I have a gateway 6400 running w2k pro w/ 2 gigahertz processors (motherboard is an Asus CUR-DLS). On last boot, the computer wouldn't come up because of a bad system file.

"Windows Could Not Start Because the Following File Is Missing or Corrupt: \Winnt\System32\Config\System"

I replaced the system file after backing up the old one, and the computer started. Unfortunately, many of my old setting and such are now gone. Is there a way to fix the file I backed up?

Also, can anyone tell me specifically what I am missing by using a new system file?


TIA

^bump^

You may have already seen this, but in case you haven't:
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 307545 How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry That Prevents Windows XP from Starting
Read the instructions very carefully. It ain't pretty.

IMO, I think the best thing to do is backup all your data and start fresh.

A chunk of your registry.

From your description it appears that you may have replaced the System file with the one residing in C:\Windows\repair. If so:


The KB article I referenced above takes you through steps to to make previous restore points available, but, unfortunately, does not guarantee full recovery of the system to a previous state.

Thanks, Alan.

I was unsuccessful at restoring the registry, oh well. It was time to rebuild anyway.