Ok well obviously your data is gone, but here try this. Take out the harddrive, and turn on the computer. hey look nothing happened. Then put the Hard drive back in.. It shoudl reconfigure. Ive never had this problem but its jsut a guess cause that works with many other componment, but may not work with a HD, so try this, try to use fdisk and re-partition the HD. Maybe then it will find it. If not please tell me what it says when you cant partition.

Thanks for your reply,

I have fixed the hard drive problem... It's a long story :-|

I did a windows repair, and when the system restarted the same file was damged and windows still won't start.

The file is:

C:WINNT\system32\config\SYSTEMced

I tried locating the file on another computer running windows 2000 and putting it on a disk so I could copy it over the damaged 1. For some reason I could not find it even with the show hidden files and system files options ticked.

I have no idea what this SYSTEMced is... It has no file extention on the error message.

Thanks,
Ritchie

Here's the official blurb from Microsoft on that error:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=269075

And some of the links in this Google search have more information on possible causes and fixes:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search

Thanks DMR for the microsoft link, that provided me with all the information I needed to fix the problem. :cheesy:

Thanks both of you for your time.

Much appreciated,
Ritchie

Very cool; glad we could help

hi guys, im not a computer whizz, so i kinda got confused when i got the same message

Windows Could Not Start Because the Following File Is Missing or Corrupt: \Winnt\System32\Config\Systemced

i went to the microsoft page for support just got stuck on one of the steps

on page

Windows Could Not Start Because the Following File Is Missing or Corrupt: \Winnt\System32\Config\Systemced

under the title

"Restore a Backup of the System Hive"

step number 4

how do i choose my installation

my comp is an old comp. its got 3 installations, 2 windows 2000 pro (the first one them is the one i want to repair) and a windows98. what command would make it go to the desired installation

sorry about that guy, as i told u im not a pc whizz , i just know the basic computing stuff.

any help would be great. thx

Hi indoshakermaker,

First of all- welcome to DaniWeb

We ask that members not tag their questions on to a thread previously started by another member (regardless of how similar your problem might seem). Not only does it divert the focus of the thread away from the original poster's problem, but it also makes it less likely that you yourself will get the individual attention that you need.

Please start your own thread in this forum, post your question there, and one of our members will assist you as soon as possible.

For a full description of our posting guidelines and general rules of conduct, please see this page:

http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforum...niweb_policies

Thanks for understanding.