Windows xp, corrupted or missing file

When I google this issue, it seems to be fairly common, however when trying to resolve the issue, I am encountering further issues.

To begin with, I boot up Windows XP and I get a message saying that the windows/system32/config/system is either missing or corrupted.

I then tried booting up into a windows xp setup cd (from another computer's original cd package), when trying to repair, I get a message saying that the setup did not find a hard drive on the computer. (not sure why)

Thanks for any information you can provide.

edit:

Hard drive is listed correctly in bios

Have tried switching sata operation from Raid autodetect/ahci to raid autodetect/ata

booted from xp setup cd to recovery console, ran chkdsk /r, completed and then rebooted. Still same issue.

motherboard c51354-406
chipset 925x express

yes it's old. i have a newer computer which is also broken. In an ideal world i would fix my new computer (about a year old) which is probably a motherboard issue, but I'm not positive yet. And since I live in a small town, I'm either going to fix it on my own, (by sending away for parts, or w/e) or buy a new computer. (that computer was damaged when a cup of water was spilled on the tower)

 

This may not fix your problem, but XP doesn't have native support for SATA drives. You mentioned using another computer's CD to try the repair with and if that computer didn't originally come with a SATA drive, the lack of drivers could be causing your issue.

Here is a link to slipstreaming SATA drivers into an XP installation CD. http://www.digitgeek.com/how-to-slipstream-sata-drivers-into-xp-cd/. Hope this helps.

 

It sound to me like you have either a corrupt registry or possibly a few bad blocks on the computer. I am not a fan of checkdisk. I use a program i paid for called spinrite it is a harddrive checking program and as far as i am concerned the best out there. It was written by gibson research. its in machine language and fits on a floppy but will work from a cd. Has saved many hours of frustration for me. it checks the disk repairs in it can recovers the data will work as long as you let it run. most of the time its just a simple repair and you never know it happened. check out the program at
www.grc.com You wont be disappointed.