Member Avatar for Ritchie-T

I am a little stuck here and not sure why this is happening...

I have a computer running windows 2000 and when I turned it on I got the message that 1 of the windows system files was damaged and windows could not start. So I thought “ok, windows repair is the best thing to do. I started up the computer with the windows CD in, then when it all loaded up I selected the windows repair option and it informed me that I could not do a windows repair because there was no hard drive attached to the computer. This confused me because surly the computer was reading the hard drive or it would not know that a windows system file was damaged.

Does anybody have any idea as to why this is happening?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks,
Ritchie

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Short expert summary and practical steps (for future readers, and to follow up on what , and discussed).

The error reporting a missing/corrupt file like \WINNT\System32\Config\SYSTEMced means Windows could not load the SYSTEM registry hive (the file that holds device/driver and boot-time settings). That explains why Windows says a system file is damaged even though the drive is detected: the boot code reached the registry load step and the hive was unreadable. (learn.microsoft.com)

Recommended recovery workflow (safe, minimal changes)

  1. Verify and repair the filesystem first from the Recovery Console: run chkdsk /r against the boot volume. Corrupt filesystems commonly cause registry-hive failures; fix that before copying files.
  2. Use the Recovery Console (boot Windows CD, press R then C on Windows 2000) and back up the current hives, then replace the bad SYSTEM hive with the most recent backup from the repair/regback folders (or the original install copy if no regback exists). After replacing the hive, reboot and reinstall any drivers added since that backup. More on using Recovery Console and the ERD/regback locations is in the Windows recovery documentation and Win2K recovery guides. (learn.microsoft.com)

Common Recovery Console commands (run these only after you know the Administrator password and have confirmed the correct installation number)

md c:\winnt\tmp
copy c:\winnt\system32\config\system c:\winnt\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\winnt\system32\config\system.alt c:\winnt\tmp\system.alt.bak
cd \winnt\system32\config
ren system system.bak
ren system.alt systemalt.bak
copy c:\winnt\repair\regback\system c:\winnt\system32\config\system
IF that file is not present then:
copy c:\winnt\repair\system c:\winnt\system32\config\system
exit

Notes and a quick answer for : when Recovery Console starts it lists detected Windows installations and assigns a number to each — type the number that shows the Windows path you want (e.g. the entry that lists C:\WINNT) then enter the Administrator password. If unsure, pick one, list directories (dir c:\) to confirm, exit and repeat with the other number if necessary. Always keep the copied backups (the tmp/*.bak files above) until the system boots cleanly. (learn.microsoft.com)

Finally: reseating the drive or repartitioning (as suggested) helps when the disk is not detected, but it won’t fix a corrupted registry hive — follow the Recovery Console hive-restore steps first.

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Member Avatar for Sphyenx

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.

Member Avatar for Ritchie-T

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

Member Avatar for Ritchie-T

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

Member Avatar for DMR

Very cool; glad we could help :)

Member Avatar for indoshakermaker

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

Member Avatar for DMR

Hi indoshakermaker,

First of all- welcome to DaniWeb :)

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

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