Hi, I was trying to do system recovery on my old Compaq Presario SR1850NX . I run the two system recovery CDs that I ordered from HP years ago, but the process is not completed I get an error and it is asking me for a 3rd CD/DVD which I never had. I only got 2 CD/DVD for the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 System Recovery. What to do?

SOURCE: error 0000218 cannot load the hive; \SystemRoot\System32\Config\Software

try tossing your piece of crap computer onto a very hard surface...laugh as it cracks open..**** on it and then poop on it. Take a picture of it and send it to Dell. at least that will make u feel better. Roony C.--Cleveland

SOURCE: I am in need to install recovery console

Here's How:
Boot From the Windows XP CD

To enter Recovery Console in Windows XP, you will need to boot from the Windows XP CD.

1. Watch for a Press any key to boot from CD... message similar to the one shown above.
   
   
2. Press a key to force the computer to boot from the Windows CD. If you do not press a key, your PC will continue to boot to the Windows XP installation that's currently installed on your hard drive. If this happens, simply reboot and try to boot to the Windows XP CD again.

1. When you reach the command prompt (detailed in Step 6 in the link above), type the following command and then press Enter.
   bootcfg /rebuild
2. The bootcfg utility will scan your hard drives for any Windows XP installations and then display the results. Follow the remaining steps to add your Windows XP installation to the boot.ini file.
   
3. The first prompt asks Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All).
   Type Y in response to this question and press Enter.
   
4. The next prompt asks you to Enter Load Identifier:.
   This is the name of the operating system. For example, type Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition and press Enter.
   
5. The final prompt asks you to Enter OS Load options:.
   Type /Fastdetect here and press Enter.
   
6. Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC.
   Assuming that a missing or corrupt boot.ini file was your only issue, Windows XP should now start normally.
   

SOURCE: Installing windows XP - Error encountered

Can you reboot and get into windows or is now corrupt?

What do you mean by 'uninstalled XP'??

You cant uninstall it unless you format the drive, in which case the recovery discs are now probably useless as they rely on a folder on the HDD called i386.

Recovery discs normally dont have the OS on them, they rely on the I386 folder to gather info about the computer and then restores it to the state when it was new.

If you can acess the system, reboot and go into the bios and change the boot sequence to CD, then insert the first recovery disc. then save the settings and the computer will reboot and start the recovery process again, this should clear up the error.

If it does not it will be because the i386 folder is missing in which case you can either explore the recovery discs for it or you will have to buy a copy of Windows XP.

SOURCE: can't extract files on System Recovery Disc 4 for Compaq Presario model 6350US

At this point, you can try to clean your disk # 4 and see what happen,
or try to make a copy of disk # 4 (if you can copy the disk) and try again.

or

1) Contact your customer support and ask for a new set of disks.(or only # 4)

or

2) Boot your computer with another OS disk (win XP)

or

3) Boot your computer with some utility disk

SOURCE: Cannot boot Gateway MX6421 after Unmountable Volume Error screen

If you happen to have your COA #, just go to http://www.microsoft.com and reload windows.
Let me know if theis helps.
Thanks for thr rating.
Mark