Registry File Failure?

everytime i try to start my laptop computer, i get this message on a blue screen (although, it does not look like a traditional Blue Screen of Death)...i've tried reseting to the last settings that worked, but i end up at this same screen:
--------------------
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.
---------------------
now...i THINK i got this message a few months ago...it was on this same type of screen but i cannot remember if the text was the same...

i called Dell...and after the standard 2hour wait, they helped me solve the problem...this is what i did:

they had me boot to a command prompt...this is where my first question comes in...how do you do this? when i press F8 during startup, i get the choice of options, and the only one that looks like what i need is "boot in safemode with command prompt"...but if i do this, i end up back at the same blue screen i described above...so...is there another way to get to a command prompt?

after this, i entered a command (i can't remember what it was, sorry )and then had to wait for maybe an hour while watching some percentage go up and up...when this was done, my problem was fixed...

i'm sorry for being so vague, but this is all i can remember off the top of my head...the lady on the phone at Dell said it was a very complex problem (that she could not understand/explain to me)...so i doubt this is caused by a virus...any clue as to what command i ran? does this make sense to anybody?? it certainly doesn't make sense to me...thanks guys

 

i'll take a couple of guesses....

it could be a bad memory chip, or bad drivers.
it could be a corrupted system that, even if you get it up and running, it'll never be the same.

i'd do a complete format and re-install your operating system. MHO

if the problem exists after re-installing, then focus on hardware.

again, just my humble opinion. i have found it's much easier to format/re-install than to mess around with a corrupted system.