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C0000218 Registry File Failure

Anonymous
2009-06-03T03:10:51+00:00

Below is the message that I continue to get. I am attempting to fix my Dad's computer and haven't had any luck. I have attempted to use the restore disk and the computer won't start. I've tried using F8 and it will not pull up the menu so I can restore to last known good configuration. I'm really lost at this point. If someone could help me I would greatly appreciate it!! I'm not a computer wiz so please be patient. Thank you soooooo much. The operating system is Vista Basic and I think it is 2gb memory...??? Dell Inspiron 1525. Sorry I don't have a lot of details... but I don't know a tremendous amount about computers.

c0000218 registry file failure

registry cannot load the hive (file)

systemroot system 32 config system or its log or alternate

corrupt absent not writable

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2009-06-03T09:47:52+00:00

    Hello travislwilburn,

    Thank you for visiting the Microsoft Windows Vista Community site.

    Try following the steps in this article:

    This is one of the main reasons I prefer to do a clean installation from CD rather than simply doing a system restore. There's less chance for something to go wrong with a clean installation. Unfortunately, many computer manufacturers no longer provide a complete CD, but you still may be able to completely wipe your drive rather than using the restore option. The Stop: c0000218 error is typically associated with one of several things, depending on how far through the recovery process you made it before encountering the error.

    The first possibility is simply corruption in the Windows Registry. A second option is a component of your system hardware is not compatible with Windows XP or your hard drive has some kind of issue. Since you are re-installing Windows XP using System Restore, it seems unlikely your system hardware is incompatible, although I won't rule out the possibility entirely. The third possibility, a damaged hard drive, is possible even if Windows appeared to run smoothly prior to your reinstallation. Before throwing in the towel, we'll take a closer look at each possibility

    Assuming the Windows Registry is simply corrupt, the first thing to attempt is a recovery via the Automatic System Recovery for your particular installation. Since you are attempting to do a system restore, it's possible you already tried this and had it fail. If this is not the case, follow the detailed directions presented in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 307545.

    If you attempted your system restore using the OEM provided restore partition or CD and received this error, make sure you don't have any hardware components connected which weren't part of the initial build of your computer. System restore disks look for specific hardware components. If the original components are missing it occasionally introduces errors in the restore process.

    A third possibility is the hard drive is damaged in some way. Many disks have bad sectors and you won't know about them until you attempt to write over the sectors during a specific operation. If you can boot from your install CD, you will be presented with the option to Repair or Recover the Windows XP installation. Pressing R launches the Microsoft Recovery Console which then asks for the Administrator password. After entering the password, run chkdsk to check the drive for errors by typing chkdsk /r at the command line. If chkdsk finds errors, you may need to use chkdsk /f to repair the errors before proceeding.

    Since you are attempting to revert your Windows installation back to baseline, the best option remains doing a completely fresh install because it will avoid any potential corruptions already existing in your current installation by installing a fresh copy of Windows instead of reusing existing core components that may now be corrupt.

    This should resolve your problem.

    Let us know if these steps resolve your problem.  I hope the information is useful.

    Regards,

    Anthony

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-21T21:27:47+00:00

    Though this thread is old, thought I would add that I resolved this error on Windows XP Embedded STD by removing the hard drive and hooking up via USB adaptor to another machine.  It prompted for 'Scan and Fix'.  Ran through, found errors and reinstalled.  Booted like a champ.

    Kevin S. Peterson

    Proper Technology Solutions Wichita

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-06-14T18:04:26+00:00

    You missed the part where he said he has windows VISTA not xp! This link might help alot more:

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/What-happened-to-the-Recovery-Console

    I'm having the same problem, i haven't solved it yet but I read this interesting thread:

    http://forums.techarena.in/vista-setup-install/677924.htm#post3404664

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-08-08T16:10:41+00:00

    The problem with my computer turned out to be a defective hard drive.  I confirmed it with a computer technician. I guess the clue was not being able to do a clean install with a proven Windows cd. 

    I hope that helps someone.

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-08-07T03:42:14+00:00

    Hi Anthony,

    I have a problem that is similar to travislwilburn.  I have a Gateway GT5622 desktop running Windows Vista Premium which I purchased in Oct 2007.   It crashed last week. I had tried System Repair and recieved a message of "The OS version is incompatible with Startup Repair."  So I tried to restore it to a few days prior and System Restore reported:  "System Restore failed due to unspecified error." Data Error:  cyclic redundancy check (0X80070017)

    The Problem Signature/Problem Event name:  Startup Repair V2

    PS 01:  Auto Failover ....

    Anyway, I was getting nowhere, so I decided to do a clean installation from the Recovery side of the hard drive.  I received a message that the OS booted sucessfully, but the Root Cause found was "Failure while setup was in progress"  It then proceeded to the blue screen with the error message as:

    C0000218 Registry File Failure

    The registry cannot load the hive(file)

    SystemRoot\System32\Config\Software

    its log or alternate

    is corrupt, absent, or not writable

     collecting data for crash dump...

    I also tried the OEM cd and received the same error messages.  Also, SystemRoot\System32\Config\Security

    Last night I read your posted response and tried your suggestions.  The hardware that was not in the OEM package I had removed previously.  Tonight I rebooted with the OEM cd.  It encountered problems with startup, so I ran Startup Repair again.  The Problem Signature Event  name is:  Startup Repair V2

    Problem Signature 01:  External media

    PS 02: 6.0.6000.16386.6.0.6000.16386

    PS 03: 6

    PS 04: 131074

    PS 05:  Failure During Setup

    PS 06:  Corrupt volume

    PS 07:  0

    PS 08:  1

    PS 09:  chkdsk 

    PS 10:  0

    OS version  6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1  

    In DOS, I ran chkdsk as you instructed.

    0 EA records processed

    0 reparse records prcesssed....

    ..... Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with staus 50.

    I tried chkdsk/r "Cannot lock current drive." and "Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected."  Same message with chkdsk/f.

    Everytime I boot up my computer, I get the blue screen with   C0000218 Registry File Error ... crash dump.... etc

    To verify my OEM cd, I used it on a different computer and it worked. 

    I'm out of ideas.  I just finished a beginning class on PC's.  I've been researching the Knowledge base for answers.  Perhaps I should start over with a new hard drive?  I'd appreciate any direction you could give me.   

    Thank you

    Donna T

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