Can't boot computer, blue screen of death, system memory dump

deanne

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I am running windows XP professional. No changes have been made recently with computer. I just had a Internet Explorer window open when it started to make disturbing noise, like it is trying to read a really bad CD, then it froze, and I shut it off and the next time I went to boot it up I get these messages:

First the screen comes up with the message "We apologize for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully..." And you have the options of starting in safe mode, starting from the last successful configuration or starting normally. Regardless of which choice picked, the next screen is the blue screen with the following message:

"Stop: c0000218{registry file failure}

The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\systemRoot\system32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

Beginning dump of physical memory.
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance."

Please help me!! I am lost... Is it possible to retrieve my files and then reformat?

Thank you guys...
 
put your XP cd into your computer, and boot from it, and wait for it to load. once you get to the screen where you can exit, go to the recovery console or install it, hit enter or something to continue the installation. accept the terms of service, then it should load a couple things and come up with a screen that shows the directory of you current windows installation, then press something like R to repair it. it should reload all of the system files\etc. let it reboot and DONT boot from the CD again, take it out once you restart.

if this doesnt work do this over again but just install a fresh copy, but DONT FORMAT.
 
thanks for the reply, rudster, i forgot to mention that it is a dell laptop, i hope it doesnt make any difference?

if it is this simple then i suppose you do not recommend me bring it to the computer repair shop?
 
oh no!!! :( died?

How will I know if my hdd is recognized in the BIOS? I dont remember seeing that part where it displays how I can go to my BIOS... \

Please excuse my complete ignorance... :confused:
 
if there getting a BSOD, it means it can still read the HDD. windows is just got corrupt. your HDD is fine to my knowledge, might be slowly dying, unless its several years old i doubt this though.

also, if its a dell laptop then it probably didnt come with a XP cd did it? just a restore disk, pop that in and restore you OS to its original state.
 
rudster, it came with a XP Pro reinstallation CD.

I tried to repair it as you suggested but it seems it doesnt want to read the cd. my cdrw had been acting retarded... do you think it will be able to read from an external CDrom (USB port)?
 
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