Windows won't load, system file is missing. Windows cannot start due to a corrupted or missing \Windows\System32\config\system. End section: C

Sometimes when you try to start or restart Windows XP, the above error may appear. This is due to the absence or damage necessary files Windows registry. Sometimes other directories may be missing, for example: /WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SOFTWARE, /WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SYSTEM or /SystemRoot/System32/Config/SOFTWARE. In this case, errors may look like this:

"Windows XP cannot start because the /WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SOFTWARE file is corrupted or missing"
"Stop: c0000218 (Registry file failure) The registry cannot load the partition family (file) /SystemRoot/System32/Config/SOFTWARE or its log or backup copy"

How to restore Windows XP boot.

A file error may also occur Lsass.exe. The reasons for these errors may be the following:

Incorrect or unexpected termination Windows operation.
Problems with hard drive computer or laptop, it may have failed or almost failed.
You yourself, accidentally or on purpose, deleted system files necessary for Windows XP to work.

How can I remove this error and start Windows XP, the solution to the problem?

Besides reinstalling the operating system, there are several ways to solve this problem. The meaning of these methods comes down to restoring damaged or deleted files and registry directories.

First option.

You need to start the computer from a bootable CD/DVD disk or flash drive. Products such as Live CD from Dr.Web are suitable for this; it has a convenient built-in file manager and a program for checking your PC for viruses and Trojans. In order to boot a computer or laptop from a disk or flash drive, you need to press F1, F2 or Del when loading normally, and set the boot priority from the disk.

We boot, launch the file manager, select the /windows/system32/config/system directory on the left, /windows/repair/system on the right. We copy everything on the right into the left window. After this, we reboot the computer or laptop, not forgetting to set it back to boot from the hard drive. If the steps described above did not help, and the system does not start as before, then do not despair, since there is a second way to solve the problem.

Second option.

If you have a Windows XP installation disc, you can use the Recovery Console to recover missing files. To do this, set the BIOS to boot from disk. When running from disk, press +R to launch the console Windows recovery. After starting, enter the commands sequentially, after entering each one, press +Enter:

MD tmp copy c:/windows/system32/config/system c:/windows/tmp/system.bak copy c:/windows/system32/config/software c:/windows/tmp/software.bak copy c:/windows/ system32/config/sam c:/windows/tmp/sam.bak copy c:/windows/system32/config/security c:/windows/tmp/security.bak copy c:/windows/system32/config/default c:/ windows/tmp/default.bak

delete c:/windows/system32/config/system delete c:/windows/system32/config/software delete c:/windows/system32/config/sam delete c:/windows/system32/config/security delete c:/windows/ system32/config/default

copy c:/windows/repair/system c:/windows/system32/config/system copy c:/windows/repair/software c:/windows/system32/config/software copy c:/windows/repair/sam c:/ windows/system32/config/sam copy c:/windows/repair/security c:/windows/system32/config/security copy c:/windows/repair/default c:/windows/system32/config/default

You can use standard features systems: try to boot with the "last known good configuration". This is done when the computer starts. Also, if you have previously activated automatic recovery system, you can roll it back.

If you solved the problem, but the error repeats again and again, most likely there are serious problems with your hard drive and it does not have much life left, so consider replacing it and backup important data.

If one of the following messages suddenly appears on your monitor:

Windows XP cannot start due to a corrupted or missing \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE file
Windows XP cannot start due to a corrupted or missing \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM file
Stop: c0000218 (Registry file failure) The registry cannot load the partition family (file) \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or backup copy
System error: Lsass.exe

This is what it looks like on the monitor:

DO NOT DESPAIR! And especially do not rush to reinstall the system

Let's first understand the reason why Windows won't start . The main point should be the damage to the cluster (sector) on the hard drive in the place where it is located this file. This may be caused by power outages, emergency shutdown the computer and the errors itself hard drive(especially with regard to some Seagate drives). Let's call the next reason why Windows cannot start due to viruses. Yes, they can also mess up your computer to such a state. These are, in principle, all the main reasons for these errors in the operation of the system

Windows won't boot - troubleshooting solutions

Well, let's carry it out. To resolve this error we need:

a computer with Internet access (any one will do, even at work);
blank CD or flash drive from 1 GB;
UltraISO program;
a little patience :)

Looking for any image on the Internet Live CD Windows XP and download it to your computer. After it has loaded, burn it to a CD using UltraISO programs. In order to write down this image to a flash drive and thereby make it bootable, you need to open the image in this program, then click the “boot” item and then “burn” image of tough disk." Well, that's it, we hope you figured it out.

Let's move on to our patient. We connect a flash drive or insert a disk and as soon as the computer turns on, press the Esc key, or F10, or F8, or F12 - it depends on the manufacturer of your motherboard until a window appears asking you where to boot your computer from. It is called Boot menu. We are looking for our flash drive or CD drive there. Click on enter and watch how it all starts. After our mini Windows has started, we look at what disk we have it on operating system(can be determined by the presence of folders program files, windows). Determined. Click start-programs-accessories-utilities-command line. In it we type chkdsk drive letter: /f. When it all ends, we reboot and rejoice!

What if Windows doesn’t boot again? This means that this file is completely gone. Therefore, we will boot from your media again. We go to the disk where your windows is located, we find System folder Volume Information, looking for a folder with latest changes by date, and there is already a folder with registry files. We remove all unnecessary things from the file names, leaving only System, Software... We copy them to the config folder in the system32 section, replacing the old files. Reboot and try to start Windows

Hello! Today I didn’t plan to do anything on the Internet, I thought I’d go skiing and relax. But this morning I decided to come in for a few minutes to check my email and respond to your comments on the blog. I turn on my younger brother’s computer (he’s running Windows XP) and here’s an error I’m already familiar with “Windows cannot start because the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system file is corrupted or missing.”

It’s a weekend morning, the main thing is that yesterday everything was turned off normally, but today there’s this “beautiful” error. I wrote about one way to fix this error in the article ““. Be sure to look at this article if the method I describe below does not help you.

This means that I needed to quickly solve this error with a missing or damaged \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system file; I had no desire to play for a long time.

Therefore, before loading from boot disk, and replace the “system” file with a backup one (this is exactly the method I described in the article linked above), I decided to try loading the latest configuration, that is, with the settings when the computer was still starting.

Everything worked out, after selecting the boot with the last known good configuration, the computer turned on and works fine. Now I’ll tell you how to do all this. Just a couple of minutes.

Removing the error “Windows cannot start due to a corrupted or missing file \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system”

I did all this on a computer with installed Windows XP, but I think that this method should also work on Windows 7, but I haven’t tried it yet.

This means the computer showed us an error that there is no file \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system, or it is damaged.

We restart the computer and immediately begin to actively press the F8 key, a window will appear in which you can boot into safe mode, etc. But we are interested in “Loading the last known known good configuration (with working parameters)”. So we select it by pressing “Enter”.

After selecting this item I went Windows boot XP and the computer turned on normally. After another reboot, the error did not appear.

It's that simple, you can remove the error:

Windows can't start because the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system file is corrupted or missing

If you are like this fast way nothing worked, then try the method I described in another article. By the way, judging by the number of views of that article, this mistake is very common.

That's all, today is a day off :), so as possible less work and as much rest as possible. Good luck!

Also on the site:

A quick solution to the error “Windows cannot start because the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\config\system file is corrupted or missing” in Windows XP. updated: January 12, 2015 by: admin

The message that the Windows\system32\config\system file is damaged causes real panic among some users. You can understand them - damage to the registry can hardly be called a pleasant event. However, you shouldn’t worry too much: you can try to recover the files.

The main difficulty in eliminating such an error is the inability to start the system. Therefore, there are not many options for fixing it, but they still exist, so try to restore it windows file system32 config system every user can.

Before you start using additional software and replacement damaged file, try more easy way– download latest successful configuration systems.

You shouldn't rely on this method, but sometimes it helps solve the problem.

When choosing this Windows operations will try to replace the existing configuration files with the data that previously ensured correct loading. If this error correction option does not help, you can move on to other recovery tools.

File recovery

Restoring Windows\System32\config\system to general outline is a replacement for a damaged file from backup folder Repair.

This procedure can be performed in several ways, the features of which will be described below.

If you are using Windows XP, try to restore a working configuration using the Recovery Console.

CHKDSK will scan the disk, look for errors, and try to fix them. After rebooting, check if the system starts working. If not, move on to the next method.

ERD Commander

Time to get into Windows system it doesn't work, you'll have to use the mode ERD Commander and try to restore the file through it.

After restarting the computer, try logging into Windows again - the error about the presence of a damaged file should no longer appear.

Manually replacing files

All Windows XP restore points are stored in the directory System Volume Information\restore(E9F1FFFA-7940-4ABA-BEC6- 8E56211F48E2)\RP\snapshot. Here you can also find working registry files and replace damaged data from the System32\Config folder with them.

A similar replacement can be made from another system directory - the “Repair” folder, which contains backup copies of the registry created during Windows installations. Main disadvantage This method means that you will need to reinstall some programs, since information about them will not be in the new registry.

Command line

If you don't have a LiveCD or installation flash drive, you can try to restore the system using command line. To get into it, press the F8 key when starting your computer and select “Safe Mode with Command Line Support.”

The main thing when using the command line is to correctly specify the drive letter on which the operating system is installed. This is usually the C: drive, but there may be other options (D, E).

To replace, you need to enter several commands sequentially:

Backup: copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\system32\config\system.bak.
Deleting a damaged file: delete c:\windows\system32\config\system.
Recover from backup: copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system.

All files from the “config” folder are restored in a similar way - you just need to replace the “system” value at the end of the command with “software” or, for example, “sam”.

After rebooting, the computer should start normally, without displaying a message about corrupted system files.

If a user has a problem when Windows 7 does not start on a computer or laptop, then this article will help solve it. not an easy task. Starting Windows 7 is sometimes impossible due to errors occurring in the system after hardware problems, incorrectly installed software, malicious utilities and so on.

But the most common reason why Windows 7 sometimes won’t load lies in the operating system itself.

Solution

In the case when all the initial stages Windows launch 7 on a PC or laptop runs fine, but Windows 7 still doesn’t start completely, which usually confuses novice users. Although if available detailed instructions, the question: “What to do?” will not appear even for beginners. If the problem is caused by hardware failure, then it will be indicated by a signal from the laptop speaker or desktop computer during POST test. If this is the case, then the OS will not start.

But if the problem is of a software nature and the process stops at the stage Windows downloads 7, this means that the user has encountered the most common problem that can be solved using an algorithm of typical actions.

Instructions for action

You must use an OS recovery tool. During the PC startup process, if Windows 7 does not start, the system often recommends that the owner of the computer or laptop select boot options. If for some reason such an offer has not been received, then the user can independently open this menu by clicking on the “F8” button. Then proceed to "Sevens".

What to do if the above instructions did not solve the problem?

To fix the problem when Windows 7 does not start, you need to use a CD with the OS:

Insert the installation disk into the PC drive;
Start the system from the disk (in the BIOS the appropriate order for booting the system from media must be set);
In the window that appears, click on “Apply recovery functions that resolve OS boot problems” and click on “Next”;
Then in the “OS Recovery Options” menu, click on “Startup Repair”;
Wait until complete completion analyzing the system and eliminating the causes of failures;
Reboot the PC;
In the BIOS, set the system to start from the hard drive ( When exiting the BIOS, be sure to save the adjustments made);
Restart the computer again;
Ready! Windows 7 will now boot normally.

Using the command line

If for some reason it was not possible to restore Windows using installation disk, then there is another way to do this through the command line.

First, you need to take the steps indicated in the paragraph about restoring normal loading of the “Seven”. The only changes are that you just need to specify the section “Command Line” in the menu.

What to do when you fail to achieve a positive result by following the above instructions?

If success was not achieved and the user has already reached this part of the article, then the problem cannot be classified as a typical failure of a bootable OS distribution. It'll take everything further actions do it safely Windows mode. It is recommended to analyze drive “C” for the appearance of broken clusters.

To login " safe mode» you must do the following:

Why are preventive measures important?

Windows 7 has special system, which can make special reference points, with the help of which, if necessary, it is restored. By using this protection function, even a novice user can always easily return the OS to a working state.

For example, in case of failures due to incorrect installation of applications, drivers and other utilities such as codecs, or when errors occur due to adjustments being made to the registry.

It should be noted that in “Seven” it is possible to allocate a fixed amount of memory on the hard drive specifically for such protection of the operating system. Implementation available in Windows 7 self-configuration protect files along with system data, or you can do this separately.