Windows will not start! File is missing or corrupt

[monique1976]

Hello, i was using some PC software this morning on my Mac (os x with leopard) via VMware Fusion (3.0.2) and accidentally kicked the plug in the wall. My computer switched off and when i turned it on my Mac operating system is fine however when i opened VMware up came the dos page with an error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair.

I have tried pressing 'r' as it tells me to when and nothing happens. Ive tried restarting Windows and then pressing 'r' but nothing happens

still.

The only key that works is the escape key which brings me to the screen below but i cant on options 1-4 as nothing happens. I can enter the set up but cant see anything on there that may help.

Ive phoned Mac as i spent the few hundred dollars on Apple Care Protection Plan but they aren't able to help me with this software.

Ive looked on the VMware help pages and their solution is way to advanced for me: See here

Please please can anyone help me. I only run two programs in Windows butthey are my most important. My website and my accounting for my

business.

Looking forward to some replies.....thanks :smileygrin:

[rcardona2k]

The Windows XP repair process is very similar to the original installation process but preserves the programs and data you have previously installed.

You need to make sure your XP disc is inserted and connected to the machine as indicated by checkmark in Virtual Machine > CD/DVD > Use Physical CD/DVD Drive and the greyed status should be "Connected." Or if you used an ISO image file version of the XP disc, the above changes to CD/DVD > Use WinXP.iso image (after you pick the image) with the status "connected."

Next, if you used VMware's "Windows Easy Install" feature during the New Machine wizard, you may need to download the VMware SCSI driver from VMware SCSI driver. The way to tell if you need this driver is look in Virtual Machine > Settings. If the "Hard Disks" section shows "SCSI", you need this driver. If Hard Disks shows "IDE", you don't need the SCSI driver, skip the rest of this paragraph. To connect the SCSI driver, click Virtual Machine > Floppy > Choose Floppy Image... and pick the SCSI driver you downloaded. On this driver, you don't want to connect it, otherwise your virtual machine will come up to an error screen. (Sorry this is all PC BIOS behavior). During the installation process when the Windows XP installer asks for the SCSI driver, that is when you will connect the floppy driver using Virtual Machine > Floppy > Connect. Finally, if your machine does not have a Floppy item in Virtual Machine menu, you can use Settings to add one with the :smileyplus: menu.

Hopefully you can get through the Windows XP repair installation and recover your virtual machine. Be sure to run Windows Update as the repair process loses all your Windows security patches. Your programs and data, however will be intact.

Lastly, consider a backup strategy for your Virtual Machine so you don't lose your important data.

[monique1976]

Hi Richard, thanks for the reply and putting it into simple words for me. I have had some problems with the following:

"The way to tell if you need this driver is look in Virtual Machine > Settings. If the "Hard Disks" section shows "SCSI", you need this driver"

Yes i do have SCSI as the setting.

"To connect the SCSI driver, click Virtual Machine > Floppy >
Choose Floppy Image... and pick the SCSI driver you downloaded."

When i click the above i do not have Floppy as one of the options

So then i've looked in the help pages and tried to create a floppy disk image. I have done Step 1-9 successfully in the Create A Floppy Disk Image section however when i complete the Connect and Set up a Floppy Device where it is highlighed in yellow below. I still dont have the option to choose floppy disk.

Sorry for entering in these large images but because im not 100% proficient at doing this i want to make sure i am doing the right thing.

Thanking you in advance for helping me. I know it must be frustrating for you...

Thanks Monique

[rcardona2k]

You're close to getting the scsi floppy driver working. Just to clarify you should not be creating a new floppy image but rather downloading the one built by VMware at the link in my original reply.

When a floppy drive is not available in the removable drives section, you need to use the + drop down menu within Settings to choose "Add Floppy..." and that will add a new floppy device you can use. After doing this you will a see floppy menu item under the Virtual Machine menu.

[monique1976]

Unfortunately that is the problem. Add Floppy isnt an option in the settings. I can only choose Add a shared Folder. Ive also been into Other Devices and tried to add it from there but the same thing. I can't choose it.....argh...its so frustrating. ?:|

[WoodyZ]

The Virtual Machine must be shutdown, not suspended, in order to add a Floppy and from your picture I can see it's running.

[monique1976]

I am so sorry. I dont know if im dumb or its the computer.....lol

OK so i have managed to do the floppy disk thing which is below. That was all good and worked fine once I shutdown my Virtual Machine...doh!

"During the installation process when the Windows XP installer asks for the SCSI driver, that is when you will connect the floppy driver using Virtual Machine > Floppy > Connect. Finally, if your machine does not have a Floppy item in Virtual Machine menu, you can use Settings to add one with the :smileyplus: menu."

This is all good and have done this step. The next step is to:

"Hopefully you can get through the Windows XP repair installation and recover your virtual machine. Be sure to run Windows Update as the repair process loses all your Windows security patches. Your programs and data, however will be intact."

I shut down and restarted the Virtual Machine and the same thing happens. It comes up with the same screen, as below

And once again i cant press the 'r' key like is is asking to do. I can press F2 and the Bios Setup Utility page comes up. I am not able to edit anything on the Boot menu to boot from the CD rom. It says all items on this menue can not be modified in user mode. If any items require changes please consult your system supervisor.

When pressed escape, boot from CD ROM drive is an option. I can hear the disk starting up but still nothing happens. It goes back to the black screen above.

Am i doing the right thing?

Monique

[WoodyZ]

Change the Startup Device to CD/DVD

VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Help > Search > type Startup Device and then select Select a Startup Device

[rcardona2k]

WoodyZ is right. Back in my original reply, I mentioned that when you add the Floppy make sure it's not initially in the "Connected" state otherwise you would get an error. This is because the VMware scsi floppy is not bootable and the BIOS boot order is floppy first, then CD/DVD then hard disk. A non-bootable floppy causes the system to fail before booting off the CD/DVD. Changing the boot order either through the boot menu or virtual machine Settings allows you to skip the error.

Re-installing Windows is a chore like knowing how to change a flat tire on a car that should be practiced at least once in a non-emergency situation. There are few steps that will trip you up, the PC BIOS boot order is one of them.

When the XP installer is loading, in order to specify you want to load drivers, you have to press F6. You'll see an instruction on the screen, click first in the window to make sure the virtual machine has focus (grab of the keyboard and mouse) , then if your keyboard has an "fn" key (like MacBook Pros do), press fn-F6 to indicate you want to load a driver. Unfortunately, you won't receive any on-screen feedback that F6 was pressed.

After you press F6, you can connect the floppy using Virtual Machine > Floppy > Connect, then follow the rest of the onscreen instructions.

[monique1976]

Hi Richard and Woodyz,

Thanks again for your assistance. I am like 95% positive i am doing the right thing as per your original instructions. I thought i would make a quick video of my screen to show you how I am doing this as maybe you can spot something im doing wrong.

Please click this link and press the play button in the middle of the screen,

Thanking you AGAIN,

Monique :smileygrin:

[rcardona2k]

Fusion sometimes has trouble reading from CD/DVD physical drives. The alternative for this is to convert your physical media into a image file (.cdr) in the ISO9660 format. These are the steps to do this outside of Fusion. Then repeat the above using the image version of the XP installation media:

Creating an ISO (cdr) image of a CD/DVD Physical Disc:

Note: When using Apple Disk Utility in order to have a bootable ISO image you should select "CD/DVD Master" with "no encryption" and save the image with a .cdr file extension. The Disk Utility .dmg image format is compressed and therefore not bootable.

1. Insert the CD or DVD disc in your computer's physical drive.

2. Open Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility), or use Spotlight to find.

3. Select the CD or DVD disc in the list of disks and volumes.

4. Choose File > New > "Disk Image from (name of disc here)."

5. Type a name for the disk image.

6. Choose "CD/DVD master" from the image format drop-down menu.

7. Choose "none" from the Encryption drop-down menu.

8. Click Save.

After you have made the ISO Image then eject the source physical disc from the optical drive.

Assign the ISO Image as the CD/DVD in the Virtual Machine's Settings sheet and make sure it's connected.

[WoodyZ]

The Disk Utility .dmg image format is compressed and therefore not bootable.

While a the default setting for a .dmg file is compressed nonetheless Disk Utility.app can create compressed and uncompressed .dmg image files and an uncompressed .dmg image file made of a bootsble CD/DVD will indeed be bootable with VMware Fusion. That said though, as a general rule, I'd still select "CD/DVD Master" with "no encryption" even though it is not absolutely necessary.

[monique1976]

Thank you SO much to both of you. The problem has been resolved....you have been a real help and thank god there are poeple out there like you who are willing to help pepole like me who dont know too much about computers

Cheers, and have a great day

Monique

[WoodyZ]

Ive phoned Mac as i spent the few hundred dollars on Apple Care Protection Plan but they aren't able to help me with this software.

I'm not surprised as Apple Care doesn't really cover this type of issue since it's a third party application.

Ive looked on the VMware help pages and their solution is way to advanced for me: See here

That KB Article really isn't applicable to your situation however this one is: How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

However you'll probably find it difficult to preform although it's exactly what would be done if this was a physical machine running Windows and other then that you can also try the Repair Install as previously suggested.

Another option is to use VMDKMounter to recover your User Data and then start over.

Assuming Fusion 3.x... VMware Fusion (menu bar) > Help > Search > type VMDKMounter and then select Use VMDKMounter to Mount a Virtual Disk as a Mac Volume

[WoodyZ]

For completeness on this thread the Virtual Machine is back up and running after a repair to the system hive of the registry and then a System Restore Point to the morning things went wrong. Using Team Viewer (and Skype) I was able to see that the Windows CD, the optical disc, was actually a .iso file on the optical media so both the disc and the .cdr created were not bootable and why it kept booting the vHDD and getting the same error message. So pointing the VM's CD/DVD to the .iso on the optical disc in conjunction with the SCSI Driver floppy recovery was made. :smileywink:

Monique take care and have a good one...

WoodyZ

[rcardona2k]

Dare I even ask how the .iso file was on a disc? This is certainly NOT a configuration you get at retail.

[WoodyZ]

I didn't ask where the disc came from and just fixed the Virtual Machine and I'm well aware that is not a normal retail disc however I have many CD/DVD discs that contain ISO Images that are copies of legitimate CD discs so it's normal as far as I'm concerned and at this point I'm not going to judge the legitimacy of what the OP has.

[monique1976]

Hi Richard,

My IT friend who set up my computer for me took the original CD's and left me with a copy. He said it was best to take one away with him incase the computer/printer/cd's etc got stolen if someone broke in. I don't know much about it but i know ive a copy of the original i purchased.

Regards

[rcardona2k]

Did you call your IT friend on this particular issue since he has the original materials you were having trouble using? You may want to circle back with them and let them know the copy they left you with is not bootable without following an indirection step of accessing the ISO on the media, or making a copy of the ISO file back to your Mac and this has handicapped you. Maybe they explained this when they left you the media however it is a bit unusual for a friend to take your property when it's just as likely to be stolen anywhere, unless he has a safe or the like.

Glad it's all resolved for now.

Thanks

[monique1976]

My mates away on a holiday so couldnt get the disk or get him to help me and i needed to get it running urgently. Yes he's a safe so all is safe....lol