System32\config error

[JimIndyv8]

Hello,
I have a Sony Vaio VGN-N130G laptop with Xp SP3 and I have the system32\config error on startup. I tried F8 and "earlier restore" with no change. I removed hard drive, placed it into an enclosure and connected it to my Dell windows 7 laptop. When I open the "E" drive I can see the XP harddrive, when I open the documents I only see Docs dated 2007 nothing after that.
My question is how do I access all my files from after 2007? Do I need to connect my enclosure to an XP machine?
Thanks for any help,
Jim

 

[Saga Lout]

The folder c:\windows\system32\config contains the entire system Registry - the big filing cabinet into which Windows puts all the information the system needs to run.

Can you see that folder when you browse the hard disk using the Windows 7 system?.

 

[JimIndyv8]

The folder c:\windows\system32\config contains the entire system Registry - the big filing cabinet into which Windows puts all the information the system needs to run.

Can you see that folder when you browse the hard disk using the Windows 7 system?.

I'm not sure where to look. I don't see that folder when I click on the "E" drive that shows up when I connect the enclosure to my Dell windows 7.
Thanks for you help,
Jim

 

[Saga Lout]

Run a search of the E drive for two specimen files - SAM and SOFTWARE - no filename extensions. Wherever they are is the Config folder or, and possibly better still, backups that could constitute a new folder if they're fairly recent.

 

[JimIndyv8]

Thanks again for your help. Do I have to connect my enclosure to a computer running XP to see all this?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Saga Lout]

Not necessarily - even non-Windows systems can see inside the file structure. If the folder isn't there, the only way forward is to use the System File Checker to put a new set of files in but that will require an XP CD. A borrowed one will do, so long as it's equivalent to your original system, i.e. Home or Professional.

 

[JimIndyv8]

I could not find SAM or SOFTWARE in the "E" drive. So I guess I'm finished, thanks again for your help,
Jim

 

[Saga Lout]

Before giving up on it - is E:\ the only extra drive showing up when you plug the external in? How much of your regular data shows up in E:? I'm just checking that E:\ was actually the system part of that disk. Sony may have a recovery partition of their own which could show up as an earlier letter than the system partition.