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Applies to Windows | Windows XP | Update & recovery

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windows\system32\config\system
file missing or corrupt

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TK

TK1610 asked on November 21, 2010

HELP - As per above title i have done this:To complete part one, follow these steps:
1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or
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2.
3.
4.

5.

insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and

then restart the computer.
Click to select any options that are required to start the computer
from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start
the Recovery Console.
If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the
installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator
password. If the administrator password is blank, just press
ENTER.
At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following
lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system
c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software
c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security
c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default
c:\windows\tmp\default.bak
delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security

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delete c:\windows\system32\config\default
copy c:\windows\repair\system
c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software
c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security
c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default
c:\windows\system32\config\default
6. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.
Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the
C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate
windows_folder if it is a different location.
If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the
text in step five, and then create a text file called "Regcopy1.txt" (for
example). To use this file, run the following command when you start in
Recovery Console:
batch regcopy1.txt
With the batch command in Recovery Console, you can process all the
commands in a text file sequentially. When you use thebatch
command, you do not have to manually type as many commands.
Part two
To complete the procedure described in this section, you must be
logged on as an administrator, or an administrative user (a user who
has an account in the Administrators group). If you are using Windows
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XP Home Edition, you can log on as an administrative user. If you log on

as an administrator, you must first start Windows XP Home Edition in
Safe mode. To start the Windows XP Home Edition computer in Safe
mode, follow these steps.
Note Print these instructions before you continue. You cannot view
these instructions after you restart the computer in Safe Mode. If you
use the NTFS file system, also print the instructions from Knowledge
Base article KB309531. Step 7 contains a reference to the article.
1. Click Start , click Shut Down (or click Turn Off Computer ),
click Restart , and then click OK (or click Restart ).
2. Press the F8 key.
On a computer that is configured to start to multiple operating
systems, you can press F8 when you see the Startup menu.
3. Use the arrow keys to select the appropriate Safe mode option,
and then press ENTER.
4. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, use the arrow
keys to select the installation that you want to access, and then
press ENTER.
In part two, you copy the registry files from their backed up location by
using System Restore. This folder is not available in Recovery Console
and is generally not visible during typical usage. Before you start this
procedure, you must change several settings to make the folder visible:
1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder options .
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders , click to select Show hidden
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files and folders , and then click to clear theHide protected

operating system files (Recommended) check box.
5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to
display these files appears.
6. Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP to display
a list of the folders. If is important to click the correct drive.
7. Open the System Volume Information folder. This folder is
unavailable and appears dimmed because it is set as a superhidden folder.
Note This folder contains one or more _restore {GUID} folders
such as "_restore{87BD3667-3246-476B-923F-F86E30B3E7F8}".
Note You may receive the following error message:
C:\System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is
denied.
If you receive this message, see the following Microsoft
Knowledge Base article to gain access to this folder and continue
with the procedure:
309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/ ) How to gain
access to the System Volume Information folder
8. Open a folder that was not created at the current time. You may
have to clickDetails on the View menu to see when these folders
were created. There may be one or more folders starting with
"RPx under this folder. These are restore points.
9. Open one of these folders to locate a Snapshot subfolder. The
following path is an example of a folder path to the Snapshot
folder:
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C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BCA0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RP1\Snapshot

10. From the Snapshot folder, copy the following files to the
C:\Windows\Tmp folder:
_REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM
_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM
11. Rename the files in the C:\Windows\Tmp folder as follows:
Rename _REGISTRY_USER_.DEFAULT to DEFAULT
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SECURITY to
SECURITY
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE to
SOFTWARE
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SYSTEM to SYSTEM
Rename _REGISTRY_MACHINE_SAM to SAM
These files are the backed up registry files from System Restore.
Because you used the registry file that the Setup program created, this
registry does not know that these restore points exist and are available.
A new folder is created with a new GUID under System Volume
Information and a restore point is created that includes a copy of the
registry files that were copied during part one. Therefore, it is important
not to use the most current folder, especially if the time stamp on the
folder is the same as the current time.
The current system configuration is not aware of the previous restore
points. You must have a previous copy of the registry from a previous
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restore point to make the previous restore points available again.

The registry files that were copied to the Tmp folder in the C:\Windows
folder are moved to make sure that the files are available under
Recovery Console. You must use these files to replace the registry files
currently in the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder. By default,
Recovery Console has limited folder access and cannot copy files from
the System Volume folder.
Note The procedure described in this section assumes that you are
running your computer with the FAT32 file system. For more information
about how to access the System Volume Information Folder with the
NTFS file system, click the following article number to view the article in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
309531 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309531/ ) How to gain access
to the System Volume Information folder
Part Three
In part three, you delete the existing registry files, and then copy the
System Restore Registry files to the C:\Windows\System32\Config
folder:
1. Start Recovery Console.
2. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing
ENTER after you type each line:
del c:\windows\system32\config\sam
del c:\windows\system32\config\security
del c:\windows\system32\config\software
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del c:\windows\system32\config\default
del c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\software
c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\tmp\system
c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\tmp\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\tmp\security
c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\tmp\default c:\windows\system32\config\default
Note Some of these command lines may be wrapped for
readability.
3. Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts.
Note This procedure assumes that Windows XP is installed to the
C:\Windows folder. Make sure to change C:\Windows to the appropriate
windows_folder if it is a different location.
If you have access to another computer, to save time, you can copy the
text in step two, and then create a text file called "Regcopy2.txt" (for
example). To use this file, run the following command when you start in
Recovery Console:
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batch regcopy2.txt
Part Four
1. Click Start , and then click All Programs .
2. Click Accessories , and then click System Tools .
3. Click System Restore , and then click Restore to a previous
RestorePoint .
and now when I go to part four and try to log on it says that I have to
activate windows in order to log on. If I click yes, the computer just
hangs at my background picture, if I click no it chucks me back to the
log in page.....what is going wrong with this blooming thing

PLEASE HELP - it's taken three days of messing around and effectively
Ive got nowhere!!

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Answer
A. User replied on November 21, 2010

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Ooooo...

should have started here:

Was the issue preceded by a power interruption, aborted restart, or

improper shutdown? (this includes plug pulling and power buttons)
These can cause corruption in the file system which must be fixed
before you do anything else.
If any of those events have occurred (or even if they have not occurred),
you should verify the integrity of your file system before doing anything
else (especially "trying" things).
It makes zero sense to start trying to copy files around on a hard disk
that has a corrupted file system so this must be fixed first using the XP
chkdsk program, and running chkdsk may resolve your issue entirely.
Use the XP Recovery Console to verify the file system on your HDD and
correct any problems and then try to boot your system - this may be all
you need to do. Or, you are welcome to just start trying things that
might work.
Boot into the Windows Recovery Console using a bootable XP
installation CD, or create a bootable XP Recovery Console CD.
This is not the same as any recovery disks that might have come a
store bought system. If you are not sure what kind of bootable CD you
have, make a bootable XP Recovery Console CD and be sure.
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After booting into the Recovery Console, you should be in this folder:
C:\WINDOWS
For each of your hard disk partitions, you should then run:
chkdsk /r
For example, from the Recovery Console prompt, enter:
chkdsk c: /r
Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find. It may take a
long time to complete or appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the HDD
light is still flashing, it is doing something. Keep an eye on the
percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress. It may even
appear to go backwards sometimes.
The chkdsk /r needs to complete without any errors, so you may need
to run it multiple times until it does.
Remove the CD and type 'exit' to leave the RC and restart the computer
and report back with your progress.

Do, or do not. There is no try.

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PC

PCDiversity replied on December 10, 2010

In reply to A. User's post on November 21, 2010

I just wanted to say thank you very much for your advise Dena. I was
able to recover a PC that produced the error with the "chkdsk c:/ r"
command without any problems at all. The percentage meter did go
backwards as described. Again many thanks for the advice. I was happy
to inform the customer that they did not have to reload all of their data.

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AV

AvinashBajaj replied on October 17, 2011

In reply to A. User's post on November 21, 2010

Hi,
I was going through the whole process step-by-step but am now stuck
here. Somehow at the point where i was supposed to copy the files
from the snapshot folder in the System Volume Information, the
snapshot folder is missing.
There are two subfolders in the System Volume Information one of
which is a little older than the other, but the subfolder within that, the
RPx folder, does not contain a snapshot folder. Although, the newer
folder which carries today's date and is newer, does have a snapshot
folder.
Please advise on what to do as i'm stuck here and clueless.

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ST

SteveD2012 replied on January 28, 2012

I cannot even get into the recovery panel?... Some diagnostics suggest
hard drive crashed while other do not?... Cannot even get to point of
reformatting and reloading XP? Suggestions?

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Matthew_Omega replied on February 3, 2012

Microsoft

In reply to SteveD2012's post on January 28, 2012

Due to the age of this issue, it would be best to create a new thread for
this in the following forum:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/system
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Doing so will avoid any confusion between your issue and that of the
original poster.
Best regards,
Matthew_Ha

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Rupesh.Sharma replied on April 29, 2013

In reply to A. User's post on November 21, 2010

Thanku So much for saving my time....
Chkdsk really worked.But i didnt use xp recovery console for chkdsk
instead i used Hiren Boot live cd.

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A. User replied on April 29, 2013

In reply to Rupesh.Sharma's post on April 29, 2013

That is a good idea too!
I am starting to suggest Hiren's Boot CD (or USB) more often since it
better handles various configurations and works when folks don't have
any bootable XP media or on systems where there is no CD/DVD drive.

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TioZoso replied on July 28, 2013

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Problem with me in this case is that I don't even have a startup disk and
have never been able to find one!

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A. User replied on July 28, 2013

In reply to TioZoso's post on July 28, 2013

If you have this problem, I would never, never, never start with that
advice from TK1610 (that is KB307545).
It is too complicated, things often go wrong, etc., etc. KB307545 works
just fine if everything goes perfectly, but it rarely does.
The problem is most likely that XP just can't find the file due to some
corruption in the NT File System (NTFS). Was the issue preceded by a
power interruption, aborted restart, or improper shutdown? (this
includes plug pulling, power buttons, removing the battery, etc.).

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If the file system is corrupted, it also doesn't make sense to start trying
to copy files around until the NTFS is fixed of you are going to just make
things worse. You might get half way through and run into problems not
being able to find/copy the rest of the files. If XP can't find them, why do
you think you are going to be able to find them?
For that error, always, always, always start with a chkdsk with error
correction (chkdsk /r). That will fix this problem 99.9% of the time.
I have NEVER used KB307545 for this problem, but have fixed it more
times than I can count in the last decade of XP. I will never even
suggest KB307545 - I know better. Sure - KB307545 is the first thing to
come up in a Google search and KB307545 has it's place in the world
but not for this error.
If you have no genuine bootable XP media, make yourself a Hiren's Boot
CD, run your chkdsk from there until it runs clean. Then if the system
still has the same problem, from Hiren's use the Registry Restore
Wizard to restore your registry back to a date (a day or two) before the
problem occurred. That does all the KB307545 work for you in a flash.
Here's how:
Make yourself a Hiren's Boot CD which you can download from here:
http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/
The ZIP file is large, so the download will probably take a little while to
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complete bit it is worth it. Then unzip the download to extract the
Hirens.BootCD.ISO file that will be used to create your new bootable
CD.
Creating a bootable CD from a .ISO file is not the same as just copying
the .ISO file to a blank CD. You have to use software that understands
how to burn a .ISO file to a CD to create a bootable CD.
In the Hiren's ZIP file are the BurnToCD.cmd file that you can double
click to launch it, but I have never used it and prefer to use ImgBurn.
If you need a free and easy CD burning software package, here is a
popular free program:
http://www.imgburn.com/
When installing ImgBurn, DO NOT install anything from UniBlue or the
Ask toolbar (never install the ASK toolbar for anything).
Here are some instructions for ImgBurn:
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61
It would be a good idea to test your new bootable CD on a computer that
is working.
You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD
ROM drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk.
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These adjustments are made before Windows tries to load. If you miss
it, you will have to reboot the system again.
When booting on the Hiren's CD you will see a menu of options.
Choose the Mini XP option. Then it will appear that Windows is being
loaded and you will be presented with a desktop that has the look and
feel of the Windows Explorer interface you are already used to using.
Remember: You did not boot on your hard disk - you booted into the
Hiren's desktop.
One way to check the disk for errors is to open My Computer and right
click your afflicted drive and choose Properties, Tools, Error-checking,
Check Now... put a check mark in both the boxes and then Start.
Sometimes that doesn't work, so you can also click Start, Run and in
the box enter:
cmd
Click OK to open a Command Prompt window and enter the following
command (assuming XP is installed on your C drive)
chkdsk c: /r
This disk checking can take a long time (perhaps several to many
hours) depending on the size of the volume, the amount of data on the
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volume and what the disk checking finds to do.

Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find.
Depending on the the speed of your system, the size of the volume, the
amount of data on the volume and what chkdsk finds to do, it may take a
long time for chkdsk with error correction to complete (several to many
hours) or it may appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the HDD light is still
flashing, chkdsk is doing something so don't interrupt it. It will finish
eventually one way or the other. Keep an eye on the percentage
amount to be sure it is still making progress. It may even appear to go
backwards sometimes.
You may have to run the chkdsk /r it more than once.
When the chkdsk runs clean, remove the CD and restart your system.

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TioZoso replied on July 28, 2013

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In reply to A. User's post on July 28, 2013

Okay, I have gotten as far as using the burned disk to boot the system
to where I choose the Mini XP option. However, after I choose that, the
screen goes black and it stays that way no matter how long I wait. Any
ideas?
And thanks for the info so far.

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