hi folks, does any one out there know if it is possible to install a recovery program if WINDOWS cannot run? please help.What is causing Windows not to run? Do you get an error MESSAGE? What are the computer's specifications?

Is this XP, and is it Home or Pro?

Do you have an XP CD and have you tried loading the recovery console?hi, its xp home, is there a recovery program that will run at set up , (i am not sure if i am using the correct terminology) im only quite new at this.errer message is (corrupt or missing) \WINDOWS\system32\config\SYSTEMHave you got an XP CD so that you can load the recovery console?yes i have the xp cd , but nothing seems to respond, when the disk is inserted, am i missing something?Did you reboot the machine with the disk inserted?  And then press any key to boot from the CD as directed on screen?sorry not sure how to reboot the machine when it is in this state,Put in the CD, then restart the machine (power button if nothing else).yes i have done as you said , the cd has not started,
wonder whySounds like other hardware issues. Give us the history on the problem and some specifics about the machine.hi again, the machine is a northgate re-build type affair, with an 80 Gb HD , 512 Mb RAM , there only seems to be 65 Gb available on the HD, guess thats the recovery partition, or something. i have recently replaced the RAM stick as the machine was constantly restarting. the "phoenix" recover pro was deleted from add/remove programs. and this where i stand now, (the pc is 1 inch from the trash can).      thanks peter.  Did you change the bios sequence so that it will boot from the cd?

80gb is about 74.5gb binary so you MAY have quite a large recovery partition.

Are all the fans running and is the cabinet DUST free?i will check the bios sequence, cheersAfterf this "Recovery Pro" fiasco, you may benefit from a clean install of Windows.