blue screen xp will not boot PLEASE HELP!!

hello all i am just about to snap....i'm getting a blue screen upon trying to boot windows xp home...the contents of the error message are this: c0000218 somthing about a 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 cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE....i think its due to a game gta san adreas which was a russian copy i got from ebay ..its not the first time i've had this problem the ..i have no recovery system i wanted to setup the express recovery i got with my gigabyte motherboard but could never i even figure it out i had even made a partition for this purpose ....in any case nothing is accessible i can't even scroll in my boot menu...or choose an option at the black screen that gives you the choice of booting in safe mode and so fourth .....last time this happened i just sent for a new hard drive since it is covered by seagate ..this drive is only about 35 days old...what is the cause how do i prevent it from happening again next month? besides not installing san andreas ..no worries there...its a coaster

 

First, I think the Gigabyte Express Recovery refers to BIOS recovery, and not OS recovery, but I could be wrong. Second, you have a corrupt registry (duh, like you didn't know that already ). Without a Windows installation disc, there's not a lot you can do. If you do have a Windows CD, check out this article at the Microsoft web site. If you choose to follow the steps in that article, be sure to read it all the way through at least 3 times before starting the process. Print it out if possible. Do NOT skip any steps, and be sure you type everything EXACTLY PERFECT. Other than that, and formatting and reloading Windows clean, all I can suggest is to run a full diagnostic on your hard drive and RAM to be sure your hardware is OK. You can download the Seagate diagnostic from their web site, and memory diagnostics can be downloaded from the Memory Downloads here at Major Geeks. Be sure to use a bootable test...
Good Luck!

 

mmm that doesn't help where is this Recovery console? if its in windows mind you i can't get to anything within the os ..i can't even scroll up and down on the menu that has the boot using safe mode options as i said...i wish i hadn't given up on preparing a recovery so easily...who knew i only had a month of functionality though.....i'll be greatful for any further help ..i do have a disc with my copy of windows xp ...i also have a copy of xp pro a friend gave me ..but i can't find a way to get into anything

 

To fix this problem you either have to boot from a CD or hook the harddisk up to another computer and restore the registry from there.
Since you have a windows CD, you should be able to run the procedure in the guide dlb linked to. You need to do everything below "Manual steps to recover a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting".
Part four may not be needed, I never do it, but this depends on how the system works after part 1-3.

Read the tutorial before actually performing the steps.
If this seems too complicated I suggest you turn your computer in at a local computer repair shop and get them to do it for you.

 

If this seems too complicated? indeed it is as i've stated in both my posts...i can't do anything...when i try my windows xp disk..guess what happens? nothing at all ....same for the safe mod screen not a solitary response. its a non stop ride to bluescreensville currently my home.

 

Is the computer set to attempt to boot from CD before booting from HD?
If it doesnt boot from the CD then this is probably the cause.
Go into the BIOS and change the boot order so that the CD/DVD rom is first.

 

do u have any software to erase a hard drive?? if so i would erase it and start fresh myself install your windows cd and obtain service pack 2 and 3 from a safe secure computer send to a usb flash drive and install them after u install your fresh xp after doin that i would install an antivirus program then configure your internet connection and update your antivirus and update windows as well. after u r fully up to date i would goto to the microsoft website and obtain and install the microsoft recovery console to me this would be a WHOLE lot easier and less technical a fix for u hope it helps u

 

OK- so you do have an XP install disc. Great! Power up the PC and get into the BIOS (also known as 'Setup' or 'CMOS'). Usually you'll get there by pressing Del, F2, or F1 right when the system powers on. The key you'll press depends on the PC/motherboard manufacturer. Once in the BIOS, poke around looking for 'Boot Device Priority' or 'Boot Order' and make sure the CD drive is first, and the hard drive is second or third. Before saving your changes and exiting the BIOS, put the Windows XP disc in the CD drive. When you save the changes and exit the BIOS, the PC will restart and boot to the CD. You'll see "Press any key to boot from CD...." on the screen; press any key. Then you'll start the 'blue screen' portion of the Windows installation process. This is also how you get to the Recovery Console. The CD will spin for a bit and will load some files. At some point, you'll have a screen with some options: you can press Enter to install Windows, press 'R' for the Recovery Console, and a 3rd option that I don't remember. Press 'R' and then read/follow the on screen prompts. Eventually, you'll be at what looks like an olde-tyme DOS prompt. This is the Recovery Console. All of this was explained in Part One of the article I linked to earlier. If this all seems too complicated, and you have nothing you want to save on the drive, you can use this guide for a clean install of Windows. In either case, you should run the diagnostics I suggested earlier just so you can be sure that your hardware is healthy enough for stable computing:

It may not be a bad idea to perform a complete, deep format of the hard drive. I recently did a clean install on a PC, and it would go along fine until the first reboot, then it would error out with a "corrupt or missing file: hal.dll". This kept happening until I performed a full format. Using the quick format during Windows install apparently wasn't formatting 'deep' enough. I ran a bunch of hardware diagnostics and everything tested 100%. Once I used the full-format option, everything was OK.

Good luck! Keep us posted, and feel free to ask more questions.

[dlb]

 

i've tried this dlb ..it does nothing at all ...this has happened, befor everyone says to reinstall or run this or that theirs just no window of opportunity to do anything. with the disk in my drive and the drive being frist boot device i still can't scroll up or down on the safe mode menu befor the xp boot screen. it does say however press any key to boot from cd on a screen i get befor the safe mode screen and i can see and hear that the rom is reading the xp install disk...so i do press any key....but it doesn't do anything ..i just continue on marching fourth toward the blue screen helplessly....any ideals ...i can't think of anything come on dlb your like the majorgeeks forum god

 

First Attempt - I always reccomend trying this first
This kind of stuff is my niche.
Load the Windows XP install CD.
Boot into the install CD and then when you get to the blue screen with all the info on it, press R. The screen will then do something then turn black. From here
Select your install.
Type in Administrator
Press Enter.
Then type fixboot and press enter
after that is done,
Then type fixmbr and press enter
Then you can type exit and power down.
This should have fixed it. If not, please post again.

 

you should read the posts dawg....not to be rude at this point i am always greatful for help...but i can't get the install cd to load up thats the entire problem and the blue screen i am refering to is the useless one about the hive file

 

if u want to avoid having to pay alot of money at a repair shop try getting some software to erase the drive and reformat if it gives u a screen to boot from cd almost any eraser product will run no matter what i suggest rescue disk 20 bucks at wal mart erase drive put xp cd in after erasing and formatting and setting your partition to bootable and it should run fine unless there is a bad error on hard drive itself

 

ok guys heres the deal i am now trying to build a bootable recovery disk for xp home, using pe builder...but whenever i try to compile i get a message that says syntax is incorrect ...or path not found even if i feed it the file path exactly. i'm building the recovery disk on a vista machine would that be an issue..and i've already got the contents of my win xp disk on this hard drive ...i'm not sure what other factors to add in all this its not an administration access issue ..any ideas? and will this allow me to format my drive?...it sounds as if it should..i've been working on this problem on my own for the last 2 days on this..because i don't like to annoy people with alot of stupid questions but this really is alittle out of my depth. thanks

 

also would i beable to format my hard disk with a linux based os or utility program so such as the one here http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page ....or any other such software?

 

Have you fixed your problem....here is what I am dealing with....is that ok to include my similar issue on a post reply????



HP DV6000,Windows XP,2 years old
recent issues b4 current NON BOOT STATUS:
Avast antivirus had been picking up some files that couldnt be deleted
I was getting popups...
comp. would start up on its own from hibernation state after a few minutes...this was happening for about 4-5 days

I started to clean it up
scans, spyware scans, hijack this
defrag

returned home after a couple days.
when it would not boot from its hibernatory state

Black Screen: offered 3 safe modes and normal modes.>all of which resulted in a blue screen that appeared only for a few seconds asking me about potential changes in software and antivirus i think

I put the recovery image on an external drive.

I am having issues burning that to DVD.
(using a friends hp dv9000 laptop)
stops due to Buffer Limit error (i think that is what it said)
CAN I USE CDS OR DVDS FOR RECOVERY DISCS
tried nero,sonic,avs...(one of them said it couldnt fit it on a 4.7 dvd+r....I dont know why it would just make a set of discs as such)

Recovery=10.3 gigs of files

So I tried to see if I could install UNBUNTU (5.1 Linux)...it had a Boot error during the installation.

I do not think the Hard Drive is screwed...

I transferred most of the important data prior to this implosion...but I wanted to obtain a few more things.

If i need to get a new hard drive: can I only upgrade to a 160gig 2.5"
part # 438485-001
and is it true this model only takes 2 gigs of ram?

I am so very thankful for any and all help regarding this...I am stressed over this and want to enjoy this time of year....my birthday is coming soon too...I live in ohio...ok thats enough about me for now....THANK YOU