My PC is very dead

[ChrisYard]

Hi all, sorry if not posted in the right place, I was using my PC over the weekend, shut it down like I always do and went out. When I came back I turned it on and it started to boot up. BUT instead of going to the normal Windows XP loading screen (the one before login) it came up in DOS and said the the c:\Windows\system\config file was missing and to insert the CD and press 'r' to repair the problem... Well that would be ok but my CD drive is not attached at the moment (and hasn't been for some time now) as it was fed a sandwich by my younger son. and is waiting to be replaced.
Is there any way around this without using the CD ??????

This PC was shop bought and has been working for years.

[A1 data nz]

Somethings to try first:

get into your bios and make sure your hard drive is healthy

try booting in safe mode

turn on machine and shut it down a couple of times, see if you cant get it to detect a failed boot and choose "last known good configaration"

[ChrisYard]

Thanks A1, I have tried to startup using last know good configaration but that did not work, I have not check BIOS yet. What I have done is make this hard drive a slave on another PC, When I tried to explore the drive it said that the drive was not accessible or corrupt does that mean that the drive is really really dead ????
By the way the Master O/S is Windows 2000 and the Slave (Broken Drive) is XP Pro.. Would that be why I could not explore the drive ??

[A1 data nz]

Thanks A1, I have tried to startup using last know good configaration but that did not work, I have not check BIOS yet. What I have done is make this hard drive a slave on another PC, When I tried to explore the drive it said that the drive was not accessible or corrupt does that mean that the drive is really really dead ????
By the way the Master O/S is Windows 2000 and the Slave (Broken Drive) is XP Pro.. Would that be why I could not explore the drive ??

Due to the missing boot files I'd say your file tables are corrupt.

Some things to try:

Hdd gurus find and mount: (use this to recover and back up all your important files before messing around further)
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2007.05.25-Partition-Find-and-Mount/

Check disk: run check disk and attempt recovery of bad sectors (i
m not sure how affective that would be with 2000)

Get an os disk: Get your hands on the os install disk, make sure you use the right one for your coa, xp pro, pro oem, home and home oem. Use the disk to run a repair.

You can do this either by finding a local computer repair shop and talking nicely. Or downloading the iso image and burning it off.

You may want to consider a fresh install, as this could very well be virus related. Keeping that in mind do not run or install any files you recover untill you have had a chance to scan them under xp.

[ChrisYard]

Thanks A1 I will try what you suggest, I was thinking about upgrading to Vista Home any way so I might try and recover the important data, then upgrade. I will let you konw how I get on.

[ChrisYard]

OK, after restarting the PC 100 + times in safe mode, normal mode, and all the other modes there is I finally got it working. I have now discovered that I have A virus on my PC. WinAv.exe and by searching on Google it looks like it might be a nasty little one, Kerspskey does not find it at the moment. I have a very small window at start up to do anything before the Virus kicks in and stops me from opening any thing. Whish me luck.

[A1 data nz]

OK, after restarting the PC 100 + times in safe mode, normal mode, and all the other modes there is I finally got it working. I have now discovered that I have A virus on my PC. WinAv.exe and by searching on Google it looks like it might be a nasty little one, Kerspskey does not find it at the moment. I have a very small window at start up to do anything before the Virus kicks in and stops me from opening any thing. Whish me luck.

Your best bet is to recover you important files and reinstall.

Once a virus has been allowed to eat an os to the point it wont start, it's all down hill unfortunately. Save yourself hours of frustration

[sospcdoctor]

You could try putting the files on a flash drive but unless you have a newer machine, this will not work because older ones cannot be set to use the flash like a drive. Hope this helps.