registry file failure

Last night I ended a non responsive factory installed application on my Dell 4600C through the windows task manager. Next, that program wouldn't reopen to a double-click, so I tried a restart. Windows XP Home would not restart and I receive a blue screen error message as follows: Stop: C0000218 registry file failure..the registry cannot load the file..systemroot\system32\config\software..it is corrupt, absent, or not writable___ I have the XP Home restoration cd for sp1 but i have recently upgraded to sp2 as well. Assuming i'll end up restoring XP Home and this fixes the error, can i not reupgrade again to sp2, or would sp2 be somehow retained when i restore. I originally upgraded to sp2 by cd. I had called Dell already and they suggested this error will likely require restoring XP, which i can do upon returning home this evening. I just wanted some feedback from the good ppl who visit MG

 

When you use any kind of 'restore' CD it would automatically re-format your drive prior to installation...so nothing would be accessible through the normal methods.
The problem could be a bad image on the machine to begin with, I am not sure what process/application you ended, do not end processes randomly and write their name for troubleshooting/analysis purposes.
Tech Support of any company would love to tell you that you'd be better of using the restore CD because that takes the headache of troubleshooting the problem.
After you re-install, monitor the Task Manager and see if you see the same process and see if it is working fine...if it was a 3rd party firewall type of program it could have created conflicts with the Windows Firewall which gets updated and activated (even if it was disabled) when you install SP2.
You will need to analyze the events step by step to find the culprit, re-post if you need more help.
Also bare in mind that the restore CD or that application could be corrupted too if the problem re-occurs even prior to installing sp2.

 

thanks for taking time to respond...incidentally the application I ended was Dell Media Experience which is simply another place one can organize digital pics, music, dvd, and the like. After it stopped responding, I just ended it like i've had to do with MSN hotmail several times as of late, with no further adverse effect. When the application wouldn't reopen is when i tried the unsuccessful restart. In addition i typically disable windows sp2 firewall and let McAfee firewall guard my pc. With this possible restoration process I sure don't want to lose my digital pics which I store in My Pictures and MY Documents. I understand your point about the support ppl opting for a faster restoration fix. I have had no problems with viruses or adware and have been satisfied with McAfee virus protection and basic Ad-aware SE personal spyware protection. This seems like a big failure for just shutting off a running application, one I'd like to avoid later.