How do I repair a corrupt Win XP Pro registry without the original CD?

February 16th, 2010 | by admin |

As far as I can tell, the hard disk is ok (it still shows up in my RAID set), but Windows XP Pro won’t boot, and gives me a system error ("windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupt.")

Unfortunately I don’t have the original OS disc, but i have a XP Media Edition CD, which came with a recent Dell system purchase. I attempted to repair my old comp from the CD, but the Windows Recovery console gave me a "cannot find hard disk" error. The console gives me the same error when I tried formatting a brand new hard disk with the CD, so I am thinking something is up with the Dell software. It’s understandable that Dell would prohibit the software being used on any system but the one your bought from them.

So, would a new XP Pro CD work to repair the registry, even if it’s not the original, or is there something else I’m missing?

The CD you use must be from the same distribution as the CD used to install the software. If you have a computer that was installed using an OEM version of Windows, a Volume License or Retail copy will not work. The CD must also be of the same edition as well. If you are trying to repair a Home edition machine, a Professional CD will not work.

Unfortunately, without using some illegal tactics I would say that you’re SOL on a repair unless you find that CD AND your repair disk.

But, what you can do is reinstall the machine from a new Windows CD and choose to install into a different directory instead of formatting the drive. At least that will allow you to get your data off the machine if you need to.

  1. 2 Responses to “How do I repair a corrupt Win XP Pro registry without the original CD?”

  2. By colourfulpony on Feb 16, 2010 | Reply

    i have win xp media edition too and i am able to correct my system and return to factory settings via the control panel, there is an option return to factory settings and i can also set save points to return the computer too at later dates if i need too. if you still have the instruction manual for the computer there should be some information in that about it. hope this helped xx
    References :

  3. By albion53151 on Feb 16, 2010 | Reply

    The CD you use must be from the same distribution as the CD used to install the software. If you have a computer that was installed using an OEM version of Windows, a Volume License or Retail copy will not work. The CD must also be of the same edition as well. If you are trying to repair a Home edition machine, a Professional CD will not work.

    Unfortunately, without using some illegal tactics I would say that you’re SOL on a repair unless you find that CD AND your repair disk.

    But, what you can do is reinstall the machine from a new Windows CD and choose to install into a different directory instead of formatting the drive. At least that will allow you to get your data off the machine if you need to.
    References :

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