For the past week, I've been having problems with my Dell Inspiron 6000.

First, the headphone jack didn't work, when trying to listen to music, but I continued to hear sounds from my laptop. It's just that the jack isn't working.

The next day, my laptop began having trouble starting up. After the Dell logo, I had a blue screen that says:

Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate.

Now, when I start up my computer. I still able to see the Dell logo, but after that, nothing - the blue screen doesn't show up anymore. And I've tried all the options available from the menu after hitting the f8.

If anyone knows a way to save my laptop, I would gladly appreciate it!

Hey NessieMarie!

Welcome to the Geeks to Go Forum Boards!

Two things I have in mind :

1) Did Dell provide you with a recovery CD (they usually do)? Since it seems that you have a corrupted or missing file that is necessary for start up, you will need to restore all the original Windows files.

2) What were the results from attempting to go through to Windows by hitting F8?

Regards,

Hey ipod619

I've lost the recovery CD for my laptop. Still looking for it, but no luck. I borrowed a reinstallation CD from my roomie, however she uses a different kind of Dell computer - and it comes with a lot more CDs than my did. Do you think it will be alright? Or must I use a recovery CD made specifically for my laptop?

And I believe it's only safe mode and directory services restore mode that I don't get a blank screen; instead I see a list of directories starting with multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\

This post has been edited by nessiemarie: Jun 28 2008, 02:55 PM

I don't recommend using your roommate's CD. I suggest you call up Dell and ask them to send you a CD configured with your OS settings. (1-800-624-9896) -- That is: as long as you are still under warranty.

Regarding attempting to access safe mode:
After choosing Safe Mode, does it freeze on a specific directory?

(i.e. multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\System\Drivers\ and just remains there)

Regards,

I'm no longer under warranty.

And yeah it does freeze at a specific directory. It stops at: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\System32
\Drivers\$sys$cor.sys

This post has been edited by nessiemarie: Jun 28 2008, 02:54 PM

Hello Nessiemarie,

what OS version do you use? (home or pro?)
You should be able to borrow a windows CD (Not a recovery CD) from someone that has the same version.
Then after you acquired such a disk you can follow the steps in the post by our very own admin.
Here: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/How-to-repa...ws-XP-t138.html

Regards,
Olrik