Is an improved " recovery disk" possible? 3

[algraff]

Hi folks, I'm an XP newbie...be gentle
After spending two long evenings loading stuff onto my new Toshiba S155 laptop with XP Home, I installed a program that finished with the usual recommendation to shutdown and reboot. After doing so, the OS refused to boot...not even a splash screen. All I could get was a system error message saying that one of the configuration files in the system32 folder was corrupted. The only recourse offered was to totally reinstall the operating system from the "recovery" CD's which of course took me back to square one and forced me to reinstall all of the software I had spent so much time installing...which I have patiently done, starting with the program that crashed it in the first place to make sure it didn't happen again.
Is there any way to create a recovery disk that will let you boot into NTFS and tinker with errant files without having to reinstall everything? The laptop has no floppy and no serial port (a major design flaw if I ever saw one...) so it would need to be a bootable CD.

algraff :

 

[bcastner]

Two thoughts for you:

1. You should have done a maintenance re-install of XP, not the full blown from scratch deal. Please print out and save this:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp&NoWebContent=1

2. Before doing this, try this: Start, Run, sfc /scannow

This is a built-in checker for file integrity. XP will squirrel away copies of critical files, and replace damaged ones if needed.

If this does not solve the issue, then go to #1.

3. You can boot from the XP CD and access the Recovery Console, or add it to your startup routine:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/recovery_console.htm

4.

http://www.winternals.com

This is a pricy alternative, but is a very good program. ERD Commander is not necessary, but can be a lifesaver. I include it so that you can see your available options.

 

[BuckeyeComputers]

a couple of things you could have tried first before reinstalling everything

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from Starting

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545

HOW TO: Start the System Restore Tool from a Command Prompt in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q304449

 

[algraff]

Thanks, the replies were informative but Toshiba has stupidly decided to provide "recovery" CD's in the form of a Ghost image rather than distributing an actual XP system CD. The only option is to restore the system to the way it was when it left the factory.
When my crash occured, I couldn't even get to the XP splash screen. I just got the BIOS screen and a prompt that said I had a corrupted config file somewhere...didn't write down the exact path.
Without having an original XP install CD, is it possible to create a CD that will boot into NTFS so I could at least try to edit the offending files?

algraff :

 

[bcastner]

algraff,

http://www.bootdisk.com

 

[ADoozer]

buckeyecomputers your first link saved my ass

star!!

If somethings hard to do, its not worth doing - Homer Simpson
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