Windows XP Startup Problem!!

[bahger]

I tried to startup my computer but before I got to the XP startup screen a message comes up saying this :

The c:\windows\system32\config\system file is missing or corrupted. It then asks me to run the windows recovery console to try to replace the file. How do I go about fixing this problem? How do I use the recovery console to fix this?

This is the second time this problem has happened to me. The first time this happened I formatted the partition and reinstalled windows but the problem just came back again. I can't even revert to a earlier configuration of windows and my computer isn't even overclocked.

Could it be a hard disk failure or could it be that I have a virus on my computer?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[woodcomp]

Boot with the XP disk, and run the setup, at the prompt choose recovery. Does not mean it will fix it though.

 

[MexBoy]

Click Start -> all programs -> accessories -> system tools -> system restore

then select a date when you didn't have that problem.
problem solved!

-Rene