XP boot failure due to missing system dir

[dergam 0]

My friend is having some trouble booting his laptop due to the following error:

 

Wndows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\Windows\System32\Config\System

 

So we tried to reboot with the XP install cd and go to the console repair section, but none of the commands seem to apply. We also thought about reinstalling over the previous installation, but we're nervous about doing that due to some needed data in the My Documents folder.

 

Now, I've had problems similar to this in the past, and I've always had the XP install cd repair the current installation by installing over it, but keeping the previous settings. For some reason, this option doesn't exist when we try to install.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[duhmez 0]

type this at the recovery console.

 

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\Windows\System32\

Then reboot.