How to repair WINDOWS/system32/config/SYSTEM missing or corrupt Windows Server 2003

To Repair Windows/system32/config/System missing on Windows 2003


1. Insert your Windows CD and reboot from the CD drive
[To boot from CD, go to BIOS Setup option on startup and select your CD/DVD drive as the first boot drive, save the present settings and exit] Your computer will reboot & will boot from Windows Server 2003

2. Press ‘R’ when offered the option of using the Windows Recovery Console
Recovery Console will prompt at the command prompt type the following:

C:\WINDOWS >cd system32
this changes the current directory to C:\Windows\System32

ren config configold
This renames the config folder to configold

mkdir config
this makes a new directory called config

cd config
changes the current directory to c:\Windows\System32\Config
then type the following lines pressing enter after each one

copy c:\windows\repair\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security
copy c:windows\repair\default
after each line it should say:
1 file copied

type: exit
Now your system will reboot