"cannot load the hive(file)" error, need serious help!

I have a friend from work who gets this error message on his computer. He started getting it after a power failure, (no UPS/battery backup ). He just gave me the whole system to see if i could bring it back to life. Basically whenever you try to load windows (normal, or any kind of safe mode) I get the following error (also with the "load last know good configuration"):

STOP: C0000218 {Registry File Failure} the registry cannot load the hive(file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE or its log or alternate. It is corrupt, absent or not writeable

Click to expand...

So anyway it appears the registry is totally messed up and the computer doesn't know sponge from sponge cake. If you have any advice, I'd appreciate it. I have been unable to load the windows xp recovery console to run chkdsk. I plan on booting from a 98 floppy to at least try scandisk, but I don't think this is a hardware problem.

This is a Dell 8300 with windows xp Home. Let me know what details you need. I don't know anything else to try with this, and he is aware of that. If no one has any suggestions, I'm going to hook the drive into another computer, backup any data he needs on DVD, and then format it.

could you just do a repair install?

Yeah i agree with zip22, a repair installation or 'In place upgrade' should solve the problem.

hmmm, I wish I could, but he doesn't have the original disk that came with the computer for xp home (I have the key because dell puts them on the sticker on the case, but no disc). I have a couple copies of xp pro, but when I try to load them, I get a different blue screen stop message that says something like "session3"... loadfailure, something like that. Good idea, guys, I'll see if dell can send a new disc considering I have the license sticker. I'm off to school right now, but i'll look into it when I get home.

okay I have no ideas. haha, I thought I could run scandisk off a win98 boot disk, lol. The filesystem is totally different! But I was able to run diskdoctor from a norton disk, and the hard drive is fine. It is just the registry that is totally screwed. As far as I can tell my only option is to reinstall windows since I don't have a home edition disk.

How to Troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 Error Message
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314874&sd=RMVP

here is one solution that i have used with great success in the past.
1. boot to a cd based operating system (BartPe, Linux Live disc) and copy the registry files to a usb flash disk or usb Harddrive.
2. On any Windows XP system, boot to the OS, open registry editor. Click on the HKLM, and then click file LOAD REGISTRY HIVE. MAKE SURE NOT TO IMPORT REGISTRY HIVE. Do this for all registry hives on the USB disk (Software, system, config...)
3. XP has a built in repair tool that 9 times out of 10 will repair the registry. After repairing the registry, go back to the broken system, boot to the cd again, and copy the repaired registry back over the broken one.
4. reboot and all should be well.


PS. YMMV, do this at your own risk. That being said, I have performed this procedure hundreds of times and it work great. I even use it for SERVERS that have the same errors!

veryhumid said:

hmmm, I wish I could, but he doesn't have the original disk that came with the computer for xp home (I have the key because dell puts them on the sticker on the case, but no disc). I have a couple copies of xp pro, but when I try to load them, I get a different blue screen stop message that says something like "session3"... loadfailure, something like that. Good idea, guys, I'll see if dell can send a new disc considering I have the license sticker. I'm off to school right now, but i'll look into it when I get home.

Click to expand...

Dell should be able to replace lost disks for you, I know of a couple people who have lost their disks and dell has been fairly good about sending replacements.

Your computer has HIV!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

haha, thanks for the tips, guys. I should have waited, but my friend really wanted to get his comp going again. So he just told me to order a new OS. (he wanted to upgrade anyway). I expect it to come on tuesday. But I think I will try to do this in the mean time. I was able to pull off any files not considered corrupt using R-Studio, I'll try to get the file using one of my xp disks. Thanks again for the help, guys, I'll make remember this if I bump into it again.

First thing I thought of when I saw this thread was "Prepare to enter the Hive!"

I love Milla Jovovich. . .

That error message can be caused by faulty or incompatible RAM. I remembered getting STOP: 0x00000050 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA, a MSGINA error, multiple pop-up window file corrupted error messages and then after I rebooted again, the registry hive failure BSOD right after inserting RAM into the second DIMM slot on a PC once. Apparently because it's incompatible with the motherboard.

okay, komusa sent the wrong ram I was going to upgrade with, so in the mean time I am going to try to repair that registry. I'll post here if i get some questions along the way

redduc900 said:

How to Troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 Error Message
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314874&sd=RMVP

Click to expand...

I'm going to give this a try tonight, as long as I don't have to do a parallel
install.

I like the looks of this method as well:

engjohn said:

here is one solution that i have used with great success in the past.
1. boot to a cd based operating system (BartPe, Linux Live disc) and copy the registry files to a usb flash disk or usb Harddrive.
2. On any Windows XP system, boot to the OS, open registry editor. Click on the HKLM, and then click file LOAD REGISTRY HIVE. MAKE SURE NOT TO IMPORT REGISTRY HIVE. Do this for all registry hives on the USB disk (Software, system, config...)
3. XP has a built in repair tool that 9 times out of 10 will repair the registry. After repairing the registry, go back to the broken system, boot to the cd again, and copy the repaired registry back over the broken one.
4. reboot and all should be well.


PS. YMMV, do this at your own risk. That being said, I have performed this procedure hundreds of times and it work great. I even use it for SERVERS that have the same errors!

Click to expand...

Could you give me anymore tips for where i can specifically find all of my registry hives? Is this where i need to go?