If you can't start Windows XP, you can't upgrade to Vista since the Vista
upgrade must be run from inside Windows XP. And frankly, if XP isn't
running well - or at all - upgrading it in that state is a poor idea. Fix
XP before upgrading or clean-install Vista.
--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User]
rgharper@gmail.com
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http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
"George" <George@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8ADC87FB-15D6-4913-AACB-4F82B642DE91@microsoft.com...
>I am experiencing "c:\windows\system32\config\system is missing" in Windows
> XP SP2 and cannot recover nor retrieve my files and data. I do have good
> backups however there is still some more stuff I need to getoff the hard
> drive. Can I buy and upgrade to Vista? Can I install right over the XP
> version and still retain my data? Does an upgrade to Vista require the
> folder
> and file - c:\windows\system32\config\system? Does XP have to be running
> to
> do an upgrade?