My Admin's computer is booting to BSOD- possible fixes?

[Jaffar]

So my admin tried booting up her computer this morning-its a dell with windows xp & it goes to BSOD with the following message:

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\software
or its log or alternate
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete
Contact your system administrator or technical support for further assistance


Is this something a boot disc can get around so I can reset a restore point, or is the comp hosed? Kicker is the printer & fax are attached to her comp & everyone else in the office prints through it. Was hoping to avoid dell or the local tech shop that set up the office's network. Thanks in advance.

[Blubbartron]

Looks like only two possibilities here:
A) something managed to screw up the file it wants, whether that be software, human error, or whatever. This should be fixed using the repair function of the windows XP disk.
B) HD is borked. I'd run a HD tester from Ultimate Boot CD if option A doesn't fix it.

[Cephius]

It looks like your registry got corrupted. This can happen a number of ways, via a virus or bad installation or what have you. Try using system restore to go back to before the changes happened. IF this doesn't work, you can restore the registry from one of the backups and you should be back up and running again.

This is a complicated process for someone not familiar with how to do this, you can find detailed instructions here.

Realize though, that if you do not have a backed up copy, you can still load a fresh copy of the software hive from the Windows XP CD. However any applications you've installed won't work, and you'll have to reinstall everything.

[Jaffar]

Thanks for the replies- unfortunately, I was not able to repair the registry or reinstall xp onto the HDD. The machine was 6 or 7 years old though, so got new comps for her & one for myself after looking at the machine in my office- P4 2.66 ghz, 512mb ram.