Another windows start up problem

[Perth Diver]

Would appriciate if anyone has any ideas.

Sometimes......I go to start up windows and a message quickly flashes up, then disappears, then the comp goes to file checking, once finished, goes into startup mod again, then file checking again....round and round in circles, never actually opening up.
The flash message say's something about HIVE files. or REGISTRY files.

Getting to the stage of thinking, maybe i should take it diving with me. and if it was my buddy, Would go as far as at least 5mtr to help it on it's way.

Martyn.

[Dibbler]

Format & Reinstall is the solution to that

Do it or you'll spend the next month trying everyones solutions, going crazy, then still have to do it

Unless of course you have a Backup, You do have a full Backup dont you ??

[Perth Diver]

Done that.....about 5 times now...twice in the last 3 weeks as well.

Alwyas use the rule of 3rd's
C: drive...D: drive...Backup on CD.

[Dibbler]

Well presumeably you now have loads of backups of a corrupt install
Been sometime since I had the pleasure of corrupt Win Installs

W2k installer has a fix registry option, presume XP has a similar option.
The Hive is where the registry lives. normally once this is corrupt it is easier just to re install rather than trawl through it trying to isolate the problem.

It may be a Spyware scanner or Antivirus program can help but I assume youve been down that road? normally once you start getting boot screen errors its start again time, unless you're really techie.

[Sean]

SYMPTOMS
Your computer may stop responding (hang) during startup from a hard disk that uses the NTFS file system if the System hive file is too large. The System hive file is located in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config folder.


CAUSE
Ntldr loads various drivers and system files into memory during an early phase of startup. The System hive is usually the biggest file that is loaded and is likely to be fragmented because it is modified often.

If the System hive file is too fragmented, it is not loaded from an NTFS volume, and the computer hangs. This problem does not occur on volumes that use the FAT or FAT32 file system.


RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
260910 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/260910/EN-US/) How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack
The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: Date Time Size File name
--------------------------------------
07/18/2000 05:15p 213,904 Ntldr

[Sean]

Your XP/2000 system displays the following error message:
Stop error c0000218. Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
( \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE)
That means that the System or Software Registry Hive is corrupted.

1. Boot your system with the Windows XP/2000 Install CD, let the system start the Setup. Once in the Setup, choose to run the Recovery Console.
First, we will recover the System Hive.
Now type the following commands pressing Enter after each line.

md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\system C:\windows\tmp\system.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\system
copy C:\windows\repair\system C:\windows\system32\config\system

Try to boot the system, if it doesn't start, get back into the Recovery Console and enter the following commands.

md tmp
copy C:\windows\system32\config\software C:\windows\tmp\software.bak
delete C:\windows\system32\config\software
copy C:\windows\repair\software C:\windows\system32\config\software

Try to boot the system.



1.1 Zip the corrupted registry file .bak

2. If you don't have an XP/2000 CD with the Recovery Console on it, you can try removing your hard drive and connecting it your friend's system or installing another Windows system in a different directory. Then you can access the \Windows\System32\Config folder. Copy the files System, Security, Sam, Software and Default to a safe location. Then go to the \Windows\Repair folder. Those five files are your orginal registry files created when XP/2000 was first installed. Copy the file (with the name as the corrupted one) from the \Repair folder and paste it into the \Config folder.

Try to boot your system.

[Perth Diver]

Hey many thanks for the detailed instructions, appriciate the time it took to write.

Will give it a go and see how things pan out....

If everything goes well..will see you all back on the forum...if not keep ya eyes out for a "soggy" laptop in the depths.

Martyn