termiflyer

I have corrupt registry files on two computers in my household. Specifically, I cannot boot at all into Windows 2K Pro, and I receive the following message: \system32\config\system is corrupt or missing Here is some of what I have tried already: (1) The system (no extension) file is missing. I copied system.alt to system ... upon reboot, the message still appeared. (2) I attempted to use GetDataBack to recover the "system" file, but "system" came up as 0 bytes, unrecoverable. (3) MS provides a registry repair utility using floppy disks. The repair failed. I am looking for suggestions on how to recover my registry. I believe system.alt is a copy of my latest registry. Is there a tool that I can use that will load this file (or any file for that matter), interpret the file as a registry file, and repair? I see that there are many, many registry cleaners/repair tools, etc. etc. However, as far as I can tell, they all run from Windows itself. I can't boot Windows, and if I install them on another machine, I don't want them to mess with the registry on that machine. Any help is extremely appreciated!!

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a few questions, however. First, I have tried the recovery console and reinstall w/ repair option. Neither of those worked. (1) With Bart's PE Builder, I'm not sure what you are suggesting that I should do once I boot to the CD. I can get a copy of the registry file (system.alt) by using another PC, but I believe it is corrupted. (2) What are you suggesting I do with a Linux boot disk? Thanks again!