[birdstone]

I installed System Mechanic 7 Professional on my computer. after the install i selected the "pc total care" which required me to restart the computer 2 seperate times. on the second restart a message came up "windows could not start because file is missing or corrupt" WINDOWSSYSTEM32CONFIGSYSTEM it then says using the original operating cd installation disc i can possibly repair it. when i use the op disc and try to repair the computer i get stuck on a screen asking me to type a command at the prompt c:/windows. i don't have a clue what to do and my biggest problem is that i haven't backed up any data for about 3 weeks (i know that wasn't too smart). i really don't want to lose my work. please help

[bunk]

Hi Birdstone,



Did you go to Start > Run > Typ in SCF /*Scannow making sure to leave a space between SCF & /Scannow ? You will need to insert a Win XP disc before doing this, and please make sure to hold down your "Shift" key to prevent it from autorunning....... Just hold the key for about 30 seconds or so, not thru the entire precedure. After this ^^^ remove your disc, re-start your computer.

Another thought.........

Is this command prompt asking for an administrator password ? If so, can you boot into safe mode and do a system restore to before you installed the utility ?

I had one do this to me a few months ago, but was unable to boot into safe mode, I couldn't get it to respond to anything.......... I ended up doing a clean install of win xp.......BTW, upon the attempt to enter the admin password for the account, it was not the password that the thing wanted........ The techs I was workin with at the time said they had never seen that happen before. Good luck with it.........

[birdstone]

I went to support.microsoft article 310353 and configured a clean boot. Didn't work, i then went to article 307545 and created a temp folder, backed up existing registry to new location, deleted reg. files at exisitng location, then copied files from repair folder to system32config folder. It worked, i was able to boot in safe mode. i then created a new folder with new reg.values and these values would be recognized by system recovery when i booted again. I booted again and a new error message came up "lsass.exe An invalid parameter was passed to a service or function" (I assume i made a mistake typing since it booted earlier. So i went to another Article to fix this problem. I booted the computer and was asked to enter an admin. password and just like before i hit "enter" because there isn't one. now, i can't get passed a password that doesn't exist. Is there any way to bypass the bios password?

[Tunz]

It is not quite clear where you are being asked for a password. Are you actually in BIOS Setup, at Welcome/Login screen or back at the text based Recovery Console.

[birdstone]

I'm at the text based recovery console. I just started the computer and a error message came up "the current value password does not match the existing value" imagine that!! anyway, i put the win xp install disc in and went to the recovery console i clicked R for repair and it prompted me to choose an installation to log onto, there's only 1, so i hit enter and when i was prompted for the admin. password i pressed enter hoping it would bypass it as it should and it did. don't ask me how. now all i have to do is figure out what command to type in the recovery console

[bunk]

I think birdstone is getting a command prompt while trying to get into the " repair " section of their XP disc ???? At least that's what was happening to me. I was unable to get by them myself :(





BTW, it wasn't my PC but someones I know. Win XP home / compaq presario - S5300NX ( I do believe it was ) I have worked on it before, and she brought it to me in the same condition as described above.

[VladTheImpaler1990]

Ok so lets get this all down right. These are the steps you have done.
* Inserted windows cd.
* Repair
* Comes up which volume right?
* You done that, then you skipped the password

* Now i think it was on mine that after the password the repair started automatically.



Sorry i might be mistaken as its a while back since i did a repair.

[birdstone]

Sorry for the delayed response everybody. Yes, what you listed is what I did. then after the first successful "safe mode" boot i followed the rest of the instructions with the microsoft help. I then attempted to reboot the computer and that's when the password (that doesn't exist) stopped me. I left the computer for a few days and when i started the process over I did what I did the first time insert the winxp cd, repair, asked for volume, then password. Just like the first time I skipped the password and it worked,I don't why but I was thankful. But the missing or corrupt file still existed so I wasn't able to get it into safe mode again to type in the command that Bunk told me about. The password I was talking about was is in the text based recovery console. Sorry about the confusion, I'm a rookie and i'm probably not getting the right computer lingo said. I haven't been able to get to the welcome or safe mode so, I gave up. I reinstalled the OS and will faithfully backup any work done. I want to thank everyone for there input, it's been a good learning experience for me. After the computer was up and running I reinstalled the utility disc and i haven't had any problems since. Again,thanks to everyone,this site has given me a lot of useful tips and I've recommended it to everyone I know.