My home computer with Windows Home Addition XP has crashed for the third time now. In the previous crash and burns, I have simply uninstalled and reinstalled the software. But what a loss, not to mention all the hassle of downloading the Service Pack, anti-virus software, etc.
Is there a way to recover without resorting to starting with a blank slate.
The message is always the same. When starting up, this appears:
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.
Of course when I attempt this fix I know nothing about what I'm doing. I've also tried the F8 trick to try to start up in Safe Mode, but it doesn't work.
Any help would be appreciated.
Configuration: Windows XP
Internet Explorer 6.0