“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt” Quick Fix

If you’ve ever experienced the following error on boot up:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You more than likely have found the answers online have you attempting to recover the missing files or attempting to locate the backup files that may or may not be present. Below is the absolute quickest way of getting your computer back up and running.

1. Insert your Windows CD and boot from CD
2. Press “R” to initiate a Repair on your existing installation.
3. Once in the Window Recovery Console, select the primary windows installation (usually 1)
4. type FIXBOOT and press enter ( Writes a new partition boot sector to the system partition )
5. type FIXMBR and press enter ( Repairs the master boot record of the boot disk )
6. type CHKDSK /P /R and press enter ( Creates and displays a status report for a disk based on the file system. /r Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information, and /p forces the checkdisk command to run if the disk isnt flagged)
7. type exit and press enter.

and you’ll be good to go!

Gonzalo Carrillo is a web designer for Websoul. To view further information and helpful tips about web design, view his blog at Gonz’s Websoul Blog