Vista won't start - Registry file failure

Hi. My brother-in-law is having a problem with his 3 or 4-month old computer. It starts up really slow (takes around 5-10 minutes), gets this error, reboots, then gets the same error in an endless loop:

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot \System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

Collecting data for crash dump...
etc. etc.

His computer is running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit SP1 on an Intel DG31PR motherboard, Intel quad core processor, 3GB RAM, NVidia GeForce 9600 graphics card.

His 500GB HDD was almost full the last time it booted successfully - he downloads a lot using utorrent. Could that have something to do with the error? His hard drive had two partitions, one solely for software installations and the other for data storage.

Also, he leaves his computer on 24/7 even when he's not home. Not many people do that here in the Philippines since the climate is hot (computer is likely to overheat and might cause a fire) and electricity fluctuates a lot. His computer isn't connected to a UPS or AVR. How can we test if the computer got damaged by a power outage or something like that?

Any input is highly appreciated. Thanks.

 

The most likely cause of this is the hard drive is damaged and must be repaired. CHKDSK /R will need to be run to try to repair it. To do so, try the following steps:

1. Boot the computer with your Windows installation disc.

2. When you are prompted to select Repair or Recover, press R.

3. Type the Administrator password when prompted.

4. At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /R, and then press Enter.

5. Read the results, and then take any steps that you must take to complete the process. You may need to run CHKDSK /F instead to fix the problem.

6. Restart the computer, and see if Windows works now.

If that doesn't work go with clean install.

And if that doesn't help you hdd maybe is faulty.

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545 should be looked over as well.

 

We tried what you suggested and put the Vista installation disc in the drive. It said something which I understood to mean "Windows was unable to start properly, boot from and disc and attempt repair?" Clicked OK and things were repaired automatically.

Vista now boots up successfully but it keeps freezing. It freezes even when no programs are running. My husband thinks its probably a virus or other malware hogging up the computer's resources and keeps trying to access the internet, so we might try your malware removal procedure. I'm tempted to just do a clean install but don't want to spend days reinstalling all the games. Thanks.