Can the data be recovered? URGENT

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Ok wife's laptop just shows this and wouldn't start - i can't locate the XP disc either:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

Can the data on the HD be recovered?
what should we best do?
 
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It's a registry error, and can be corrected it seems - Check out the first few hits you'll get here:

http://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Windows+XP+could+not+start+because+the+following+file+is+missing+or+corrupt:+%5CWINDOWS%5CSYSTEM32%5CCONFIG%5CSYSTEM&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=WyomTMneO8GjnQfynOC8Bg
 
If restore fails does the laptop have a hidden restore partition? (hit f12 etc when booting)
 
ok got it back up, running in safe mode..

what's the easiest and quickest way to do a back up now?
i tried windows back up and it won't recognize the CD drive !!!

Can I get an ext HD and back it up?
 
Best Buy has some 500 Gig Western Digital USB External Drives for $89.99.

You should be able to copy the important files over to it.

There are some threads posted here regarding backup software. It is not a question of if but when.

We backup about once a week or so here at home both our desktop and laptops. Any real important files more often.

I think that everyone must have this kind of experience before they realize how important backups are.
 
If all you need to backup are documents, photos, music etc., just cut and paste your my documents folder to an external HD, flash drive etc.
 
yep well said.

I found a WD 1 TB for $129 at staples; seems ok for the size. only thing it has an a/c power adapter, but I guess that's ok.

I think it comes with some SW to back up.
 
Aaaah! I hit SUBMIT rather than preview. Drats.

First, like I said above, use spinrite. This will likely make it boot again like nothing happened.

THEN, get a USB external harddrive. Copy everything over to it.

THEN, come up with a backup strategy so this doesn't bite you again. I use BOTH Carbonite (it's fast, easy, and you don't have to think about it!) and an external USB drive.

later,
b
 
Originally Posted By: kd5byb
This is begging for SpinRite. Look up Gibson Research Corporation. Well worth the asking price and IT WORKS.


Back it up first. I have had a hard drive finish dying while trying to fix a problem with spin right. In the time it ran SpinRight I could have easily backed up all my data files.

Don't get me wrong, SpinRite is useful, but first things first.
 
Originally Posted By: XS650
Don't get me wrong, SpinRite is useful, but first things first.


+1

I tell everyone who is within earshot and unable to flee that your computer is itself most likely a cheaply made, expendable piece of garbage. The data you keep *in* your computer is what is of value, and some considerable portion of your computing budget should, in my opinion, be apportioned to securing and backing up the valuable part.

I keep a USB drive with my main drive mirrored on it off of my property, powered down, backed up once per week; and I keep really important stuff on an Amazon S3 account "in the cloud". It breaks my heart when folks lose their family photos and movies and documents because their system was compromised or their hardware failed. That data is gone forever and it doesn't need to be that way. The beauty of digital information is that you can make a bazillion copies of it without generational degradation. DVD's are a few cents each - Make multiple copies multiple times per year of all of your data and store them hither and thither, even.
 
Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more


I tell everyone who is within earshot and unable to flee ...


Honesty is a virtue and often funny too.
lol.gif
cheers3.gif
 
Bingo! The value is in the data, not the hardware. The value isn't even in the O/S (gasp!)

Everything else can be replicated. The hardware, the O/S. But the data, to borrow a phrase is priceless.

Computer: $500-1000
O/S: $100-300
The data on your computer: Priceless.
 
Laptop is working fine now.
Got that 1 TB ext HD from Staples.

This was a wake up call...that ThinkPad R52 has been tough and never gave any problems till now..probably about 7 yrs old now, but it's time to look at a new laptop i think...
 
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Laptop is working fine now.
Got that 1 TB ext HD from Staples.

This was a wake up call...that ThinkPad R52 has been tough and never gave any problems till now..probably about 7 yrs old now, but it's time to look at a new laptop i think...


That sounds like a plan. Then if you want a toy to play with, get some software to stress test your ThinkPad. If it passes, reload it and keep it as a toy or backup computer.

Or just load Linux and go. Ubuntu has a memory test built in, a free hard drive stress test should be easy to find. Ubuntu 4 years ago worked on the R52

http://linux-laptop.net/hosted/ubuntu-thinkpad-r52.html
so the new version should to.

Mint is another good one.
 
Depending on the age of that computer, I'd bet that the hard drive is getting some bad sectors.

If you boot a live cd of Ubuntu it will have an option in the OS to check the drive, it works really well.

I'm sure there are other linux bootable cd's that do this.

My dad has an older Toshiba laptop that was running very slow even after restoring it and removing all the adware. It turns out the drive was full of bad sectors and was on its last legs.

I bought a new drive for $40 from newegg, and that made it like brand new. We also installed Ubuntu as his only OS on the computer, because he kept getting Xp infected.

The first sign that XP gives that it is missing files or corrupted files usually means data corruption on the physical drive..
 
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