I've spent all morning trying to get my laptop to boot up, problem is a couple of files in c:\windows\system32\config have got corrupt. I've followed the instructions from the MS website and got my laptop to boot so far, but then it turns around and says passwords are incorrect and reboots. Can't get in to safe mode for the same reason and can't boot the recovery CD as it now won't accept my admin password.Used Puppy to restore the original security files and now back to square one. Any ideas?

Try a google for ntpasswd, and see if that can change/blank the admin password for you. It's a boot floppy/CD.

Config is the hardware part of the registry, and usually if thats corrupt its a reinstall time. I asume you have already tried pressing F8 and then selecting the last good config option.

You can try and fix it by doing a repair install over the current one, no need for the admin password

You will need an XP home/pro CD, and also a valid CD key.

1) boot from XP cd (not vendor recovery disc as this WILL wipe everything).

2) press enter to install xp (not R)

3) on the next screen xp setup will find your existing setup and ask if you want to attempt a repair, press R now.

4) setup will continue to the end prompting for answers along the way.

Thanks for the answers. CJB, looks like a useful application that, I'll certainly give it a try. With regards to a full rebuild, thinking about going with Linux on it instead as it will give me access to my stuff on the NTFS partition.

It WORKS!!!!

Taken a bit of work, following instructions from the MS web site but having to do all the fixes in DOS instead of safe mode was fun.

Just hope the BSOD doesn't come back, has been ok tonight so far though.

If BSOD comes back. Then may i sugest your hard drive is stuffed, get any data off of there before this happens. Glad to see you all sorted.

If BSOD comes back. Then may i sugest your hard drive is stuffed, get any data off of there before this happens. Glad to see you all sorted.

Sadly, I suspect this is the root cause of all the issues I've been having over the last few days. :(

Still, suppose it's not bad, 4 years out of a laptop.

Could you post which MS links you used to fix please. I've got a couple of machines in that appear to have a very similar fault to what you describe.

The fact I have two here with very similar symptoms makes me think it could well be the result of a Windows update/patch/fix.

Cheers,

Steve

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

That's the one I've been using. When you've done part one and you're on to part two you may find you still need to use DOS or a runtime version (e.g. Puppy) as it still might not boot. I've got my laptop now booting but it still keeps BSOD after a bit of time, leading me to suspect the HDD. :(

With regards to the possibility of an update causing the issue, I know when SP3 came out there were a number of reports of it causing BSOD, however, I waited a bit of time before installing it and have been using it for a couple of months now without trouble. Only updates I've done recently are AVG8 and also Firefox 3, don't know how this compares to your experiences.

If BSOD comes back. Then may i sugest your hard drive is stuffed, get any data off of there before this happens. Glad to see you all sorted.

Either that or RAM. Give it a run of Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool as well.

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

That's the one I've been using. When you've done part one and you're on to part two you may find you still need to use DOS or a runtime version (e.g. Puppy) as it still might not boot. I've got my laptop now booting but it still keeps BSOD after a bit of time, leading me to suspect the HDD. :(

With regards to the possibility of an update causing the issue, I know when SP3 came out there were a number of reports of it causing BSOD, however, I waited a bit of time before installing it and have been using it for a couple of months now without trouble. Only updates I've done recently are AVG8 and also Firefox 3, don't know how this compares to your experiences.

Cheers for the info. These are all other people's machines, with leads me to suspect some outside force as they're all used differently, by different people and have different components etc - no common factor.

Cheers,

Steve

HDDs all fail eventually, 4 years is a pretty good life for a laptop drive if it's actually used on the move or just not on a desk all the time.

Hard Drives - 2.5" Laptop IDE Drives - Ebuyer

Easy job and cheaper than a new laptop.

:rubchin: I've just installed the drivers for my wireless laptop card after being ok for about a month and guess what has just started happening........

What card is it? And did you install with the latest driver download package (if available)?

Steve

Linksys WPC54G Version 1.2. Yeah, I'm using the latest drivers, downloaded them this afternoon. :(

BTW, how did you get on with the computers you were looking at?

Did you jump straight to XP SP3 when you re-installed? I did this on the ones I had problems with, and I've not had any phonecalls.... yet!

I'm convinced it was a buggy Windoze patch/update and my theory was that in jumping straight to the Service Pack, I might avoid anything again (one laptop, two desktops - nothing connecting/linking them etc, no patterns).

On the Linksys issue - might this help? Go straight to the horse's mouth, so to speak, by downloading drivers for the chipset that the card uses? WPC54G ver 1.2 Driver needed - LinksysInfo - Community Forums for Linksys Devices

Steve

Yeah, went straight from XP XP1 to SP3, and everything has been fine. Installed the Linksys card = BSOD!.

Thanks for the link for the drivers btw , been looking for it as there used to be a definite driver for version 1.2 cards that has gone missing off the Linksys website.

To Be Continued.........

No worries, fingers crossed

From the tone of the posts on that link, it might be like you're not the only one to have issues with Linksys drivers

Steve

. It's gone into a BSOD loop and doesn't want to boot now!

Is rollback an option? Or boot in Last Known Configuration? Or go into Safe Mode with Networking and then remove/uninstall the device in Device Manager?

Steve

Is rollback an option? Or boot in Last Known Configuration? Or go into Safe Mode with Networking and then remove/uninstall the device in Device Manager?

Steve

Sadly, no, no and no. :(

Ironically, it did BSOD on me as I was typing my original reply , however, I'm hoping that was just because I forgot to reboot after an update.

As it wouldn't boot even into safe mode properly I ended up reimaging the hard drive. Since installing the Broadcom drivers though I have managed to download wirelessly all the updates from XP SP1 to SP3 and install them.

Blimey, what a pain! Sincerely hope this is the end to your troubles now, and that the Broadcom version does the trick....

Steve