laptop start up problems

[Pebbles]

I am trying to mend my daughter's laptop. I replaced the hard drive a few weeks ago and it has been working great, until last night that is. Have checked that and all screws are tight.

She hasn't downloaded anything new, or plugged in any usb leads etc only the mains plug.

Anyway, she turned it on to get a message saying

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

I have put the recovery disc in and when it gets to the select "r" bit, I do that , it whirs away, with a blue screen, with files etc being loaded along the bottom of the screen, then it gets to the following message along the bottom

Examining 38155 MB Disk 0 at Id 0 on bus 0 on iaStor...

and just stops. It stayed there for over an hour until I turned it off. You cannot hear the hard drive noise either, or the cd-rom going round?

I cannot use the procedure microsoft suggest as the operating system was put on by the manufacturer.

Any suggestions........in plain English

[Ethel]

Instead of typing 'r' at recovery, try typing chkdsk /p (that space MUST be between the k and the /.

After it completes - reboot. Hopefully all will be well.

There are more options to try - very well explained here:

http://www.help2go.com/Tutorials/Windows/C:%5C windows%5Csystem32%5Cconfig%5Csystem_missing_o r_corrupt.html

If all else fails you could try running from a different OS.

Use a free OS such as Ubuntu (part of the Linux family) and see if you can get the laptop up and running.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Now I don't know if that will work - you would have to install it onto a cd in your working machine. But it could be interesting.

[Pebbles]

Thanks for the imput.

[crossroads]

The blue screen you are getting is known in the trade, as the "Blue screen of death" because it means you have a serious problem with your operating system. All i can reccomend without seeing it is you follow Ethel's instructions or re-install the operating system.
I have had this problem before and its not simple to sort out. The "windows\system32\config\system. is either a registry hive or a system configuration file or somthing similar. I might have a patch that could sort your problem.
If i find it i'll post it up on here.

[Pebbles]

thanks crossroads.

[crossroads]

OK, its a registry hive file. On your system there should be another file in the same folder with the name "system.sav"
This file is the backup file. So now to repair the original file.
If the file system. is not in the folder, copy the file "system.sav" into the same folder. Open the sav file with notepad, and call it "system." remember to choose all files from the bottom. You should get a message coming up "are you sure you want to over write this file?" click yes and then reboot your computer.
This hopefully should have worked. If not you have a more serious problem than i first thought and you should contact your manafacturer for guidence.

[crossroads]

Also try this:
Open up the registry in "regedit.exe". Now go to inport and in the dialogue box select "registry hive". Type in the following path: *windows\system32\config\system.
Replace * with your drive letter, eg 'C:'
Now press enter and hopefully the key should be inported and updated. If not try my other post.