Win XP completely crapping out on my for no reason...

[phogen]

I recently built a new computer, and it's running great. I just threw a bunch of my old parts together to have a 2nd computer. I install winXP fine, but after a few reboots I get an error:

File Missing or corrupt:
\windows\system32\config\system

This has happened twice so far, and i've had to reinstall windows. Anyone know what's causing this? It's done on a slightly overclocked thunderbird system, that was 100% stable at much higher speeds, so I dont think that's the problem.

[redduc900]

Chances are phogen, you're getting this particular error message because of a bad overclock. From the error message that you made note of, it looks like Windows is having problems loading the Registry...causing the corruption. The following MSKB article describes in detail 'How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from Starting'...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545

The following is quoted from the above article...
When you try to start or restart your Windows XP-based computer, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE

Stop: c0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate
The procedure described in this article uses Recovery Console, System Restore, and lists all the required steps in specific order to ensure that the process completes fully. After you complete this procedure, the system should return to a state very close to the system before the problem occurred.;)