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My friend has a Windows XP Proffesional PC and does not use it for any downloading or alternative computer parts (e.g graphics cards and soundcards)

It was turned on a few days back and a error message came up before the OS loaded stating that a 'SETUP' file was either missing or corrupt. It doesn't load from this point and it is unable to log on. Unfortunatly the original setup disk for the PC was lost.

Is there anyway to fix this?
If not, can i retrive the data? (by putting the HD in another PC)

Thanks.

Hi and welcome to the forum. If you give us the full error message we can help you fix that...or yes, you can remove the drive and connect it to another PC to retrieve the data. Are you able to do that yourself?

Thanks for the quick reply.

This is the full error message:

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

I am capable of switching hardrives (have a little experience)

Thanks.

Hi Sam,
There is a way to fix the problem (quite long and involved) but you do need an original O/S disk to do it. If you can get hold of a disk the link is HERE

If not then you might be better off putting the hard drive into another pc to get the data, let us know if you want to take this route and we'll talk you through doing this (be aware that some companies regard this sort of thing as a warranty isue so check before you go ahead with this action).
It doesn't however solve the problem on your pc which you would need to get the O/S reinstalled.
Let us know what you decide and we'll take it from there.