Thread: W2K Pro won't boot

So, when we tirned on the computer this morning, we got this error:

Windwos can not start because the file is missing or corrupt:

\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMced

You can try startup options using F8, or boot for the W2K CD and repair by selecting "r" at the first screen.

Well, safe mode with networking doesn't work, and when I try a repair, it sends me to the repair console which is like a DOS screen and I have no clue how to proceed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

take a look here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/269075

Hi Techmaster. Thanks for the link. I have another problem, after reading the solution:

"Use the Repair Console tool to replace the backup copy of the System hive from the repair folder. If the Repair Console tool is not installed on your computer, you can run it from the Emergency Repair process: 1. Use the Windows 2000 CD-ROM or the Windows 2000 Startup disk to start the computer.
2. When you see the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R for "repair."
3. Press C to run the Recovery Console tool.
4. Select the installation that you want to repair.
5. Type the administrator password. ..."

My problem is #4 - it can't find an installation of Windows to repair! Now what to do? any ideas?
Thanks.

It sounds very much like your going to have to reload everything fresh, which would mean losing all your data.

The only other way I can think is to put your hard drive into another pc as a "second" drive and see if you can access it and copy off anything you need.

Then put the drive back into your pc and reformat/reinstall windows and copy back the files you backed up.

Well, I got the file system recognized and tried the recovery console. FIXMBR, FIXBOOT didn't solve the problem so I went ahead and restored the old hive. The system boots now, and all the info appears to be there, but there are problems:

F-secure wouldn't load, so when I tried to reinstall it, I got an error message that the OS wasnt't supported (out of date). I went to Windows Update and it said I needed service pack 4. So I installed it. Went back to windows update and now it won't work. It appears that the BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) is not running in the "services" - it's not even listed there, so I can't start it.

I would appreciate some guidance as to how to proceed to restore everything to the way it was - I've obviously lost alot of information by restoring the original hive, MBR and boot info.

Thanks.

UPDATE: I downloaded and installed BITS 2.0 + WinHTTP 5.0. I made BITS "automatic" in services, tried windows update again, but it still doesn't work.

UPDATE: Well, I was getting nowhere, so I decided to do a format/reinstall. Everything was going fine, and the OS installed, but when it went to reboot, it went into a loop and kept going through the entire process. I shut down. Now, when I try to boot, I get 2 error messages:

1. Promise Ultra66 BIOS Bus MAster v1.10 build 0121 will not load
2. Can not locate operating system

The computer will not do anything else. I reseated the RAM, checked all connections, disconnected the Zip drive and tried again - same problem. Could the MB be going bad?