computer doesn't find windows

[az240zz]

Came home today to the following: Windows could not start because the following is missing or corrupt:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM.

Is this fixable????
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Computer is an HP media center running XP with all service packs except #3.

 

[Chaz]

Yes, the system files can be restored but the problem is probably due to a failing hard drive.

First order would be to get any personal documents or pictures of that drive if they are not already backed up someplace.

 

[az240zz]

Can anyone recommend a shop to take it to??

 

[jbeecham]

Quick Question for you... do you have multiple hard drives?

I'm assuming you do since you said it's a media center PC.

I'm run an IT Consulting business and I had this happen on a few PCs after a power outage... the bios reset & was trying to boot off of the wrong hard drive. These were Dell PCs (not HP), but you might have a similar issue. Check the BIOS hard drive boot order & make sure your primary OS hard drive is listed as the 1st drive.

If it is the 1st drive listed, then either that drive has failed or you've got corruption in the OS... either way you'll need to rebuild/reload. Honestly though, if the PC is more than 3 years old, you're better off putting your money into a new PC than paying someone to repair an old one. If parts are already starting to fail then more will follow... I'd hate to spend $300+ getting a PC repaired only to have a power supply blow out & fry the motherboard/memory/etc.

 

[az240zz]

I checked the bios and there are 2 hard drives, 1stg is the main drive, when I check it shows nothing, al the parameters say 0, the second is a wd hardrive and its shows partitions and such. I believe the operating system is on the 1st drive.

 

[jbeecham]

I checked the bios and there are 2 hard drives, 1stg is the main drive, when I check it shows nothing, al the parameters say 0, the second is a wd hardrive and its shows partitions and such. I believe the operating system is on the 1st drive.

What you're looking for is the Hard Drive Boot Order to make sure it's trying to boot off of the correct drive. If you're not sure which drive is the correct one then flip-flop the drives in the Bios boot order menu & see if the PC boots up.

Every Bios is different (and I'm more familiar with Dells) so I'm not sure where the boot order will be exactly in the BIOS. If you can't find it, then another option is to open up the PC & disconnect the drives one at a time & see if the PC will boot up.

 

[az240zz]

I did find a recovery setting and ran it. After it did its thing I then did a check disk run and there were a lot of bad partitions. I wound up running the chdsk twice however it couldn't bring up XP. Hopefully a good tech can take the hard drive and at least get my pics off it.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I did find a recovery setting and ran it. After it did its thing I then did a check disk run and there were a lot of bad partitions. I wound up running the chdsk twice however it couldn't bring up XP. Hopefully a good tech can take the hard drive and at least get my pics off it.

You can do it yourself for just a few bucks. Buy a drivewire (I have 3 - purchased for $15-25), pull the hard drive, connect it to another computer/laptop via the drivewire/usb connection, and locate the files (your old HDD will show up as an external drive).

 

[az240zz]

Thanks Brian. I will try that tomorrow.

 

[az240zz]

Before I try to copy the hard drive,Windows 8.1 doesn't see the Ultra all in one card reader. The reader shows it has power and that the sd card is inserted correctly. However the computer doesn't see so I can import the pics. The software does see the dongle for the mouse and that works great. How do I get 8.1 to see the card reader??????

 

[jbeecham]

More than likely, your card reader isn't Windows 8.1 compatible and you need a new one. You can try going to their website to see if they have new drivers you can download to make it work in 8.1.

I did a quick search for Ultra 3 in 1 card reader that took me here (LINK) & the last OS that card reader was compatible with was Windows Vista (not Win 7 or 8).

 

[az240zz]

Yep it looks like I have to get another reader.

 

[BillsCarnage]

I'm run an IT Consulting business and I had this happen on a few PCs after a power outage... the bios reset & was trying to boot off of the wrong hard drive. These were Dell PCs (not HP), but you might have a similar issue. Check the BIOS hard drive boot order & make sure your primary OS hard drive is listed as the 1st drive.

Based on the OP, it looks like it's booting in the correct order - it's looking for the Win sub folder. For the wrong drive it'll usually say "Unable to find Windows" or "Unable to find boot drive", or similar.

And to the OP, did you get it fixed?

You've got a corrupt folder that is, obviously, preventing Win from booting. If you still haven't fixed it and still have the comp, try booting into safe mode.
You'll want to try #5 on this link http://www.7tutorials.com/5-ways-boot-safe-mode-windows-8-windows-81

If you're able to get to this screen select "Safe mode"

You must be registered for see images

This will start a check of the boot files. Assuming the file(s) can be fixed you'll boot into Windows safe mode - let us know if you make it that far.

The biggest issue is if you have underlying drive problems such as bad sectors - a lot of them.

Failing disk drives can give off a number of audible warnings such as a high pitch whine or clicking.

One last thing, is your WD drive a green drive?

 

[jbeecham]

His crashed PC was XP Media Center with SP2.

It sounds like he bought a new PC with Windows 8.1.

Btw Bill, I've seen plenty of PCs where people have put an old hard drive into their PC to transfer their files over to the new PC & then that drive just gets left in there forever... usually with a failed Windows OS still on it. So if the BIOS got wacked & tried to boot from the wrong drive then it could find a failed OS to try to boot from & give those errors. It was still a longshot & the most likely situation was a corrupted OS/failed hard drive.

 

[BigRedRage]

Before I try to copy the hard drive,Windows 8.1 doesn't see the Ultra all in one card reader. The reader shows it has power and that the sd card is inserted correctly. However the computer doesn't see so I can import the pics. The software does see the dongle for the mouse and that works great. How do I get 8.1 to see the card reader??????

I get this problem NON STOP with a brand new computer pre loaded with 8.1 and built in card readers. The majority of the time I plug cards in i get absolutely nothing and it is nothing short of infuriating. I had to google quite a bit and go through all kinds of crap to get them noticed.

Also had my daughter tell her iphone no to trusting computer once on accident and CANNOT get it to prompt again and have no way to empty the photos off of her phone because my 8.1 cant see it.

I am really not happy with the new windows. Everything I try to do takes extra work, extra steps and makes me want to punch things. (I am a pretty tech savvy dude too, especially with windows xp and the like)

 

[puckhead]

1. Go to the Preferences File

2. Click on the pull-down menu

3. Find the option that says, "Nothing Works Right", and uncheck it.

 

[BigRedRage]

1. Go to the Preferences File

2. Click on the pull-down menu

3. Find the option that says, "Nothing Works Right", and uncheck it.

First you have to open charms bar, figure out where control panel is, change control panel view, get irritated its not in control panel, click on setting, find out that settings really doesnt have **** for settings in it, google for 3 hours and then follow those steps.

 

[az240zz]

Hey thanks for all the reply's and suggestions. I'm currently using the wifes laptop which is 8.1 but bought a dell refurb quad core w 7.1 pro. It should be here Friday.

And yes there are many bad sectors on the hard drive that crashed.

 

[az240zz]

Update. New Refurb works great. I bought a Kingwin ez-connect to get into the crashed harddrive, got in but could't find my picture file or document file. I think I'll take it to staples and see if they can get it,however before I do that, are there any tips to finding them?? I also found some old XP install disks, is it possible to install them thru my new computer and see if that will work on the old drive or would I be wasting time........

 

[jbeecham]

Update. New Refurb works great. I bought a Kingwin ez-connect to get into the crashed harddrive, got in but could't find my picture file or document file. I think I'll take it to staples and see if they can get it,however before I do that, are there any tips to finding them?? I also found some old XP install disks, is it possible to install them thru my new computer and see if that will work on the old drive or would I be wasting time........

The default locations in Windows XP were under C:\Documents & Settings\"Your user profile name"\My Pictures... or My Documents.

You can always search the drive for *.jpg or *.doc, but it'll give you results from the entire drive... from there though, you should be able to see the folder path where the majority of the files are so you'll know how to get to your files & copy them over.