A couple days ago, his OS wouldn't boot up properly. He tells me that it gets to the black screen where you can choose what setting you want to load your system in: i.e. Normal mode, Safe mode, etc etc
He got an error message about a recent hardware change and that windows failed to load because of a corrupt system registry file...... he told me that the last thing he did on his computer was update his anti-virus software.
I don't have the exact name for the registry file that's corrupted, but I know it begins something like this:
"C:\\system32config.........00xt00014c.................................."
(sorry..... was trying to copy it down over the phone)
My question is: He doesn't have his OS CDs will him. Is there any way for him to repair this?? I told him it wasn't a wise idea to install a diff version of Vista, because it will wipe/unpartition all HDs on his computer. I know he has a lot of valuable work on that computer, and he can't afford to lose it! I advised him to buy a portable external hard drive, pull out his HD, and use another puter to transfer all the files off of it, before reinstalling the OS on his computer. However, I would love to get your opinion on this! Is there an easier way to fix his computer?