Hello. I have a Dell Inspiron E1705 running WINDOWS XP Professional. One day, when I tried to turn my laptop on, the following message came up: "Windows XP could not START because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM". Since my computer did not come with a copy of the operating system, I could not turn on the computer in Safe MODE, and system restore was not working, I used Dell PC Restore to completely restore my computer. I reinstalled everything (Windows, Updates, etc.), however the next time I needed to turn the computer on, it WOULD not work and produced the same message as before. I have performed the entire Dell PC Restore procedure several times now, with the same result. The computer works at first (although very slowly), then when I turn it off the System32 error message comes up again and I cannot use my computer at all. Why is this same error repeatedly occurring, and how can I fix it (keeping in MIND that my computer did not come with a copy of the operating system)? This is extremely frustrating, especially since I have restored my computer to "Factory Condition" using Dell PC Restore approximately five times now. Please help!Maybe this will help?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545Ah, I see within that guide that you need the disc... sorry.

I'll have a little snoop about, see if I can find something...Might find something here:

http://swatrant.blogspot.com/2005/11/windows-could-not-start-because_17.html