One of the files containing the system ...

"One of the files containing the system’s Registry data had to be recovered by use of a log or alternate copy. The recovery was successful."

My PC is using XP with service pack 3.

The PC started today with the above message. It has done this before and, the same as today, everything now seems to functioned OK.

Is there anything I can do to avoid this message?

 

I would recommend checking the integrity of the Hard Drive.

The quickest test I am aware of is Crystal Disk Info. It's a very small stand alone program that will read the S.M.A.R.T data in the HDD and give an advanced idea of the condition of the drive.

If that shows good, Run the Disk Error Check that requires a reboot. In My Computer, right click the C Drive and go to Properties > Tools > Error Checking and check both boxes then click OK. It will run chkdsk the next time the computer starts. This will check the file system integrity.

 

As well as the above, it would be worth running something like Memtest86+, to rule out bad RAM. It's also possible that security software could be interfering with hive data being flushed to disk on shutdown, by having a handle to the hive and not releasing in time.