Hello all its been a while lol

anyhoo,
I have a INSPIRON 2200 Laptop running winxp home edition (DELL)
the problem is, at startup, i get an error that says " 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"

Okay, I've done all steps. But after I choose the "1. C\Windows" to logon...im not sure what to do from there to repair....i dont know?
it just looks like this:

C:\WINDOWS_ <<the underscore just sits....so i was wondering what to type in to repair? any help would be HIGHLY appreciated

Suggest you try this...

Place the XP Windows Install CD in the CD drive.
Go to the Accessories...Command Prompt
enter: sfc /scannow
There is a space between "c" and "/".
This could take from minutes to hours to run.

Thank You, Worked Perfectly

Good job Gandalf, marked as Fixed