Windows cannot start because the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system file is corrupted or missing. Resolving the error "Windows could not start because of hardware configuration changes or updates"
It often happens that clients come to me with one problem, windows stopped loading due to a corrupted or missing \Windows\system32\config\system file
This usually happens on Windows XP
What to do in this case? Reinstall the system stupidly? This is an extreme and last thing. Let's go another way.
There are two options to restore Windows startup.
If none of them help, then you will only have to reinstall the system. But first we need to find out why this error occurred and Windows stopped loading.
The most common reasons for corruption of the system file is, as I noticed, either the lights were suddenly turned off and the computer was forcibly turned off (in short, an emergency shutdown of the computer). Either the hard drive has physically worn out and so-called BAD sectors or damaged blocks have appeared; along with the damage to the sector on the hard drive, system boot files are also lost.
Which leads to such a problem as Windows stopped loading due to a damaged or missing \Windows\system32\config\system file
The first solution to the problem, as written in the screenshot. You can try to recover this file by running Windows Setup from the original installation CD-ROM. Select 'r' on the first dialog screen to start the recovery procedure.
To do this, insert the original disk with Windows XP (not a beast assembly, SamLab because the assemblies do not have a recovery function) into the CD drive and boot from it.
At this point, instead of Enter, press R to load the recovery console
If one OS is installed on the computer and it is located on drive C by default, then enter 1 and click enter.
If the password was set to the administrator account dial the password and click Enter. If you have not set an administrator password, then skip, just press Enter.
When the system prompt appears:
C:\WINDOWS>
Enter fixboot
A message will appear:
End section: C:.
Do you want to write a new boot sector to the C: partition?
Enter y(which means yes) and click Enter
A message will appear:
File system on boot partition: NTFS (or FAT32).
The FIXBOOT command writes a new boot sector.
The new boot sector was successfully written.
C:\WINDOWS>
enter fixmbr
A message will appear:
**WARNING**
This computer has a non-standard or invalid Master Boot Record. Using FIXMBR may damage your existing partition table. This will result in loss of access to all partitions of the current hard drive.
If there are no disk access problems, it is recommended that you abort the FIXMBR command.
Are you confirming the new MBR entry?
Enter y(which means yes) and click Enter
A message will appear:
A new master boot record is created on the physical disk \Device\Harddisk0\Partition0.
The new master boot record has been successfully created.
At the system invitation C:\WINDOWS>
enter exit, the computer will reboot. Enter Bios and prioritize booting from your hard drive.
For the second option To restore the system boot, we need a bootable LiveCD.
Boot from the disk, setting boot priority in BIOS from the SD-DVD drive
After loading the LiveCD, launch the file manager, preferably Total Commander, and open the following folders.
In the left window, open the full path indicated in the error when loading the system C:\Windows\system32\config\system provided that the Windows folder is installed on drive C.
Open in the right window From:/Windows/repair here are copies of system files.
Copying the file System from folder repair to a folder config, we affirmatively agree to the request to replace. In short, we replaced the damaged file system to working backup system.
We reboot the computer, boot from the hard drive and voila, the system starts to boot.
This method often helps, but not always. There are different cases and reasons. If none of the options help, then unfortunately only reinstalling the system will help.
There can be many reasons why the Windows operating system does not load. At least three: hardware failure, software failure and cold.
In my case, the laptop turned on, blinked the lights, loaded the BIOS, but that was all. At the same time, no one changed the BIOS settings and they were correct.
The hard drive was removed from the laptop and passed all tests perfectly. From which we conclude that the error is software. And since the BIOS does not issue any more messages, then most likely the partition table known as MBR (Master Boot Records) has failed.
Windows XP Home was installed on the laptop when it was alive. Therefore, we take the Windows XP installation disk and use the recovery console. To do this, during boot (immediately after the BIOS prompt), press F12 and select boot from CD-ROM. Or if this is not possible, then go into the BIOS settings and change the boot order so that the CD-ROM comes first.
Don't forget to press any key in response to the invitation to boot from the CD-ROM.
After the installer loads all the necessary files into memory, you will be prompted with the Install Windows menu or launch recovery console(R).
Select R.
In most cases, computers have one operating system installed, so I will further consider this option. Moreover, this is the option on the “dead” laptop.
After loading the recovery console, the following message appears:
1: C:\WINDOWS Which copy of Windows should I sign in to?
Type 1 , press Enter.
A message will appear:
Enter the administrator password:
Enter your password, press Enter (if there is no password, just press Enter). As a rule, no one remembers the administrator password. But I was lucky, it simply wasn’t there, that is, we stupidly press Enter :)
A system prompt appears:
C:\WINDOWS>
enter fixmbr (don’t forget to press Enter) Actually, this is the command to restore a damaged partition table.
A message will appear:
**WARNING** This computer has a non-standard or invalid master boot record. Using FIXMBR may damage your existing partition table. This will result in loss of access to all partitions of the current hard drive. If there are no disk access problems, it is recommended that you abort the FIXMBR command. Are you confirming the new MBR entry?
Type y (which means yes).
A message will appear:
A new master boot record is created on the physical disk DeviceHarddisk0Partition0. The new master boot record has been successfully created.
When the system prompt appears:
C:\WINDOWS>
Type fixboot
A message will appear:
End section: C:. Do you want to write a new boot sector to the C: partition?
Type y (which means yes).
A message will appear:
File system on boot partition: NTFS (or FAT32). The FIXBOOT command writes a new boot sector. The new boot sector was successfully written.
At the system invitation
C:\WINDOWS>
enter exit, the PC will reboot. Press Del, enter BIOS Setup and set to boot from the hard drive (if you changed the boot order).
I did all this with the ill-fated laptop. But Windows never booted. But instead of a black screen there was now the inscription
"Windows cannot start due to hardware disk configuration errors. The selected startup disk cannot be read from. Please check the path specified and the disk hardware is OK. For more information about hard disk settings requirements, see your Windows system documentation and your hardware documentation ".
However, this “threatening” inscription only tells us that BOOT.INI is corrupted. That is, the MBR partition table is correct and the bootloader is working. And the reason could be the following:
- The Default value in the boot section of the Boot.ini file is missing or corrupted.
- There is no copy of Windows XP installed in the location specified in the Boot.ini file.
- The path to the partition in the Boot.ini file is incorrect.
To fix the Boot.ini file, use the Bootcfg recovery agent program.
To do this, let's start the computer again using the Windows XP CD.
Next, launch the Windows recovery system by pressing the R key when prompted.
Then select the required copy of Windows and, when prompted, enter the administrator password.
Type bootcfg /rebuild and press ENTER.
Once a copy of Windows is detected, the following commands appear:
After completing the above steps, restart your computer and select the first option from the boot menu. After this, Windows XP should boot normally.
After Windows XP successfully boots, you can remove the incorrect entry in the Boot.ini file.
These manipulations helped me. The laptop started working, Windows booted, everyone was happy.
Today they brought me a system unit with an error:
Windows cannot start due to a corrupted or missing file: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
You can try to restore this file by running Windows Setup from the original installation CD-ROM. Select “r” in the first dialog screen to start the recovery procedure.
As we found out: The computer froze and was rebooted with the RESET button, the result of the reboot was this message.
A few words about the computer: A computer running Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition OEM. The system unit does not have a CD/DVD drive. The computer itself is already quite old. Windows was installed about a month ago. During this time, only a few programs were installed.
Let's try to follow the advice “You can try to restore this file by running Windows Setup from the original installation CD-ROM”
We connect the drive. Boot from the original installation CD-ROM. Go to the recovery console (press the R key). Select the version of Windows you want to log into. In our case, there is only one version, so no questions arise here.
If you have forgotten what commands are available, you can enter HELP in the command line and press . A list of available commands will open.
The first thing I did was run the command: chkdisk c:/p
This command found errors. Then I ran the same command, but with a different key: chkdisk c: /R
The system reported that it has corrected one or more errors.
The computer rebooted, but the problem remained unresolved.
I turn off the computer. I disconnect the hard drive and connect it to another computer. I copy a file on this hard drive system from the catalog \WINDOWS\repair to the catalog \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\ and reconnect this hard drive to the broken system unit
Windows boots without error, but now many drivers and settings have disappeared. I restore the drivers as follows:
Right mouse button on icon My computer. In the context menu I select the item Properties. A window opens Properties of the system. I go to the bookmark Equipment. I press the button device Manager. On each device with a question mark, right-click and select the item from the context menu Update driver. After updating all drivers I reboot.
The computer is fully functional. It remains to restore (re-configure) some lost settings: Screen Resolution, Network connection settings, etc.
File Windows\system32\config\system damaged or missing, you and I may receive such a message during the initial phase of loading the operating system. The error occurs when the registry is seriously damaged. I’ll tell you right away there are few ways to fix this problem, but they exist. The main difficulty is that you cannot boot the operating system. I'll give you four ways to fix this problem, but you'll need a Windows XP installation disk or an ERD Commander disk, or at worst a simple Live CD.
- First of all, this problem happens due to many errors on the hard drive, try using the CHKDSK C: / R command in the recovery console, the errors will be corrected and your system may boot. You can also remove your hard drive and connect it to another system unit, then from another Windows you can check your system partition for errors, you can read the full article on using the utility
- You can boot from the ERD Commander disk and try to apply a system restore. By the way, the ERD Commander system administrator disk can help out in other difficult situations, read the full article about this tool.
- Another way. If you had system recovery enabled, then you will need an ERD Commander disk or any Live CD. This is the point. We all know that Windows XP stores restore points in the folder
- Last option. If system recovery was disabled for you, then you need to replace your damaged registry files with files from the C:\Windows\repair folder, this folder contains backup copies of your registry created by the operating system during its installation, this can be done using any Live CD .
Now about each method in detail.
File Windows\system32\config\system
To implement the first method, we need a Windows XP installation disk, so we boot into the recovery console. Those who don’t know how to do this can read our article In the recovery console, let’s check our system drive (C:) for errors. When you start booting from the Windows XP installation disk, the message “Press any key to boot from CD...” will appear on the screen, press any key at once, otherwise the message will disappear within 10 seconds and booting from the Windows XP installation disk will not occur.
To restore Windows XP using the recovery console, press R
Enter the administrator password. Enter the administrator password. If there is no password, then press Enter on the keyboard.
When using the Chkdsk program in the Windows XP Recovery Console, they mainly use the /R parameter, which includes the functions of another /P parameter. Therefore, we will use the /R parameter
Enter the command Chkdsk /r
and press Enter, the hard drive is checked for errors.
Second way.
To implement the second method of eliminating the error The Windows\system32\config\system file is damaged or missing We need an ERD Commander disk, we boot from the disk.
Click start, then system tools System Tools->System Restore and select system restore. Select a system restore point and restore.
Third way.
We all know that Windows XP stores restore points in a folder
System Volume Information\restore(E9F1FFFA-7940-4ABA-BEC6- 8E56211F48E2)\RP\ snapshot , so, in the folder highlighted in red, intact registry files are stored. We need to copy these files and replace the damaged registry files with them from the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder
We boot from the ERD Commander disk or any Live CD; if you are working from the ERD Commander disk, we do not connect to the system, that is, at the beginning of loading the ERD Commander disk, select (None), otherwise you will not be able to replace the registry files.
go to the folder C:\Windows\System32\Config. Use the slider to open the full file name and delete (Delete) damaged registry files. Before deleting, you can copy them somewhere just in case, you never know.
System Volume Information\restore(E9F1FFFA-7940-4ABA-BEC6- 8E56211F48E2)\RP\ snapshot , select the files, right-click and select Copy to…
REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAMREGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
REGISTRY_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
REGISTRY_MACHINE\DEFAULT
REGISTRY_MACHINE\SYSTEM
Select the folder C:\Windows\System32\Config and click OK. Backup registry files are copied to replace damaged ones. Then we go to the Config folder and rename them, deleting the unnecessary ones - REGISTRY_MACHINE \, thereby leaving new registry files SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, DEFAULT, SYSTEM.
Fourth method
You can also replace your damaged registry files with files from the C:\Windows\repair folder, this folder contains backup copies of your registry created by the operating system during its installation, this can be done using the ERD Commander disk or any Live CD. But be aware that some of your applications will refuse to work and will have to be reinstalled, since the system state will be shown at the time of installation.
Backup copies of the registry files created during the installation of Windows XP are located in the repair folder located at
C:\Windows\repair . We go into it, select and copy with the Copy to... command the registry files we need SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, DEFAULT, SYSTEM,
Then go to the folder C:\Windows\System32\Config, select it and click OK.
Backup registry files replace damaged ones. Replace file?
We agree - Yes
What to do if you see the message on your monitor: Windows cannot start due to a damaged or missing system. First of all - don't panic! :)
If this is not scary, you just need to practice a little in restoring it. In the photo above, Windows itself suggests that we use the installation disk to correct the situation. But it doesn’t “say” what to do next. Like, the shore - swim there as you wish :) Note
If you can’t start Windows, we’ll learn and start with the recovery console. But before that, in order to understand what we are actually dealing with, let’s look at what the “system” file is and where is it located?
You can find the system file at this address: c:\windows\system32\config
This is a file without an extension. Why is that? Simply because it is not a file as such, but part of the Windows registry.
It is also called the system registry. This is a hierarchically organized and ordered database in which almost all settings of Microsoft software products are stored. It contains records about the computer's hardware configuration, user profiles and access rights, information about installed software and its settings, security policies, etc. This is the network of nerve endings of our OS :)
This structure was invented as an alternative to multiple configuration ini files in which all operating system settings were previously recorded.
How can I get on the register? Click on the button " Start" and from the drop-down menu select the item " execute" In the window that opens for quick access to the main OS management tools, enter the command “ regedit"(for Windows 2000 there are two different commands regedit and regdt32) and press the button " OK».
This is what the editor for this settings database looks like:
Attention! Changing system registry values without a clear idea of what you are doing and why can lead to complete inoperability of the operating system after the next reboot !
Now, let’s look at what we see in the photo above? The structure consists of five main "bushes" or "branches" (sometimes called "hives"). Let's list them:
- HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
- HKEY_USERS
- HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
As you can see in the photo above, each of the “branches” is visually designed as folders and contains an arbitrary number of subfolders. By clicking on the “+” next to the icon, we can expand the “bush” we need. In the photo above, we expanded HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG, then “Software” and went to the “Fonts” section.
On the right side of the window we can see the specific values (keys) of this “branch” of the registry. Value IDs are represented by three columns:
- Name - the name of the "key"
- Type - string or binary parameter (test or numeric)
- Value is the defining parameter of the “key” (what it contains)
As a rule, the “value” represents alphanumeric combinations that are difficult to understand to a “normal” person, a thoughtless change of which can lead not only to a damaged system file, but also to the impossibility of restoring the system in principle!
Now, let's go to the registry editor again and see how our system file is presented there, which is located at c:\windows\system32\config?
Launch regedit. Remember how to do this? :) Expand the “branch” HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and inside it we see the SYSTEM structure. This, in fact, is the same system file with a size of 2,816 kilobytes (almost three megabytes), which we looked at in the second screenshot at the beginning of this article.
To simulate the error from the title of the article: Windows cannot start due to a corrupted system file, I suggest taking and deleting something from here :) Let's start with a difficult case: delete the SYSTEM partition (everything that can be removed from there) and, after booting from the installation disk, Let's try to fix the situation using the recovery console.
This section contains numerous operating system settings: computer hardware profiles, service and driver settings, and other important settings of the OS itself.
After the manipulations described above, we will encounter the following trouble. When we try to log in, we will always receive messages about the wrong login password:
Why is this happening? The fact is that the system section contains a lot of different settings for the operating system itself. Information about login passwords is also located here. We deleted it along with the entire partition and that is why the OS does not give us the opportunity to log in and says that the password is incorrect.
In fairness, it is worth noting that with such a global “Armageddon” of the section system You are unlikely to encounter this :) Rather, it will be local damage to this file or several of its entries (registry keys).
Let’s simulate this development of events: expand the “SYSTEM” section and remove the “Select” subsection from it (shown in the photo above). Let's reboot. Again we see a system message about a missing or corrupted system file
We boot into the recovery console. This time we can quite successfully enter the operating system through it.
Now, let's talk to you about how you can “repair” a damaged system file?
You may or may not know, but a duplicate of this file is located at: c:\windows\repair
This is a backup copy of part of the system registry, which is automatically created after installing the OS and stored in this folder. This is a kind of pure “cast” of XP immediately after its installation. As you can see, the file size is smaller than what we discussed in the first part of the article. This stems from the fact that all work goes through another system file located at c:\windows\system32\config.
BUT! At any time, you can use a backup copy from the repair folder to restore a damaged or corrupted system file by simply copying it from there to the main system directory.
Let's try, what comes out of this? Boot from the disk, press the " R", log into our OS from the console and enter the following command:
What have we done? They just said where and what, and then - what and where copy:
copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
We are asked if we want to replace a broken or missing system file? We agree, enter “y” (yes) from the keyboard and confirm the choice by pressing the “Enter” key. The console "tells" us that 1 file was copied. Enter the “exit” command from the keyboard and reboot.
We return to launch from the hard drive and see that the boot has been successfully restored:
The only thing is, after such a complete replacement of the damaged system file, be prepared for the fact that after a successful download you will have to reinstall all the drivers and restore the settings of the OS itself and the desktop. After all, the repair directory, as you remember, contained a copy of the registry “hive” at the time of installing “clean” Windows.
Let's move on: it is not always necessary to restore the functionality of the OS by replacing the entire damaged system. In most cases, we are talking about just one or two faulty entries in this part of the registry, which cause such an error.
There is one way that allows you to restore a damaged system file and avoid subsequent installation of drivers and restoration of all settings. Let’s briefly describe it now, and then we’ll look at each of the points in more detail:
- We shoot with a “repairable” system
- We connect it to another computer with Windows XP installed
- Let's launch the editor. In the left window, place the cursor on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then from the “file” menu select “load hive”
- Find the “system” file on the attached disk along the path c:\Windows\System32\config
- Load it into the working registry (under any name)
- The "hive" is loaded and a message appears indicating that one/several files have been successfully fixed
- In the file menu, select the option “Unload hive”
- We connect the removed hard drive to the first computer and boot from it
Let's look at some aspects of "repairing" a damaged system file in more detail. So, we remove our hard drive and connect it to another computer:
In the screenshot above, the disk with the “repaired” system has the letter “ E"and connected as a second additional hard drive. We are now loaded into windows, which is installed on the disk " WITH" We execute the “regedit” command and get into the registry. Place the cursor on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE:
Click on the “file” menu and from the drop-down menu - “load hive”:
Now, through Explorer, go to our attached drive “E” at windows\system32\config and select our corrupted system file there:
Click the “Open” button. A window will appear in which we will be asked to enter the name of the partition to be loaded (you can enter anything, these do not affect anything).
Click “OK” and here is an important point! After this action, the system should show a window in which it will inform us about the solution to the problem of the corrupted system. It will indicate that one or more records were successfully restored.
After this, we see how the “hive” we loaded joined one of the branches of the working registry:
In the screenshot above, we even expanded the loaded structure for clarity. You can see in it the folders already familiar to us from the first part of the article.
In principle, we don’t need to do anything else. Our windows itself solved the problem of a damaged system file when importing the damaged structure into the working registry.
All we have to do is unload our “bush” back. Select it with the mouse and do the following:
After that, turn it off, unhook the attached hard drive and put it back into the computer being repaired. We turn it on and, most likely, we will find that it was not in vain that we did all these manipulations :)
Finally, I want to show you another automatic way to restore a damaged registry “hive”. The method is the simplest and therefore many people neglect it, and sometimes it is the “straw” with which we can quickly restore the functionality of the operating system.
What I mean? Of course, using the console . In the screenshot below you can see how this command, launched with the appropriate “keys,” replaced damaged clusters in the system.
In the final report after the command has been fully executed (screenshot below), we can see how the smart program not only “repaired” our system file, but also marked several clusters as faulty, making a note about them in the service part of the disk. The inscription “8 kilobytes in bad sectors” speaks for itself quite eloquently! Another thing is that these bad kilobytes fell precisely on a file that is critical for loading the OS (registry hive), but here, as they say, is a planid! :)
As you can see, we successfully solved the problem (and in different ways) and now we know exactly what to do if we see a similar message: Windows cannot start due to a corrupted system.
