big problem

[swell22]

ok so i am trying to test this ram which i believe is bad...plug it in, get some error messages, then take it out...not a big dead so far b/c i already thought it was bad

then i put the ram that was working back into the computer...however now it wont boot up...gives me a message that says "C:/windows/system32/config/system file is corrupt or missing, use the xp disk to recover" or something along those line..

all i did was try out some ram and put the old one back in...i have tried booting in safe mode and everything to no avail...please help

not too sure about the specs b/c it is my work computer
512 ram
win xp pro
dell optiplex gx270
2.8 ghz pent 4

[John Prophet]

that is a little freaky...

have you tried reseating the ram?

what about safe mode?

[swell22]

ya ive tried reseating it, same thing...also tried safe mode, same message

the wierd thing is that a similar thing has happened to my cpu at home...i dont want to get into it too much b/c right now i have to fix my work computer since i just broke it.

but anyway i tried putting in this new ram at home, didnt work, so put in the old ram...now it goes to the xp loading screen, then the screen goes black and just sits there...WTF? if i boot in safe mode, it shows all the files it is loading, then freezes.

so i brought the ram to work to test it, and now it butchered my work computer...can bad ram do this, ruin a cpu? i didnt think so and i really doubt i did and ESD damage or whatever it is called...plz someone help me before i get fired for destroying my computer

[John Prophet]

so u put the good ram back in the work comp??

if so...get an xp pro cd

boot to the cd

1st screen hit "enter"
2nd screen hit f8
3rd screen hit (R)

this will do a 'repair install' and should overwrite the system files etc etc without losing any data

then go do windows updates

[swell22]

ok i tried that but not sure if i did it right...i booted from the cd and went to that repair thing, hit the "r" key, but it took me to a dos prompt...not sure what to do after that

[John Prophet]

you didnt do exactly what I said, lol

DONT hit the (R) on the FIRST screen.....

the (R) on the FIRST screen is just the 'recovery console' which is that dos prompt thingy..which is not what u want

on the first screen hit "enter" as if you were going to do an install

second screen hit f8

on the THIRD screen you are now ready to hit (R) as it will be for a "repair install"


it will search for a find your current xp install and ask if you want to (R) repair it..so you choose (R)

JP

[swell22]

ok i was doing what you were saying but i cant get to where your talking about

i boot from the cd, then it says hit f2 to do the system recovery thing...i skip past that till the end where it says "hit enter to install xp or R to recover" i hit r there, it goes to a dos prompt, then it says "choose which install you want" or something like that...there is onlyone to choose 1:C/windows, so i choose that one, then i dont know what to do after that

the only other option i saw was to hit enter to install xp, then asks which partition i want to install too, then warns me not to reinstall an OS on another OS, so i exit out of that

[John Prophet]

hmmm....and you have an xp PRO cd?? it is a dell cd?

maybe you can borrow an actual XP Pro cd? maybe the whole "f2 recovery" thing is getting in the way

the dos prompt thing isnt what u want


or perhaps the f2 recovery will help you...as long as it doesnt format and doesnt make you lose recent work/files etc

[swell22]

no its a xp pro cd, not a dell cd...the f2 thing, SAR i think it is called, asks for a floppy disk...there isnt even a floppy drive on my dell at work, but is for my custom built at home...this problem just doesnt make any sense...putting this one stick of ram and taking it out has ruined two new computers...im going insane

[swell22]

ok so i guess putting this bad ram in messed up the system file in the config folder

now i can boot up...freezes in safe mode and goes to a black screen in regular mode...so i was wondering how to reinstall xp w/o losing all my previous data... any suggestions?