Please help! laptop resuscitation question

[Moskvich]

Hi all, i'd be very very very very grateful if anyone had any advice on this....

My laptop is showing the dreaded message "windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \Windows\System32\config\System"

I've got the XP cd that came with it (an OEM cd). Though I'd be able to get it to repair it, but when I boot from the cd and go into setup, it doesn't seem to recognise any Windows installation. I'm specifically going into windows setup, rather than the recovery console, accepting the t&c's. Here, I think, it should recognise a Windows installation and give me an option to repair it - but it doesn't. In the list of partitions, I just get:

-: Partition1 [FAT]             55MB (48 MB free)
C: Partition2 [Unknown]  38092 MB (38091 MB free)
   Unpartitioned space         8MB


Is there anything I can do here? Or am I going to have to do a complete reinstall?

If I do reinstall, is there any way of recovering any data off my hard drive? I know there are tools out there that allow you to recover deleted files - is there anything that can recover data after reinstallation of the OS, or will it be wiped for good?

As I say, any help MUCH appreciated - thanks!

[kinboshi]

I had something similar not so long ago.  Had to do a complete reinstall of the OS as it wasn't having it with the repair.

Someone on here might be able to save you the hassle though.

[CelticGeezeer]

It may be possible to install xp into a new directory and continue as normal.

[OatFedGoat]

Does it say any file name in particular?

I have had similar problems when using Windows 2000 with a messege which read the same but if I recall correctly mentioned a file called NLDR or something.
In each instance the hard drive had come to the end of it's life and needed replacing. Or it may be a simple case that the cable to the drive has become dislodged and it can not find the drive as I have had this messege on drives not being found etc as well

I hope it doesn't come to this for you but if it does and there are important files you need on your old drive try to acquire a copy of a program called Easy Recover Pro. I have used this many times to recover data from dead hard drives. So far I think this program has saved about 1 terrabyte of data for me. Lesson learnt, don't buy any more Maxtor drives.

[RichEO]

You can install windows over the top and your files should be intact, however, if there is anything you can't afford to lose I wouldn't recommend it. (But if there is something you can't afford to lose, it should already be backed up - right?)

Whenever I reinstall windows, I personally format 1st, otherwise you don't get the full benefit of a nice clean fresh hard drive, but a new install would be nice and quick too.

If you do either reinstall, you would need to reinstall almost all of your programs again. The registry info and shared file associations will be lost (in the case of just installing over the top) and of course all data would be lost in the case of a format.

A reinstall is the easy option here, if there was specific error / filename, put it into google and see what suggestions you get. I usually find though, that it can take longer to do all that and troubleshoot the problem than to just bite the bullet and reinstall straight away (which you might end up doing anyway after a few hours messing).

Could be a hard drive problem, most likely just the OS got corrupted. Obv if you can't complete an install and / or it happens again, might be a harddrive (but I would give it a few chances before replacing!).

[weller001]

boot from the XP Cd, and choose R to go into the recovery console at the first screen.

once youre in, do the following command :

fixboot 

then give it a go.

[Ecosse]

The file referred to is actualy the SYSTEM branch of the windows registry. Could be big trouble.

As per previous post rather than fixboot run :-

chkdsk /f

Best of luck.

Dougie.

[Moskvich]

Cheers guys, thanks a lot for the quick replies. I've tried going into the Recovery Console and running chkdsk /r - but it only manages to get about 28% of the way through before telling me that there's some sort of unfixable error. So I'm not hopeful that chkdsk /f is going to have any more joy, but I'll give it a try, thanks.

Thanks for the info Rich on the reinstall - there's some stuff on the hard drive that I'd rather not lose, but it's not critical so if it's not looking any better I'll bite the bullet and go with that.

Hope it's not a hard drive problem - I have had error messages on booting up in the past that say 'hard drive not found', but it's always been ok when I've tried again.

Thanks again all, always brilliant that people on here are so ready to help.

[Moskvich]

chkdsk /f  causes it to tell me "The parameter is not valid", if that means anything to anyone...

[AndrewT]

chkdsk /f  causes it to tell me "The parameter is not valid", if that means anything to anyone...

Means you've typed it in wrong - try chkdsk c: /f

This does all sound like your hard drive going - I think you may be about to learn the 'back up important stuff often' lesson the hard way (which is generally the only way you ever learn it)

[OatFedGoat]

Uh oh, it sure does sound like the hard drive on it's way out.

Like I said in a previous post, try to acquire a copy of Easy Recovery Pro or something similar for recovering data from dead and formatted hard drives.

I have used this in the past to recover loads of data from dead hard drives (5 of the bloody things) or from formatted drives.
I have not however tried to recover data from a formatted drive which I have subsequently instealled windows onto but I believe that it can be done

[lazaroonie]

to answer your question from a slightly different angle :

there are companies who will be able to recover data from 99% of hard drives, no matter how damaged. The question is, does the cost of recovery outweigh the value of the data hald on the disk ?

There is a difference between data that is "inconvenient" or "annoying" to lose, but would you pay (say) 4 grand to get it back ?

that is the choice you have to make.


In anycase I would install windows onto a NEW hard drive and keep the other one as preserved as possible. Every spinup of that disc could make it that more difficult or expensive to get your data back.

[Ecosse]

Cheers guys, thanks a lot for the quick replies. I've tried going into the Recovery Console and running chkdsk /r - but it only manages to get about 28% of the way through before telling me that there's some sort of unfixable error. So I'm not hopeful that chkdsk /f is going to have any more joy, but I'll give it a try, thanks.

Thanks for the info Rich on the reinstall - there's some stuff on the hard drive that I'd rather not lose, but it's not critical so if it's not looking any better I'll bite the bullet and go with that.

Hope it's not a hard drive problem - I have had error messages on booting up in the past that say 'hard drive not found', but it's always been ok when I've tried again.

Thanks again all, always brilliant that people on here are so ready to help.

If chkdsk got that far, signs are far more prettier than you original post where the file system was not even being recognized (should be NTFS normally)

If chkdsk runs, your data will be saveable.

Worst case scenario is having to remove the hard drive from your laptop and plug it into a another PC.

Dougie.

[RichEO]

How old is your laptop? If it's in warranty you want to be sending it back, if not, get a new drive, an 80GB for around £31 +postage here: http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/79433

Certainly sounds llike the hard drive is dying now you have mentioned that the BIOS couldn't detect it at times. That was a cue to get a new one  .

Get an adapter for your laptop drive if you have a desktop PC to put it in and get the data off that way. Otherwise you'll have to take it somehwere or borrow a friends desktop PC. If it will detect the hard drive you can probably just grab the data you need without using any recoverey software. If the partitions are damaged then you'll need some recovery software as said. If the BIOS won't detect the drive anymore (sounds like it is at the mo though) that's when it gets expensive!