYSTEM32 \\ CONFIG \\ SYSTEM Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \\ WINDOWS \\ SYSTEM32 \\ CONFIG \\ SOFTWARE Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry can not load the hive (file): \\ SystemRoot \\ System32 \\ Config \\ SOFTWARE or its log or alternate System error: Lsass.exe When trying to update a password the return status indicates that the value provided as the current password is not correct in the first part of the first part, you in turn do the following: start the recovery console, create a temporary folder, the existing registration Back up the table file to a new location, delete the registry file for the current location, and then copy the registry file from the repair folder to the System32\\Config folder. After completing this procedure, a registry will be created that you can use to start Windows XP. This registry was created and saved during the initial installation of Windows XP, so any changes and settings made after the installation process is lost. To complete the first part, follow these steps: 1. Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or Windows XP CD the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer. When prompted, click to select all the options that are required to start your computer from the CD-ROM drive. 2. When the “Welcome to the Installer” screen appears, press R to launch the Recovery Console. 3. If you are using a dual-boot or multi-boot computer, select the installation you want to access from the Recovery Console. 4. When prompted, type the administrator password. If the administrator password is empty, press Enter. 5. At the command prompt of the Recovery Console, type the following lines and press Enter after each line: md tmp copy c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\system c:\\windows\\tmp\\system.bak Copy c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\software c:\\windows\\tmp\\software.bak copy c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\sam c:\\windows\\tmp\\sam.bak copy c:\\windows\\system32\\ Config\\security c:\\windows\\tmp\\security.bak copy c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\default c:\\windows\\tmp\\default.bak delete c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\system delete c:\\windows \\system32\\config\\software delete c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\sam delete c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\security delete c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\default copy c:\\windows\ epair\\system c: \\windows\\system32\\config\\system copy c:\\windows\ epair\\software c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\software copy c:\\windows\ epair\\sam c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\sam copy c:\\ Windows\ epair\\security c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\security copy c:\\windows\ epair\\default c:\\windows\\system32\\config\\default 6. Type exit The Recovery Console. The computer will restart. Note: This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed in the C:\\Windows folder. If Windows XP is installed in another location, be sure to change C:\\Windows to the appropriate windows_folder. If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the text in step 2 and create a text file (for example, “Regcopy1.txt”). To create this file, run the following command when you start the Recovery Console: batch regcopy1.txt Using the batch command in the Recovery Console, you can process all the commands in a text file in order. When using the batch command, you do not need to type multiple commands manually. Part 2 To complete the steps described in this section, you must be logged in as an administrator or an administrative user (a user who has an account in the Administrators group). If you are using Windows XP Home Edition, you can log in as an administrative user. If you are logged in as an administrator, you must first start Windows XP Home Edition in Safe mode. To start your Windows XP Home Edition computer in Safe mode, follow these steps. Note: Please print these instructions before proceeding. After restarting your computer in Safe Mode, you will not be able to view these instructions. If you are using an NTFS file system, you should also print the instructions in KB article KB309531. The article is referenced in step 7. 1. Click Start, click Shut Down (or click Shut Down Computer), click Restart, and then click OK (or click Restart). 2. Press F8. On computers that are configured to boot to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when you see the boot menu. 3. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate security mode option and press Enter. 4. If you are using a dual-boot or multi-boot system, use the arrow keys to select the installation you want to access, then press Enter. In the second part, you will use System Restore to copy these files from the backup location of the registry file. This folder is not available in the Recovery Console and is usually not visible during normal use. Before you begin this process, you must change multiple settings to make the folder visible: 1. Start Windows Explorer. 2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options. 3. Click the View tab. 4. Under “Hide files and folders”, click to select “Show all files and folders” and click to clear the “Hide protected operating system files (recommended)” checkbox. . 5. When a dialog box appears asking you to confirm the display of these files, click “yes". 6. Double-click the drive where Windows XP is installed to display a list of folders. Be sure to click on the correct drive. 7. Open the System Volume Information folder. Because this folder is set to a super hidden folder, this folder is not available and is grayed out. Note: This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders, such as “_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}”. Note: You may receive the following error message: C:\\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied. If you receive this information, review the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article to gain access to this folder and continue with the follow-up Steps: 309531 () How to get access to the System Volume Information folder 8. Open a folder created in the past. You may need to click on the details on the View menu to see when these folders were created. There may be one or more folders in this folder that begin with “RPx”. These are the restore points. 9. Open one of the folders and locate the Snapshot subfolder. The following path is an example of a Snapshot folder path: C:\\System Volume Information\\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\\RP1\\Snapshot 10. From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to C:\\Windows \\ Tmp folder:? _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM 11. as shown below, rename C:???? \\ file Windows \\ Tmp folder:? _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT will rename the DEFAULT _? REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY Renamed to SECURITY ? Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to SOFTWARE ? Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM ? Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM These files are backup registry files generated by System Restore. Because you are using the registry file created by the installer, the registry does not know the existence and availability of these restore points. A new folder with a new GUID will be created under System Volume Information, which creates a restore point that includes a copy of the registry file copied in the first section. Therefore, you must not use the latest folder, especially if the timestamp of the folder is the same as the current time. The current system configuration does not recognize the previous restore point. You must have a previous copy of the registry from the previous restore point to make the previous restore point available again. Move the registry files copied to the Tmp folder in the C:\\Windows folder, making sure these files are available in the Recovery Console. You must replace the current registry file in the C:\\Windows\\System32\\Config folder with these files. By default, the Recovery Console's folder access permissions are limited and you cannot copy files from the System Volume folder. Note: The steps described in this section assume that you are running a computer that uses the FAT32 file system. For more information about how to use the NTFS file system access System Volume Information folder, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 309531 () How to gain access to the System Volume Information folder < Br>