XP laptop won't boot/corrupt system file hive

Okay this is bound to be a long thread as I explain what all is going on here and what I've already tried. I am only moderately computer savvy but catch on pretty quick and feel like I'm learning brain surgery here......:confused

It all started when I dug out my old laptop from the closet for a friend in need of a computer to get by on. It is a Toshiba Satellite A15-S129 and pretty old, runs Windows XP Home Edition, and I do not have the restore disc (yeah, someone at Best Buy conveniently "lost" it at the beginning of its life, another story...) I remembered it being kinda slow and having a loud fan last time I used it, but nothing major. So I plugged it in and fired it up and had to re-set the time before finishing booting... plus I had to let it charge up longer before booting because the battery was REALLY dead. So anyway, it boots up but it's REAAAAAALY slow and ZoneAlarm kept popping up saying it was trying to start (apparently unsuccessfully). I ran a defrag and did a file clean up (you know where you clean out the recycle bin, temp files etc). So I ordered some new RAM for it since it needed it anyway and went from one 256mb stick to two 512mb sticks, plus I got a chill pad and new USB wireless card.

So I installed the RAM, booted the computer and installed the drivers for the new wireless card. It was acting up, not wanting to connect to the internet. Just when I would think it was working and tried to start a Windows Update, alas I was not connected.... I figured it must have been the internet connection at my parents' house so I shut it down and figured I'd fiddle with it and see if I could get it to go online when I got home so I could update everything.

The next time I tried to boot up the computer it wouldn't boot at all, in ANY mode and said something about the "\windows\system32\config\system" file being corrupt. Ugh. So I borrowed a Windows XP Home Edition w/service pack 2 CD from my dad, and loaded the Recovery Console. I followed the directions on the Microsoft Support website where you make a copy of each registry hive file to the tmp folder, delete the original one, and then copy the \windows\repair\..... (...system, software etc) file for each one back to the original location. Well that worked all fine and dandy on each one EXCEPT the one I needed, as it basically said the "\windows\repair\system" file didn't exist or was invalid or something. So I copied the temp file (minus the .bak of course) back to the original location.

Well pbbbbt so that didn't work. The next help article I tried I went back into Recovery Console, and ran CHKDSK and FIXBOOT first. I have since run checkdisk a few times and it seems each time it finds one or more errors and says it has fixed them. Anyway so after I ran those each once I attempted to restore the registry using the system restore points. Well that seemed logical as there was a problem in the \repair\ file earlier. Unfortunately neither of the three restore points I had worked, it always said the files couldn't be copied due to an invalid path (I think) on the first attempt and then because it was corrupted on the second attempt. (Remind me not to "clean out" all my system restores in the future... and I will make sure to back up next time too...)

So now I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. It seems that there is a problem on the computer with everything pertaining to the \config\system file..... the hive itself, the repair file, and even the system restore file.... I am really praying the hard drive isn't going out or something. I was going to attempt to do a repair install, but it didn't recognize any previous installations of windows during the setup process and I don't want to completely wipe the drive if I can help it for one because I don't have a copy of all the drivers without my restore disc, and two because the Windows disc is not the one that came with the computer and I don't know if that could cause problems. Could it possibly be some sort of virus or something? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. The current tools I have at my disposal (or can borrow) are the full XP installation disc, an XP upgrade disc, and a 1GB flash drive I use to back up files on my Vista laptop, plus blank CDRs and DVDRs I can use to burn anything relevant with my Vista laptop.

Thanks again,
Steph

 

Okay, so since my post I believe what I was HOPING was not the case came to pass.... The hard drive is officially toast. First it stopped recognizing Windows altogether, even in recovery console, and now it's just dead as a doornail. Apparently that loud "fan" was actually the hard drive in its last throes before kicking the bucket. Pbbbbbbt.... Well thanks for taking the time to read the post anyway.