Surmounting System File Corruption in Windows

System files act as a backbone of any Windows operating system. These files consist of all I/O (Input/Output) information about Windows, which is used to access the system's software and hardware. Corruption in any of the system files can result in serious damages, even resulting in complete unbootability of the system. Few most common reasons for system file corruption can be improper system shutdown, downloading an incompatible patch, registry damage, virus attack, and operating system damage.

To overcome a system file corruption scenario, a Windows user can run SFC (System File Checker) utility. This utility scans for damaged system files and repairs them to maximum possible level. However, there is no surety that the tool can perform repair in all cases. In such cases, the user needs to perform a fresh reinstall of Windows operating system and then restore the data from a valid backup. But, in the absence of a complete and valid backup, the user needs to opt for a commercial Hard Drive Recovery application.

For deep analysis of the above case, consider a real-time scenario where you encounter the below error message while starting your Windows XP system. The same error message appears every time you try to boot your system:

“Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM”

After the above error message pops up, the data saved in your Windows XP based hard drive becomes inaccessible.

Cause:

The above error message appears due to corruption in Windows XP system file.

Resolution:

To resolve the above error message and to access the data saved in Windows XP based hard drive partition, you will need to follow the below measures:

1.Run 'SFC/ scannow' command to resolve corruption.

2.In case the command fails, reinstall Windows XP and restore data from an adequate backup.

However, in case no data backup is available, you can recover formatted hard drive data by using a powerful third-party Hard Drive Recovery application. Such Hard Drive Data Recovery tools employ advanced recovery procedures that can recover all files and folders from a formatted hard drive. Such tools are compatible with all kinds of hard drives, regardless of their size and brand.


Resource: http://hubpages.com/hub/Surmounting-System-File-Corruption-in-Windows