Ok so i was trying to get my pc to boot from disk. It wasnt working so i read on a forum (not this 1) that i needed to get into the BIOS, i couldnt find a way of getting into the BIOS so i read when i boot up windows xp to hold down any key and keep my finger on it now i think i may have broke my computer. When i try to start it up i get the following message: "windows cannot start because the following file is missing or corrupt: windows\system32\config\system" i have tried running my windows xp disk but it hangs where it says "setup is starting windows" for some reason even the windows xp disk wont run ! Can anyone help please i just hope i havent broke the whole pc! I have read to try various things to get the xp disk to run but no joy any help please???

Hello there.

To enter BIOS you have to shut down the computer.

Restart the computer and on the startup screen it will say "Press ? to enter set up".

? is usaly F1,F2 or the Del key on your keyboard.

Once in BIOS you need to go to "Boot" tab, set CD/DVD rom as first then hard drive as second.

Some BIOS will list Advanced Bios Features,click on it and then set your boot order.

Pop in the XP CD then F10 is often the save and exit,depending on BIOS it will list a key to press.

Follow the link below.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

Sometimes computers will hang on starting windows,it can be a slow process....

if u do manage to boot from cd then when it gets to a certain part it will ask u if u want to repair windows or just new installation if u click repair it bring you to recovery console where you can fix parts and stuff it will have a command like window just type help and then enter it will give u a list you want to fix the boot record the commands you want are as follows bootrec /fixmbr press enter and bootrec /fixmbr press enter then exit press enter and the pc or laptop will reboot and hopefully your missing or corrupt file will be repaired hope this helps.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/wxprcons.html
checkout the link scroll down it should show you how to get to recovery console.