I own a computer repair shop in Omaha and one in Lincoln, NE. We have had over 30 customers come into our Service Centers in the past 3 days complaining that their windows/system32/config/system file is missing.

Normally we would just replace it with a backup and send them on their way. But there is a new problem that has emerged in the past few days. It seems tat now the entire c:\windows\system32\config folder is missing all together. Since this folder stores important information about your profile, applications, and registry, the computer will not boot and you can not log into the recovery console to attempt a repair.

There is no known remedy for this problem, other than backing up your data, reinstalling Windows XP, and then copying your data back over and reinstalling your applications. Even after that, it is entirely possible that your computer will simply crash again later with the same problem.

We have created a simple DOS batch file as well as a tutorial that shows you how to use it that will back up your config folder *in case* this should happen to you again. We have also listed instructions on how to recover your Windows installation using that backup in the event of a crash.

You can view the tutorial and download the backup tool at:
http://www.schrockinnovations.com/pr...ys32config.php. Sorry to anyone out there who has been nailed by this, and I hope this backup batch program will help save you in the future.