Hi guys,

After my virus/spyware infection, I decided to reformat my computer because after the cleaning, my computer seems to be messed up. The virus/spyware is gone but my computer is screwy. So I decided to just pop in my sysytem recovery dics that came with my computer. However, due to the current state of my computer, it would not autorun. So I had to restart my computer. Upon restart, I was prompted to perform this recovery, which I clicked yes. Now the problem is that, I didnt work. Before the process even starts, I am told that the reformat cannot be performed because the file hive "systemroot/system32/config/SECUIRTY" is either missing or corrupt. I have my system CD, what should I do? Thanks!

Lawrance

It could be that your CD is dirty or damaged. Try cleaning it with a soft cloth.

I have checked and cleaned the CD but the problem still exist. When I try to start the recovery, I am told that there is a registery failure and cannot load the hive (file) "Systemroot\system32\config\SECURITY or its log or alternative. It is damaged, corrupt, or absent."

Ok I just tried it again and here is the exact error message I get:

Stop:c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registy cannot load the hive (file)
\Systemroot\System32\Config\SECURITY
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not rewritable


That is the exact message I get when I try to perform a system reformat.

Lav If the software hive is corrupt, it may be possible to rename the software
hive found in;
%windir%\system32\config\software
to software.old
then copy the most recent backup found in
%windir%\repair\regback
as
%windir%\system32\config\software

If that fails you can copy/ use the file
%windir%\repair\software
This file is an image of the hive at the time the OS was installed, so you'd
have to reinstall all software. This being the case you might just as well
blow it away and start a new install. (note: this would at least allow you
to start the OS to make any necessary backups prior to wiping the drive.)

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks.
Press ENTER at the "Setup Notification" screen. Press R to repair a Windows
2000 installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console.


The Recovery Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do
not have the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer. If an incorrect password is entered three times, the Recovery
Console quits and restarts the computer. Note If the registry is corrupted
or missing or no valid installations are found, the Recovery Console starts
in the root of the startup volume without requiring a password. You cannot
access any folders, but you can carry out commands such as chkdsk, fixboot,
and fixmbr for limited disk repairs. Once the password has been validated,
you have full access to the Recovery Console, but limited access to the hard
disk. You can only access the following folders on your computer:
%systemroot% and %windir%

Post back and let us know how it goes.

Thank you Jitaa

Thanks for your reply Jitaa, but it sounds to me that you feel I have a problem with the "Systemroot\system32\config\SOFTWARE" hive, which would prevent my computer from starting up. Instead, my computer can startup and run but the "Systemroot\system32\config\SECUIRTY" is the one that is corrupt. Maybe I am wrong in that fixing the SOFTWARE hive will also fix the SECUIRTY hive? Also, sorry for not saying it directly, but I am running XP Media Center Edition. Lastly, I do have the original system recovery disc that shipped with my computer. The problem is, the error in the SECURITY hive is preventing me from starting the reformat. Everytime I try to reformat the computer with the CD, I get the abovementioned c0000218 error message.

Why not just do a Repair?

To start the "Reinstalltion Repair" follow below:

1) Boot from CD-ROM Drive (Press any key to boot from CD...)

2) Wait for setup to load files, when the first screen comes up press "ENTER" to continue with setup.

3) Press F8 to continue (EULA Agreement)

4) Now select the installation you wish to do the repair on, usually it will be "C:\WINDOWS "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" but in your case ti will be different.

5) Press "R" to begin the Repair on this installation.

6) Setup will then check drive c:\ and then delete system files, after this it will then copy the new files and begin setup.

7) During setup you will be prompted to enter certain information. As this is a "Repair" you shouldnt have to enter a product key.

8) After setup is complete, reboot and see how things work.

NOTE: After setup is complete you will have to reinstall Service Pack 2 if its installed now, and most important when setup is complete it may ask you to create user accounts, SKIP this step so it will not remove the accounts your currently have

When prompted as to if you want to partition DO NOT PRESS ENTER HERE, THIS IS WHERE YOU PRESS R FOR REPAIR OF THIS INSTALLATION, PRESSING ENTER HERE WILL REPLACE YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM AND ALL USER ACCOUNTS




Let us know if you have any problems with the repair.

Thank you Jitaa

Thanks =)

But that is the problem, I cannot simply perform a repair/reformat. I wish I could. When I press R to begin the recovery service, I get the stop message c000218 accompanied by the blue screen. And just to let you know, I have a system recovery dics, not a XP dics, but that doesnt matter-just wanted to let you know. Thanks.

lawrance

What brand and model of computer do you have?

I have a eMachine T6524 running Windows XP Media Center Edition that I bought last year.

Yes I know you do not have XP but this article may assist somehow I an still checking on a few things so let me know asap

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545


Thank you Jitaa

Turn the machine off.

Turn on the computer. Right after the bios splash screen quits you should see a message that says press F11 for system restore.

Press the F11 key then this should take you into the recovery program and ask for the Operating system disk.

This is the disk that came with the machine, regardless what it says on it. Once you have put this disk in, click ok.

FWIW, The application and driver recovery disk(S) is not the same as the OS DISK.

Just to let you know, I DO HAVE XP. I have read this article but I am not sure if it applies to me because me computer does start, its just that the system recovery off my system disc DOES NOT. Also, in this article it deals with the hive "Systemroot\system32\config\SOFTWARE." My problem is with "Systemroot\system32\config\SECURITY." However, thanks a lot for all your time, I know I am starting to be annoying. =( Thanks

lawrance

To oldf@rt’s reply:
I have not tried this yet but when I bought my computer I did not receive the actual windows xp OS disc. Instead, the OS is included, along with all the other original manufacture programs, into the system recovery disc that "restore the computer to original manufacture settings” So would this procedure still work? Please correct me if I am wrong, I am not a pro at computers. Thanks!

Lawrance

Can you go into the repair mode on your recovery CD? If so, I can tell you how to reformat your PC.

When I insert my CD, it will not run. I have used this CD once before and that time, when I put in the CD it will run and a menu will come up giving me a list of option. The next option I was told was to restart my computer where I am told I can press F11 to start the recovery. The recovery program loads then I get the blue screen with the error message c0000218. Also, what do you mean by "repair mode" Sorry.

Thanks A lot
Lawrance

More info When the Emachine starts up, and goes into the recovery, you should See a splash screen that says PC ANGEL. The recovery DVD is customized for that EMachine model only, and certain windows elements have been removed, if I remember correctly the repair and format functions have been removed.

The OS Disk only works correctly with the recovery partition on the hard drive.

You are correct in that the PC angel splash screen loads. However, I sorry, but I do not understand what you mean by: "and certain windows elements have been removed, if I remember correctly the repair and format functions have been removed. The OS Disk only works correctly with the recovery partition on the hard drive." Also, My revcovery disc is the one that came with my computer, therefore it is the right model-I have used it before.

Lawrance,
Try these steps:

Here's how to wipe a hard drive that uses NTFS as a file allocation system.

You can do this one of two ways by using the Windows XP startup disks or if your computer supports a bootable CD-ROM -- most computers built since 2001 have this feature -- use the Recovery Console tool on the Windows XP CD-ROM. More on that shortly.

First, remember that reformatting a hard disk deletes all of the data that is on it, so make sure that you back up your data before you reformat the disk. That data is unrecoverable afterwards. It's gone forever.

To use the Windows XP Recovery Console to reformat a drive, follow these steps:

Start the computer by using the Windows XP CD-ROM (in the CDROM drive) or the start-up disks (in the floppy drive).
You need to go into your BIOS to change the boot sequence to do this making your CD-ROM drive your primary boot device. (How to do this.)

Once the computer has booted from the CD you'll see a "Welcome to Windows Setup" screen appear and after all the drivers have loaded (shown along the bottom), press F10 or wait and choose to use the recovery console (choose item #2).

In the "Recovery Console" (learn more about that that is at Microsoft.com click here), specify the appropriate Windows installation. It will be listed. It's probably #1. Then log on by using your Windows XP Administrator password. You are probably the administrator and the password if you have never assigned is probably blank, so just hit the Enter key. If you run Windows XP Pro and want to turn off the password prompt then learn how here.

Next, type:

map

and hit the ENTER key.

Note the drive that you want to reformat. The drive letters may be different in the Recovery Console from what they are in Windows XP, but if you want to reformat the C: drive then its likely the largest.

Next, type:

format C: /fs:ntfs

Or if you don't want to format C, use the drive letter of the hard drive that you want to format. Hit your ENTER key.

Next, type:

y

Then press ENTER to continue. When the formatting process is finished, type

exit

and then press the ENTER key to restart the computer.

Let me know if this fixes your problem.

My computer did not ship with the XP CD-Rom, instead it has this system recovery disc that includes my OS and other programs. However, they are similar enough. So I restarted my computer and set the computer to boot from the CD. This was done with no problem. With the CD loaded, I was given a choice to press R to continue on with the Recovery or Q to quit, so I press R. The PC angel Recovery Splash Screen loads then I get this error and the blue screen:

Stop:c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registy cannot load the hive (file)
\Systemroot\System32\Config\SECURITY
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not rewritable



Also, I dont do not know if this will affect it, but I also have a generic host process for Win32 error message everytime I start my computer. Just to give some background info, I was infected with a virus and after cleaning it out of my system, there are many things wrong with my computer, that is why I wish to reformat. Examples including, sound not working, the Win32 error message, ramdonly changing toolbar, etc.

FYI - the registry hive error (STOP C00000218) can also be caused by a corrupt or damaged hard drive. I'd suggest downloading a bootable utility from the manufacturer of your hard drive and testing the drive with it.

If I do not know the manufacturer of my drive, is there some way I can find out besides opening up the computer?? Thanks

Try this free tool: http://www.gtopala.com/index.html

Before you do any formatting, see if you can still make the application/driver DVD (or cds) from inside windows. If you can make a set (1 DVDr or 3 CDrs), do so before anything else is done.

Boot from the hard drive, hitting the f11 key right after the e machine splash screen, then hit r to perform recovery, when PC angel asks for the recovery disk, then insert the disk that came with the machine and click ok to continue. you should be given an option to backup your files and settings. PC Angel will then copy certain files from the recovery disk, and restart when it is finished.

The stop error indicates a corrupt registry in the MININT. are you getting this error when booting from the hard drive? or only when booting from the CDrom?

That is the problem. After hitting F11 to begin the recovery and after the PC angel splash screen finishing loading, I get the blue screen with the c0000218 error message, saying that the Systemroot\system32\config\SECURITY file is corrupt, missing, or nonwritable.

Also I do not quite understand what you mean by: "Before you do any formatting, see if you can still make the application/driver DVD (or cds) from inside windows. If you can make a set (1 DVDr or 3 CDrs), do so before anything else is done."

"The stop error indicates a corrupt registry in the MININT. are you getting this error when booting from the hard drive? or only when booting from the CDrom?"
I'm not sure because after I hit F11, the two option I get are "r" to recovery or "q" to quit. Under the "r" option, it saids that the computer will attempt to perform the recovery from the partitioned hard drive or if no partitioned is found, it will run from the CD. It does not tell you if it runs from the CD or from the HD


Thanks
lawrance

Ok just to make it clear what is happening, I'll go over what I do and what I see on my screen. Thanks!

My computer has been acting very strange, so I decide to reformat. I take out my system recovery disk and pop it into the drive and restart my computer. When the computer restarts, I am given 2 options:

"r" to view recovery option
F11 to begin recovery

So I press "r" and from there I am given 2 options again:

"r' to begin recovery from the hard drive partition or if no hard drive partition is found, it will begin from the CD
"q" to quit

So i press "r" to begin, a logo loads on the screen then I get this error message with the famous blue screen:

Stop:c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registy cannot load the hive (file)
\Systemroot\System32\Config\SECURITY
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not rewritable

Then nothing will happen and I have to turn off the power and restart my computer. Thats the problem =(
P.S.: When I used this recovery CD before, it would run inside Windows but now it wont anymore, hence I have to load it when I boot my computer but that still doesnt work.

Lawrance

Lawrence you cantaek a look at this thead.
This user had the same problem with his system

http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/2005...le_failure.html

Good luck

Ok, thanks for your reply =)