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General discussion

windows xp home edition setup boot disks download

Apr 25, 2008 6:57AM PDT

i downloaded the above 4.1 mb file from the download.com site. it says it is for disks. i saved it to my harddrive and tried to load onto disks...nada...wants something bigger than a 1.44m disk. i tried going directly to disk drive A: for the download...same result. My other computer which is having the problem says "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: windows/system32/config/system. You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup from the original Setup CD ROM
select r from the first menu to start repair" .
The problem is i cannot get the !#$%@#$$%^ cd player to work without the 6 setup disks and i cannot get the setup boot file onto disks. Help please.
don @ donsbiz

Discussion is locked

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Do You Have The Windows XP CD Disc?
Apr 25, 2008 10:17AM PDT

The 6 XP floppy discs won't make the CD drive work?? What exactly are you seeing..

As long as you've got the XP CD, then you only need to place the XP disc in the CD-ROM drive, then restart the computer.. As long as the CD drive is set to boot FIRST in the BIOS, then XP will load.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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WinXP HomeED Missing or corrupt file
Jan 24, 2011 8:26PM PST

I'm having the same issue. Did Microsoft send out some update to disable what they felt was an "invalid" copy of Microsoft Windows XP? Anyway... It's my boyfriends laptop. I'm using my laptop to locate a "recovery" option since it's been so long since he got his computer, he no longer knows where the recovery disc is. I got the exact same message on the startup...

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\Windows\System32\Config\System

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."

First of all, hitting 'r' returns no results. F2 brings me to a place for changing BIOS settings, but won't allow to update or does not see an image to update. F8 brought me to a lot of different options (all of them bringing me back to my error message). F10 allows you to run a diagnostic (which told me there was nothing wrong).

Do I just need 1 simple little file, or do I need to try to reload my OS? Should I scrap it and go with CentOS or Ubuntu or something? Clearly I'm tech challenged.

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It sounds like the CD is not set for first boot
Jan 24, 2011 8:39PM PST

Since F2 brings up the BIOS settings, change the boot order to CD=first boot. Save the setting by observing the choice after hitting ESC. Place the WinXP CD in the CD drive. Upon boot up, it should show that setup for Windows is running. You do not get the choice to pick "R" until setup is loaded.

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Regarding That Error Message
Jan 24, 2011 11:08PM PST

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\Windows\System32\Config\System"

Most find running a repair install with the original Recovery discs gets the job done best and easiest. If you can obtain those discs from the original manufacturer, do so.. If not, then a traditional repair install using a Windows XP disc should also work..

Follow the steps in the link below to run a repair install with the XP disc.. You'll note you do NOT press the "R" at the first opportunity to do so. (Doing so takes you to the "Recovery Console" and that's not really what you want.) Instead, you'll need to proceed through a couple of screens first, including the license agreement, then press the "R" key which the option presents itself.:

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm

Hope this helps.

Grif