Sometimes Windows users (especially the outdated XP-modification) instead of loading the operating system, see a message about the impossibility of its launch, indicating that the destination directory on the Windows \ System32 \ config \ system path is missing or there is some kind of damaged file. The situation, to put it mildly, is not pleasant, nevertheless, the system can be restored to operability in several ways, which are proposed to be considered in the material presented below. It’s worth mentioning right away that this problem can also be found in systems of a rank higher, and the proposed solutions are applicable to all modifications without exception.
What is in the Windows \ System32 \ config \ system directory, and what are these objects responsible for?
Before taking any actions regarding system recovery, let's see which objects are in the final directory and what they are responsible for. As a rule, in this folder you can find several files, among which we are interested in objects without an extension with the names default, software, security, sam and system, for which a FILE mapping is specified in the type. These objects, together with the additional elements of the same name, are responsible for the Windows 7 registry or any other version used. Accordingly, if all of them or at least one of them is damaged, the operating system will not be able to boot. Therefore, the registry must be restored. It would seem that it’s easier to take and copy the necessary files from another computer, and then place them in the original location of Windows \ System32 \ config \ system. But you can’t do this, because both the programs and settings and all files on the computer are registered in the registry, and replacing the original objects will not lead to anything. But where then to get the necessary files in unspoiled form, and how to roll back the system?
In the Windows \ System32 \ config \ system directory, a damaged file or several. The system does not boot. What to do first?
To start, when the system is just starting up, in the interval between the start window and logo appearing, press the F8 key several times to call up a special start menu.
Here you can try to activate the start point of the last working configuration, which could be previously saved at the restore point of the backup. To access such a menu in the eighth and tenth versions of the system, you will have to boot from removable media and use diagnostics with boot options. You can also return the use of the F8 key by setting the combination “bcdedit / set {current} bootmenupolicy legacy” (without quotes) in the command console. But this does not always help.
Copy files from a recovery point
If the previous option didn’t give a result, you can restore the Windows 7 registry or any other modification by replacing the damaged objects mentioned above with copies of the original files, which are just stored in the rollback folder. On any system, this is the repair directory, located directly in the Windows directory. Yes, but how to get to it if the system does not start? To do this, you will need either an installation flash drive or any other media in the form of a LiveCD (it is desirable that the ERD Commander file manager is additionally present on such media. In principle, you can do without it using the command line. This will be discussed later.
As for the files themselves, after starting from a flash drive or disk in the file manager, you need to go to the repair directory, select the necessary files (without an extension) and move them to the Windows \ System32 \ config \ system source directory using regular copying.
Replacing Registry Files
However, such an approach may also not give a result. In this case, you will need to refer directly to a copy of the registry itself, which is located along the path shown in the image below.
Exactly the same files can be copied from this folder and placed in the original location.
Note: before starting from removable media on which ERD Commander is installed, it is necessary to deactivate the connection to the existing operating system by selecting the line with the None parameter, otherwise the files cannot be replaced. In addition, it is better not to get rid of the replaced files by direct deletion, but first save with renaming, adding after the main name through the dot, for example, old.
Command Line Actions
Finally, you can restore files by moving them to the original location through the command line, which is advisable not to call from the start menu, but to use removable media so that there is no binding to the loaded operating system, as mentioned earlier.
The steps for creating backups, deleting corrupted objects and restoring originals are shown in the image above, so you can use this method. Although it looks more time-consuming compared to using a commander, in cases where there is no file manager at hand, it will work without problems (this software is not available on the installation disks for sure, so the media with the commander will need to be created on its basis after loading the program itself from Internet on another computer).