i got this problem where it says" the system cannot start because window system32 config system missing or corrupt.... my question is: Is there a way to fix this problem without having to restore my computer to before anything was installed on it? I never had the chance to back up my pictures and scripts and restoring it with the windows xp restore disk is gonna erase all my stuff, right? I don't want to lose any of my pictures or scripts and all the solutions i've read about say you will lose all stufff saved after xp was installed! Is that the only way?? thank you very much.

Is the restore disk from the manufacturer or did you install Windows from an OEM disk?

the disc is from the manufacturer. Windows xp came with installed with the computer when i bought it.

Do you have another computer you can put your drive into as a slave and copy the files to the other computers drive'

yeah i have another computer. what would i have to do exactly? which drive would i need to use from my broken down computer? i have no idea what steps to take. thanks for helping. i appreciate it immensely.

You need to take the messed up drive and install it in the other computer as a slave or secondary drive. You will probably need to move a jumper, before installing it. Then you need to copy all your stuff off the old drive to the new drive. First though once you boot up you will need to take ownership of some of the files on the slave drive since the OS will think you are no longer the owner of the My Documents folder and its files. You can take ownership of the files or folders. Here's how:

1. Log on with an account that has administrative privileges. In XP Home, you need to start in safe mode. In XP Pro, simple file sharing needs to be disabled.

2. In Windows Explorer, go to the old drives My Documents folder and right click it. Select Properties.

3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Security tab (it won't appear in Home if you're not in safe mode or in Pro if simple file sharing is enabled).

4. Click the Advanced button.

5. Click the Owner tab.

6. Under "Change ownership to" select the user account you want to use to access the folder. Check the box that says "Replace owner on sub-containers and objects."

7. Click OK twice to exit the dialog boxes.

Let me know if you have questions or problems. Remember not all the folders will need this done, just my documents folder, which has my docs my pics my music and is where most people have their important stuff saved to. All other files and folders should be accessible. Remember that before you take ownership the file will show up as being empty regardless of how much stuff is in there and will change after you take owwnership.

o.k. so then with doing all that you said......After that......
do i go to my old computer and insert the restore disk?
or do i have to reinstall the "messed up" drive back into the original computer before inserting restore disk?
If so, how do i get my pics, music file etc. transferred back onto my original computer?

again, by the way, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.

OK You have taken the drive from computer one (the messed up one) and put it in computer two and copied all your files to to the drive on computer two. After that is done you will put the drive from computer one back inside and reinstalled from the program recovery disk. At that point you either need to put the drive from two into one and copy the files. Or put the one drive back into two and copy the files to one drive then put the two drive back in it's computer. Or you can copy the files to CD while the drives are switched.

once the messed up drive is the good computer (computer 2)....how do i find the property dialog box? I put my xp in safe mode but no property dialog box pops up?

You right click on the folder and hit properties. There will be a security tab there that isn't visible normally.

where can i find the folder? sorry for bothering.

Start\my computer\C\Documents and Settings\your name\My Documents

well i put the messed up driver in the good computer but now it won't start up saying something about "could not detect primary drive." or if my computer is running and then i install the messed up drive, the computer will freeze and show a blue screen where it says something to the effect that windows has to shut down to prevent damage and that it may be a hardware problem that wasn't installed properly (which is the ribbon and power cable, how hard could that be??).

I got it to go once but in the computer/c/docs&setting etc... my name wasn't there, just the administrators and the good computer's folder. what can it be now? i had to use the ribbon from my other computer because the good computer didn't have a master/slave ribbon.

sorry for this mess.

You need to move the jumper on the old one to slave when you put it in the other computer.

Repair Install FTW!.

When I get that error message, 90% of the time a repair install doesn't work and a lot of time it goes into a BSOD loop.

"90% of the time a repair install doesn't work " if you are getting the Error that much, and you can keep statistics on it then I believe your Problem is a failing hard drive.

But if you are correct that leaves a 10% chance of it being fixed with a repair which don't take long to do and is also lot quicker and Easier than swapping hard disks out etc etc, if it worked granted.

If backing up data is the only issue and you can get a hold of a another system with SATA Drive on it you could stick it in there and copy the files over then do a Re-Install when you put the hard drive back.

But anyway does it say System.exe or just system, I have only ever had this problem happen to me once and it was repaired by putting the windows Disc in and going to repair and copying the file over.