registry problem

[david12345]

hi a computer just stopped working.No image for this PC.
blue screen - stop- registry file failure c0000218 cannot load hive
\systemRoot\System32\Config\software.....corrupt/absent
won't start in safe mode, last known good wouldn't work
also said System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys missing
winxp pro disc-> initially wouldn't complete boot from disc
-> stop c0000221 unknown hardware error
\systemRoot\System32\ntdll.dll

then did boot from the disc- loading all the drivers etc
"setup starting windows" on the blue choice screen
chose "R -repair using recovery console"
this leads to a command prompt
c:\windows>
what do I do now?
Dell Optiplex GX520 Desktop
80Gb disk Drive
512Mb Ram Pentium 4 2.8GHz
eg can you run system restore from a command prompt like this?
Have another GX520 I could get files from...
Advice please.

[_Bob_]

This sounds like a corrupted file system which could be caused by failing memory or hard drive. Boot the machine using something like ultimate boot cd and run a memory check. If this finds no fault boot back to the recovery console with the xp disk and run a checkdisk to fix any filesystem corruption. If it still fails to boot you may have to try and take a ghost image from your other laptop.

[Michael]

Unfortunately the error c0000218 does point to a hard drive fault/failure.

If you can get into the Recovery Console, your system memory should be ok. At the prompt type:

chkdsk /r

This will scan your hard disk and attempt to locate bad clusters and recover readable information. If this process fails, then your hard disk will probably need replacing.

Here's a full list of Recovery Console tools/switches.

[FN-GM]

I had the same fault last week, new hard drived seemed to fixed it.

Z

[david12345]

Unfortunately the error c0000218 does point to a hard drive fault/failure.

If you can get into the Recovery Console, your system memory should be ok. At the prompt type:

chkdsk /r

This will scan your hard disk and attempt to locate bad clusters and recover readable information. If this process fails, then your hard disk will probably need replacing.

Here's a full list of Recovery Console tools/switches.

thanks, win xp cd -recovery consol- repair didn't work, chkdsk ran ok but didn't allow windows to start,system restore from the command prompt didn't work, finally installing windows over existing windows folder, without formatting worked, though needed to download some drivers from Dell that not on disk.

[Michael]

So it could of been a corrupted file system. I would be vigilant and backup any important data in case this happens again in the short-term.