[rocker83]

Sigh, computer novice...running win xp pro with sp 2 on home built system...Did nothing out of the ordinary, restarted the computer then boom: tells me that \windows\system32\config\system is missing or corrupt or yada yada yada...So I throw in the winxp install cd...hit the R for recovery and repair, it asks me which windows to repair(there is only 1) so I hit 1
boom
blue screen of death
page_fault in nonpaged_area
then lists a whole bunch of bs lines on contacting manufacturer, going into safe mood to fix things
then
"technical information
***:stop 0x00000050(0x90E18bce,0x00000001 0x809904F2,0x00000000)
whoo hoo
bs
I can't restart in safe mode...the missing system 32config file that is corrupt or missing won't allow it...
my "computer engineer" of a friend tells me Im [bleep]ed..I have a virus, all is lost, my harddrive...is corrupt...
thats swell and all but Id like to think I have some way of saving my 80 gigs of info on my hd
any help greatly appreciated

[wannabe1]

Hi rocker83...

Boot into Recovery Console (press R when the option is presented...we do not want to run the repair installtion) using your XP installation cd and type in the following items seperately at the command prompt, pressing "Enter" after each one.

• chkdsk /p /r <-- This will take awhile so be patient
  
• fixboot
  
• bootcfg /rebuild

If you complete these and see no improvement, get back to Recovery Console, type fixmbr at the prompt and press "Enter". Use this command only if the earlier commands do not produce the desired result.

wannabe1

[rocker83]

hmmm I understand what you want me to do, but I am unsure as to where I am able to type these commands in...
I boot from the cd
I see the blue screen with the options to run setup, repair and recover, or exit setup
I type in R...
wait...
brings me to a screen that asks me to enter in the numerical choice for what windows I would like to repair
(in this case there is only 1 displayed) so I type 1(I cannot type any more than one space)
hit enter...
boom I get the blue screen with the page_fault in nonpaged_area I described before...
any further help, again greatly appreciated

[wannabe1]

Do you have floppy drives on both the machine you are using now and the one you're working on?

[rocker83]

um right now Im on a dinky integrated dell system that doesn't have a floppy
the computer with a problem does have a floppy disk....

[wannabe1]

At the very first options screen when you boot with the cd, do you get the option: "To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R."?

[rocker83]

yeah...it says press any key to boot from cd, I do
blue screen pops up
for a while
then it takes me to the main screen for
setup
R for recovery
or exit the setup

[wannabe1]

When you power on the machine, enter BIOS setup (usually by tapping F1 or Delete during the bootup) and set the BIOS to it's default settings. This may be a simple as pressing F5 and then saving the setting (F10), but have a look around to make sure. Once the setting has been saved, see if it will boot to windows or Recovery Console.

[rocker83]

Okay Im gonna try that
it will take me like 15-20 minutes because I have to switch over monitor and key board and mice...
just to make sure...
I had fooled around with some bios settings before
two specifically
"fail safe bios"
and "optomized bios"
are they the same as the default bios?
because they didn't do anything

[wannabe1]

Fail Safe would be the one I was after...

This may also be a video driver issue...it's really hard to tell with this error. Do you have onboard video, and add on card, or both?

[rocker83]

I have a rosewill 128 meg nvidia chipset video card
no integrated graphics just lan and onboard sound, I also have a creative sound blaster card but I use the board for sound...

[wannabe1]

Ok...boot back to the cd. At the first blue screen, choose the option to for Setup (press "Enter". Accept the License Agreement (press F8) on the next screen, on the third screen, select your operating system and press "R".

This will look like it's reinstalling XP, but it will repair the current installation. Let me know if you can start this without the machine crashing.

[rocker83]

ok will do
be back
thanks again

[rocker83]

Ugh, le sigh...
after a break and some taco salad
nothing
put on the fail safe bios just to be sure
nada...boots from the cd
get to screen for set up
press R for repair
asks me which windows Id like to repair(only one again) I press 1
boom I get the ever popular
page_fault in nonpaged_area
this is so insane I always get the strangest computer problems, if your still there wannabe1 Id greatly appreciate some more help, thanks

[wannabe1]

Press "Enter" in the first screen...then F8...then R