Stop: C0000218 {registry File Failure}

I'm trying to start Windows 2000 Pro. Everything looks fine at first, but then I get a smaller blue screen with this message : STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file) :
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or it's log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable.

Beginning dump of physical memory
Dumping physical memory to disk

I then get a counter, starting at 1, rolling to 100, at which time the computer tries to restart, and the whole process starts over again. The only way to stop this is to hold the power switch down until the computer shuts off. This is a Gateway Solo Pro 9300 with a 650mhz Pentium 3 processor.

See article here:

support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822705

To recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting, refer to:

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

Thank you for the info, but I'm running Windows 2000, not XP. In fact I was able to take care of my problem with information I got from the last post from Dark Mage.

Thank you anyway ......... UncleMike

I have the same problem as Uncle Mike. Except the article above does not work. I have come to this site before for other problems and you guys figure out everything. It would be greatly appreciated if i could get this fixed also.

Thanks....beast

Try this.. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=830084

You didn't happen to make an Emergency Repair disk some time in the past like the Win 2k tutorial told you to when you originally got the computer did you, or were you like almost everyone else and shut the welcome tutorial down?

Being that you are up and running again, I suggest you do it now.

Click "Start/help" and type in emergency repair disk.

It would also be a great idea to back up your registry on a cd or floppy.

I am using Windows XP Media Centre Edition and the alert, Stop: c0000218 {Registry File failure} The registry Cannot Load The Hive (File): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\Software suddenly came up. I followed the instructions from How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting, but when I got to the Recovery Console where I was told to press 1, no messages for entering an administrator password came up. I tried pressing enter after I typed it in but the computer seemed to freeze and nothing would happen. Am I doing something wrong? This is a brand new computer and it is almost like it has died and there is no hope of it ever coming back.

I see it has been a while since this was originally posted. I see that the original poster may have fixed their problem but I thought I would post another fix for this issue in case someone else has this problem and finds this thread. You can do sort of a system Repair / Restore from the command prompt. I have done this many times and it works well.

With Windows 2000 if you start to the command prompt you may be able to fix your problem with the chkdsk /r command. Note that there is a space between chkdsk and the /r . If you dont put a space there it will not work.

With Windows XP Start your computer from your XP disk and then get to your command prompt. You can find a copy of your restore point files in the C:\system~1\_resto~1 folder. Get into the RP file that is about 1 or 2 files back from the highest number and then copy the system and software files over to the windows\system32\config folder.

I have really simplified the instructions in the XP part of this post. A step by step guide to fix the missing windows\system32\config\software OR windows\system32\config\system errors can be found at:

http://www.icompute.info/System_restore_from_xp_cd.htm

It seems a little simpler than the microsoft instructions. If you know how to start your computer to the command prompt skip down to the middle of the page.

I hope this message isn't too lengthy, as I am tryinig to detail the problem I am having re: STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file) : \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or it's log or alternate. It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable

I have been following this older thread and appreciate yourpc's recent post. I also tried using the fix in Mage's 2006 post (support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822705).

I still use W2k and tried many of the suggested fixes and some rescue programs. None have helped, as I am unable to access the hard drive or any of its partitions.

The boot problem started when I attempted to re-start the system after having shut it down for approx two weeks, including power conditioner/surge protection (I basically uplugged everything). I am only able to boot up via the CD/DVD drive using rescue disks. While I can eventually get to a command prompt, I am unable to change directory to the systemroot or even to the hard drive at all. The chkdsk, scandsk, and other DOS commands don't work on anything but the CD/DVD drive. The only program that recognizes any of the hard drive partitions is the UNIX System Recue CD "rescuecd". However, the program won't let me fix anything until I can access the hard drive (C:) and run chkdsk /r or /f.


When I attempt the fix, as I mention, the main problem is accessing the hard drive. It simply does not show up, including BIOS, boot/start logs, regedit, regedt32, etc. In researching the problem at the MS website, I see there is a slight difference in the error messages relateing to specific operating systems, one with "stop" in in lower case (for XP). The message I get has STOP all in cap's and refers to W2k and hardware incompatibility problems. However, the computer has been running well. There were no hardware issues at the time of shutdown. I have also tried F8 access to safe mode, last known good config., etc. with no success.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PALEO

Did you ever get this fixed? Have you tried the MS windows 2000 repair utility? I have not tried this MS fix before but its here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

You may want to check the physical hard disc for CRC errors before getting too far into this.