BSOD c0000218 error!!!

hey guys. i left my laptop on for a while and i got the BSOD. when i restarted it, i got this error message :

STOP : C0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file) :
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate
It is corrupt, absent or not writable.

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

The funny thing is, i didin't install any new software/hardware lately. The screen just turned blue for no reason...I tried using the recovery console but im stuck at the part it asks for the admin password. im the only user of the laptop. i tried all passwords that ive used before. i even left it blank but it still said invalid password...
help! what to do?

thanks in advance.

 

What version of Windows ? (Home/Pro/Server)

You could try to use this utility to reset the password on the user-account.

Then could try to follow this article that explains how to repair the registry in combination with System restore: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307545

Though another option is to perform a repair-install of Windows.

 

thanks. but i decided to reinstall the whole thing. when u said repair-install u meant choose to install and then choose to repair right? i tried but when i chose to install, it went straight to the partition page. i've already reinstalled win xp. thanks for ur help anyway!