Which tool to fix w2k?

[nagornyi]

Ny Winsows 2000 stopped loading with the following error message:
Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missign or corrupt: \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
I have purchased the recovery CD with a lots of gizmos:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...30026121213&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1

My question: which of the tools available on CD can better address the problem?
Thanks.

 

[bcastner]

Your registry hive SYSTEM is corrupt.

Options using native Win2k Utilities:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pr.../reskit/regentry/RegistryBackup.mspx?mfr=true

Windows 2000 registry repair utility:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...01-2c68-4de8-9229-ca494362419c&displaylang=en

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Users Helping Users

 

[nagornyi]

Thank you. It says the size is 93K, but 6 floppies required. How is that? Also, I dodn't hav floppy on my PC, can I burn it on CD instead? Thanks.

 

[bcastner]

The tool works by mounting the Windows XP Recovery Console. It does this by using the Windows XP setup boot floppy images. This complies with the Windows XP license.

As far as I know the program cannot be run other than through the Setup floppy method.

I gave you other alternatives. Did you try them?


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Users Helping Users

 

[wolluf]

nagornyi

floppy drives are very cheap - might be worth it to try bill's recovery suggestion.

Other possibilities.

If that ulitmate boot Cd includes the chkdsk utility, you could try booting from it and running chkdsk /f on your C: drive (or create a BartPE disk to do this - or if you have 2k install CD, boot into recovery console and run chkdsk /p). Sometimes repairing the filestore also repairs the system file.

Or

After booting from Cd which gives you access to your C: drive, navigate to \windows\system32\config. There should be a file called system (the damaged one) and one called system.alt. Rename system to system.bak and system.alt to system and try booting again.
If no good, you could try this - but not recommended if the installation is years old and you've never backed up the system files, as it uses system file from original install, which probably won't match the current situation - boot from Cd again, rename system.bak to system.alt and copy the file \windows\repair\system to the \windows\system32\config folder. Try booting again.

 

[nagornyi]

Thank you all guys, unfortunately none of the suggestions worked. W2k system disk says it can not fix the problem, CHKDISK immidiately says it can not fix the disk, and replacing SYSTEM with SYSTEM.ALT or SYSTEM.BAK (this I was able to do using console) changes nothing: the w2k still complains on this file.
To add a floppy drive would not be a problem, of course, but how can I get recovering floppy disks?
I'd also like to step back to my original question to see if there is an opportunity there. I purchased so called 'recovery CD' with tons of untilities, list of which can be seen by following the link in my post. So far I can not figure out with program is to address my problem, so could anyone please take a look of what is there and advise?
Thanks.

 

[wolluf]

nagornyi

You won't find a solution on the ultimate boot CD - because you have a corrupted system registry file and you need to repair it. Although, if chkdsk immediately says it can't repair disk, sounds like you may have a failing hard drive rather than just corrupt system file. You certainly need to be able to run chkdsk to a successful conclusion to have any chance of fixing your problem. Ideally, you should run the drive manufacturer's diagnostic utility (available from their website usually), but that usually creates a bootable FLOPPY! (though may have bootable CD option - and you can create a bootable CD from the bootable floppy).

Where did you run chkdsk from? I'd be happier if you could run it from recovery console (chkdsk /p or chkdsk /r) - but to run recovery console you need either 2k install CD or 4 2k install bootable floppies (floppies again!).

You can create both the 4 2k floppies and the 6 xp ones by downloading appropriate executable from

http://www.bootdisk.com

So, to recap - you need to check out status of hard drive. If failing, obviously needs replacing - and you should slave drive elsewhere to recover any critical files before it dies completely. If its ok, you need to run chkdsk to verify and fix the file structure integrity. If drive is ok, there's no reason chkdsk shouldn't run. Once that's done, if it still won't boot, get a floppy drive and try bill's suggestion using the 6 xp boot floppies.