system reboots before logon

Hi,

I have a windows xp pc that failed to load for the following error:-
windows\system32\config\system is either missing or corrupt.

I solved this problem by copying old rp data from out of the system volume information using recovery console.
i copied the system, sam, software and security files from the week previous.

This seems to work initially, however when the system gets to the point where the xploading screen should appear, it just restarts.

I have started up in safe mode and it processes files upto the : ntfs.sys then restarts.

does anybody have any ideas?

would it help if i disabled all services in the recovery console?

p.s.
re - installing windows is not an option as there is some software that is on the pc for business purposes that was installed by the software producers and the licence key will only work on that windows installation, I have installed another version of windows in a different folder so i could backup my files and at least have some access to the pc but when i tried the business software it wouldn't work with the new windows installation (I manually copied the required files into the new version of windows but the licence key for the business software is still invalid, it must be hidden in the old registry) and the producers charge a very hefty fee for coming and re-installing their software

UPDATE

I have disabled automatic reboot on system failure in the bios, rather than restarting, i now get the BSOD with the following message:-

STOP : 0x0000007b (0xf9e48528,0x0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)

windows has had to stop prevent damage to your system etc.. etc..

I had a similar problem with windows ME years ago, what worked for me was to change the ide cable to my c drive, turned out that the plastic connector had come away slightly from the ribbon, worth a check.

How to troubleshoot "Stop 0x0000007B" errors in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103

A Repair Install of XP will leave you data and programs intact:

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341/

I had already unplugged the hd to transfer it to another pc to access it before i installed a mirror version of windows xp on it, i have returned it to its original place now so it has already been unplugged and then plugged back in, also my mirror version of xp installed wouldn't work if the ribbon cablbe wasnt connected properly, thanks anyway.

I keep thinking about running the windows repair but it was originally installed with an xp sp1 cd - i now only have the xp cd with sp2 and the option to repair doesn't appear , it must be because it is a different build of windows. I am stuck with this one.

p.s. i also had a pc on the same network go down with the missing windows\system32\config\system error last week, but this was easily fixed with chkdsk /r - could the two problems be related in some way or is it just coincidence that they both had the same original error in such a short space?

Have you loaded SP2 on this computer?

Some ideas and tips here:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Scroll down to:

If the Repair Option is not Available


As per that Microsoft web page re: 7B errors the possibility of a Boot Sector virus is there. I just assume that this could affect computers on a network.

I am going to look at the web page now for ideas, i also thought of the possibility of a virus.

When i couldnt get the original xp to boot up, i installed the sp2 version but used a different directory to windows, so there is now 2 windows to boot from at start up - the old one that doesnt work - and the new one that none of the software works on. I at least have access to the old files etc.. and have runvirus scans both using bartpe scanners which work outside of windows and also scanners that work on the new installation, they havent fixed the problem though.

Ive disabled all services that dont belong to microsoft now and still no joy!

I couldnt really find anything that i havent already tried or that would help.

I have just inserted my xpsp cd while windows is running, and wonder if i could use it from here to ugrade the old version of windows, this may fix it if i can work out how to get it to perform the upgrade on the correct installation.

there may be hope yet..

I am posting here to let you know i have resolved my problems :-

When i plugged the hd into my computer at home as a slave drive, scandisk run and found it had 2 windows directories in the same folder (i dont know how but it did). scan disk then to my horror started deleting all of the files in the windows directory, not to worry though because it restored all "orphaned files" into 1 single directory.

this did not solve my problem however, it still restarted before the windows screen appeared. I copied all system 32 files from my desktop pc onto the hd and still no luck, however when i copied the system32\drivers\ files it started successfully. I can only imagine that one of these files most have become corrupted or deleted somehow.

Resolve - if xp restarts before intering into the windows loading screen, it could mean you have missing files in the windows\system32\drivers\ directory

Thanks for the detailed update and the tip!

It will undoubtedly help someone else!

Glad you got things going again!