XP Corrupt. Options??

J

Jimmybeam

New Member
I have a computer with an original version of Windows XP. I have the CD and I have the license. I actually did the original install a few months ago. Computer was working great, but would occasionally shut down, but that may be a hardware or driver conflict. Im still working through that.

The problem I have now is all of a sudden the computer will not boot. The error msg is that Windows could not start because the System folder is either missing or corrupt. Now I have looked at the options of backing everything thing up manually and deleting registry files, this and that. Massive PITA. In the old days if 95 or 98 had problems you just reinstalled right over the top. The new install would replace missing or damaged registry files and your personal files would not be touched. With XP, I get a warning that I may lose my "My Documents" folder, user names and other personal stuff. Is this the case or is it just a maybe?? What are teh other more simple ways to get this computer back up and running.

Cheers
JB
 
you can try a repair install, but there is no guarantee that it will work.

What I would do is pop in a live CD from Ubuntu (completely free) and use that to get all of the info that you need off of your drive. Then boot nuke it and reinstall. I do believe that this hold the best chance of preserving your data while fixing the system. And FYI, chances are you have maleware or a virus if your system folder is missing/corrupt. Unless you fell for the old troll of deleting "system 32".
 
Test your HDD and memory. I've seen a bad stick of memory cause that issue and replacing it solves it without having to reinstall Windows.

But definitely grab your data off with a Linux CD first before you test the HDD.
 
Virus protection was up to date. Its my dads computer , and he is not the most internet savvy person, so he could have opened something and it slipped through the protection. I do have a drive caddie, I could take the drive out and back up everything that way. TBH, there is nothing more than new emails on there as I only did the fresh install just at the end of last year. I also replaced the memory when it started to shut off. Its limited now, but a driver for the sound card sent it into fits, so I uninstalled that and its now much more stable, but not 100%. I'll run a scan with it connected to my PC and copy the email folders off and format and start again. Thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks all.
JB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top