computer woes

Woden

Hi, this is the second time this has happened to me but the first time it seemed to fix itself,

when i boot the computer i was getting this message

cannot find something like c:\windows\system32\config\system

thre result of this is that the computer wouldn't boot, i went into recovery console and tried checkdisk, fix boot and fixmbr but it made no difference (i was unaware of the option of a repair installtion that you can apparently do)

so what i did was do a clean install over my existing installation in the hope of getting acces to my documents folder, i got access to my old desktop but not documents this was in accessible and had a file size of 0. so i bite the bullet did a full format, resinstalled xp am just finishing off the updates.

i'm just worried that is going to happen again and that i don't know if i can fix it, anyone have any ideas what is causes this problem?

cheers

data

Mutant_Fruit

do a scan disk to check for bad sectors, and just hope you find none. If possible, do several consequtive scans to be 100% certain. It sounds like your drive is dying a slow death. Thats all i can think of.

The Muppet

dodgy memory is another possibility.

Mutant_Fruit

cannot find something like c:\windows\system32\config\system

that doesn't sound like bad ram. Bad ram throws up BSOD's all the time. I'd guess its either a faulty harddrive controller, or a bad harddrive.

Are you running a RAID?

Woden

nah no raid just a single drive

i'll run scan disc now see what happens

cheers

data

BigEejit

I see this regularly at work in win2k servers .... that file is part of the registry hive, when it grows over 13MB it is too big to fit in memory at startup (IIRC) and so you get that error message ....

Fire the exact text of the error into google, there are a couple of solutions in the microsoft knowlegebase ... cant remember if there is a generic fix for it ... we know exactly what is causing our files at work to grow and can take steps to reduce the file size (external storage changing regularly, win2k and xp keep all the data on EVERYTHING thats connected and disconnected)

So you have to find out whats causing this to happen to you and then identify where it is in the registry and delete it (not easily done) ... only way of doing that is to make a parallel installation and edit the other installations registry AFAIK.

This will happen over and over until you identify what the hell is causing it.

A quick fix is to do a new fresh install, when everything is the way you like it boot off the cd ..go into console mode and make a copy of that file (system) and system.alt as well.

SantaHoe

I second the dodgy ram theory.

Capt'n Midnight

not good that is where the registy files hang out, and since neither XP nor 2K have a "recovery disk option" it's not looking good.

Also you can't copy the files while windows is running

If C: is NOT NTFS then if you had booted with a different OS or floopy you could have copied these files to a different folder as a backup and now you could have copied them back - yes hindsight is a more precise science,

Have you done a system state backup ? (not that it's much use seeing as you can't get in to windows.)

I take it BOOT.INI has not been modified and windows is indeed the windows folder.

Woden

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545

this article here seems to cover the issue, i haven't read through it yet, it mentions a corrupted registery, anyone know what causes this so that i can prevent it?


cheers

data

Woden

not sure what boot.ini is but i haven't touched it, c drive is ntfs and windows is the windows folder yes

ai ing

If big eejit is right and its the size of the registry, there are a lot of utilities out there that clean up and remove obsolete enteries such as from programs and games you install and then uninstall.Try a search on download.com or tucows. This should solve your problem if that indeed is your problem;)

Woden

ok if its just the size of the registry i have programs such as system mechanic and norton utilities that can get rid of obsolete registry entries would these be sufficient?

data

ai ing

Only if it is the size of the registry that is causing your problem. Any bad sectors show up in the scan?

Woden

i seem to have check disk instead of scan disk, i ran this with out selecting the two options which try to fix file errors and bad sectors and i got no messages.

i then ran it with the two boxes selected which requires a reboot, this went fine until it got to the final stage to verifying the free space, it seemed stuck on 0% but maybe i just needed to give it more time? i wasn't exactly a fine example of patience waiting for to move.

can run it again when i'm not sitting at the computer bored

Mutant_Fruit

yeah, its the scan for bad sectors that you have to do. Do it overnight, when you won't be staring at it wondering why it takes 5 hours to go 1% :P

Sir Random

My neighbour was getting the same error:
Cannot find file c:\windows\system32\config\system
I tried an XP reinstall and there were a few errors "unable to write file c:\windows\system32\*****". I had to skip a few files, but XP worked for a few more days, then it happened again. This time I did a fresh format/reinstall but errors appeared again during the install so I figured the drive was faulty (fireball). A few days later the PC wouldn't recognise the drive.

Woden

ok maybe my seagate is on the way out then, i might try to figure out how to use seagates diagnostic tools

to top it off sometimes when i reboot the computer i get these weird crapness on my screen, its booting fine but i get glitches on the screen, weird flashing symbols and such.

is this my graphics card on the way out also? if so thats the second powercolor i've had issues with?

cheers

data

Mutant_Fruit

it sounds dodgy alright, but try and sort out the harddrive issue first (if it exists). Then try and find out what's causing the wierd graphics. They might be related.

If you want, switch the GFX card with a friend and see if he gets the same problems. That will sort that out at least...

Woden

the graphics card thing is so intermittent though i just got it there on a reboot but pressed reset and it was gone again, i'll try get a screen shot next time that happens

running some of seagates online tests now

Mutant_Fruit

the online diags probably are based on SMART tags held within the drive, and these are VERY dodgy, don't trust them. They will report the drive is within spec, even though it could be hours from complete death. I know my last drive was still reporting within spec from the smart tags, and 2 hours later it died.

Try installing SIGuardian, and see what that says about your drive.

Woden

right seagates diagnostics found no bad sectors i don't think, it did find "minor inconsistencies" in the file system but they where not errors apparently.

i'll take a look at that other piece software this evening cheers mutant fruit

data

Woden

just to bump this up

i ran prime95 today with memory timings of 2-2-2-6 and it crashed out after 45mins

so i relaxed the timings to 2-3-3-7 which is what the memory is rated for at 217mhz though i run at 200mhz, this is my standard overclock and is prime95 stable iirc

anywho what i'm wondering is could using these tight memory timings have corrupted the registry to give me the problem i had?

Kavs

Dataisgood ,ur problem lies with the "ide to S-ata" converter kit u got with that board(Abit NF7-S) that is to say the specs under ur post is what u have!

I bought the same board and ran my ide drive through the converter and every month or so I had the exact same problem! Very frustrating ,I tried every conceviable fix but to no avail as the problem just reoccured every time ,so the converter kit got the boot (on a hunch) and I reverted back to plain old IDE interface and have'nt had a problem since!(That was over 5 months ago)

Now if ur not using the converter kit and u have a real S-ATA drive then I'm stumped!
Maybe check with Abit to see if the have any other reported cases! but there definetly is some sort of glich with the S-ATA interface on that board and Win XP.
I would'nt blame ur drive just yet ,maybe run a few diagnostics on another machine and see what results u get?
Best of luck with it!

Woden

thanks for the info kav

i have a seagate s-ata drive though that connects start to the s-ata connector on the motherboard, i don't use any of that serlliel or whatever its called that cames with the board

is that the stuff that allow you to connect an ide drive to the s-ata connectors on the board is it?

i'll search the abit forums though i didn't think of that cheers

data

Kavs

"is that the stuff that allow you to connect an ide drive to the s-ata connectors on the board is it?"

Yep, thats the culprit in my case at least!
Very distrubing news to hear that u have a proper S-ATA drive and are still experiencing problems, Might rethink getting a new S-ata drive for the moment,Let us know how u get on!

Woden

will do keep an eye on this as well

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45605

data

Woden

mutant i have siguardian installed, and it monitoring the drive, everything is green though on it and the drive temp is 34c, is there any testing in can do with this software?

cheers

data

Sir Random

Originally posted by Dataisgod
just to bump this up

i ran prime95 today with memory timings of 2-2-2-6 and it crashed out after 45mins

so i relaxed the timings to 2-3-3-7 which is what the memory is rated for at 217mhz though i run at 200mhz, this is my standard overclock and is prime95 stable iirc

anywho what i'm wondering is could using these tight memory timings have corrupted the registry to give me the problem i had?

Yes, ram failure will definitely corrupt the registry, this often happens after a bad overclock. Overstressed/damaged ram can also cause screen glitches and garbled text.

Mutant_Fruit

Dataisgod: the program does a background check on your harddrive every 30 mins or an hour (i think), so it will take a day or so with it on before it gives an ETD (estimated time of death) for your drive. So you have to leave it running.

My drives have ETD's of 1.5 years and 8 years. Basically, i wouldn't take any diagnostics at face value, take them as a rough guide.

From my times listed above, all i can accurately say is that neither of my two harddrives will die in the next few months; but if i were suddenly to start hearing wierd sounds, and siguardian pops up saying they have about 1 week to live, i'd start backing up immediately, and wait to see if it does actually die or not.

Also, dodgy ram like that might cause data corruption. Also if you have overclocked your FSB, that could easily be responsible aswell. Some s-ATA controllers don't like being overclocked by more than about 3mhz!

unkel

Looks more likely to me to be a software issue. Bootup xp from the cd into the recovery console and type:

copy c:\windows\repair\system.bak c:\windows\system32\config\system.bak

That should sort it with a bit of luck

unkel

BTW the clean install over your old installation in xp creates new user accounts making the old ones inaccessible

A tip for the future: never use those silly MS "my documents" etc folders, but use dedicated directories on a different partition. Also do this for your mailbox etc. Makes it a lot easier to back up and will not leave you exposed WHEN xp gets irretrievably corrupted

Woden

k thanks for all the info folks

i'll take note about whether i get the garbled text again as at the moment the memory should not be overclocked its doing 2-3-3-7 @ 200mhz and its rated for those timings at 217mhz. and afaik it has bh-5 chips. the memory does have a lifetime warranty up to 2.8vdimm i think,which is what i'm putting through it

i'll let siguardian get me an ETD and get back to ya's it is handy alright to know when is a good time to back up

i do have decent over clock on my fsb 166mhz to 200mhz standard 2500+ to 3200+ stuff.

and yes unkel that is a good tip for the documents folder, i found i could access my old desktop but not my old documents folder to a back up off that on the c drive sperately would be handy.

i must get a dvd burner also for easy back up or an external hdd.

cheers folks

data

Mutant_Fruit

200mhz will give the PCI slots their standard frequency (i.e. 33mhz). If you had overclocked by, 237mhz or something, the PCI slots (and other componants) would not be at their preferred frequency of 33mhz, and so might fail.

I'd say your fine at that overclock. But the ram might be dodgy alright, if memtest gives errors using that ram, you might want to RMA it, but if you slowed the timings down, and it works perfect, its up to you to decide whether you really need that bit of extra speed from the faster timings or not.

Woden

hmm the board has a pci lock so i didn't think it mattered what frequency i put the bus at but its a 6/6 divider anyway so that should do the job

i'll take a look at memtest i think i have it somewhere

cheers

data

Capt'n Midnight

ISA is usually set in BIOS to either specific speed or fraction of bus speed.
VESA ran at external CPU speed.

Thought the PCI bus had it's own clock freq, rather than the systemboard speed ...

unkel

Originally posted by Capt'n Midnight
Thought the PCI bus had it's own clock freq, rather than the systemboard speed ...

No, until recently on most boards the pci bus had a fraction of the board speed, i.e. 100MHz board divided by three was 33MHz PCI, 133/4=33MHz etc.

More modern boards usually (but by far not always) have a lock wereby you can fix the PCI/AGP bus to their default speeds of 33/66 MHz

Col_Loki

The NF7-S has an AGP & PCI lock so thats not going to be a problem.

I have gotten this error before when i was messing with my memory timings, also got the garbled text etc. Have only gotten it once and put it down to the fact that i had to restart while windows was loading the registry components. Its a very annoying thing to happen. That might not be the problem but..........

As a BTW, alot of people pass memtest with tighter timings and fail prime95....... im not sure which one to go by, i generally go by prime95's reading.

Woden

bah siguardian esimates my hdd death at the 28th july this year. i will only have had the drive about 8months then so warranty will be all good. damn this program and its estimates i will be counting down the days now and if it goes over i will be like, what the fuck.

i don't suppose i can rma it until it fails either eh?

data

[edit] ah its all good i can now look forward to failure on the 22th may apparently [/edit]