Causes of System Corrupt Errors
System corrupt error messages are like legal notices that occur unexpectedly and confuse you with technical terms. The main reason behind their occurrence is related to problems concerning the registry.
Invalid DLLs, outdated software and device drivers, and existence of malware such as spyware, and viruses on the system are some the causes of serious damage to the registry.
A corrupt and unstable registry can severely affect your system’s performance and make it full of system corrupt errors. In more serious cases, these errors can make your system unbootable, leaving it useless.
You might encounter frequent system corrupt errors if the Windows XP operating system installed on your PC is not legal. You cannot install regular security updates and service packs on PCs with pirated XP systems which in turn can cause numerous errors and system failure problems.
Common Error Messages
Listed below are some of the common system corrupt error messages indicating a damaged registry hive.
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE
Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
System error: Lsass.exe
Troubleshooting Errors
Now, we will discuss some simple troubleshooting steps that you can perform yourself to resolve these problems.
Recovery Console
The Recovery Console utility helps you restore the registry to the state when the operating system was installed. You start the Recovery Console by booting the system using the Windows XP startup disk or Windows XP CD-ROM and pressing R at the Welcome to Setup screen. Next, you type the administrator password when prompted and press Enter.
At Recovery Console, create a temp folder using the md command and copy the system, software, sam, security, and default files from the c:\windows\system32\config\ folder to the c:\windows\temp\ folder using the copy command.
Next, use the delete command to remove the copied files from the c:\windows\system32\config\ folder. Finally, type exit to quit Recovery Console and reboot your PC.
The process restores the registry to the state when you had initially installed your operating system.
System Restore
The System Restore utility enables you to return your PC to the last known working state. To perform a system restore, log on as an Administrator, open the Start menu and point to All Programs. Next, point to Accessories, and then select System Restore command from the System Tools menu. This displays the System Restore dialog box.
Now, follow the simple instructions in the dialog box to select and restore your system to the most recent system checkpoint. After you confirm your restore point, your system is restored to the previous configuration and the PC is restarted. After restart, the System Restore Restoration Complete page is displayed confirming the completion of the restoration process.
Registry Cleaner Utilities
You can also use registry cleaner utilities to scan the registry and clean and repair the errors and invalid entries added to it. You can search for and download registry cleaner utilities from the Internet. These utilities enable you to safely and effectively scan, repair, and restore the registry to a healthy working condition. One of the major advantages of registry cleaner utilities is that they enable you to customize the scan to search for problems related to corrupt values, invalid DLLs and driver entries, and incorrect entries made by malware and remove them from the registry.
To sum up, we can say that to keep your Windows XP PC free from system corrupt errors, first and foremost, you must ensure that you are using a legal copy of the operating system. Other than that, regular PC maintenance by performing regular registry and antivirus scans, and installing regular security, software and hardware updates can help you keep all your PC problems and errors at bay.