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Article: Q167233
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 4.0,4.0a,4.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kberrmsg
Last Modified: 09-AUG-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server versions 4.0, 4.0a, 4.5 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When your computer running Windows NT starts up, you may receive on of the
following error messages:

  Windows NT could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
  \%systemroot%\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEMHardware Profile/Last Known Good menu.

  -or-

  Windows NT could not start because the following are missing or corrupt:
  \Winnt.sbs\system32\config\SYSTEMware profile/last known good menu.
  You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows NT setup.

  -or-

  Windows NT could not start because the following are missing or corrupt:
  \Winnt\system32\config\SYSTEMware profile/last known good menu.
  You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows NT setup.

NOTE: %systemroot% is the installation directory for Windows NT.

CAUSE
=====

Both the System and System.alt registry files are corrupted or missing.

RESOLUTION
==========

Use the emergency repair disk (ERD) and select "inspect registry files" on the
first menu selection screen. On the second menu selection screen select "replace
SYSTEM configuration." This will replace the damaged System registry hive in the
%systemroot%\System32\Config directory with the System hive on the ERD.

NOTE: Any system changes made after the ERD was last updated will be lost.

For additional information, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  ARTICLE-ID: Q103280
  TITLE : Using an Emergency Repair Disk Created by Windows NT

If there is no ERD, a restore from a tape that contains a backup of the registry
will be needed.

If you do not have an ERD or backup tape, you can recover the System hive by
expanding it from the %systemroot%\repair directory using the following steps:

1. Install a parallel copy of Windows NT to an NTTemp directory.

2. From a command line prompt, go to the repair directory of the original
  Windows NT installation.

  For example: CD \winnt\repair

3. Use Expand.exe to expand the System._ file to System.

  Expand SYSTEM._ SYSTEM

4. Copy the expanded SYSTEM file to the %systemroot%\System32\Config directory.

  Copy System c:\winnt\system32\config

5. Try to boot back into the original Windows NT installation.

MORE INFORMATION
================

During the boot process, if the system hive is corrupted, Windows NT will try to
use Last Known Good by accessing System.alt. If both the System and System.alt
files are corrupted, Windows NT will not be able to boot.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kberrmsg 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbAudDeveloper kbSBServSearch kbSBServ400 kbSBServ400a kbSBServ450
Version           : :4.0,4.0a,4.5
Issue type        : kbprb

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Q167233: Windows NT Boot Error Msg: Missing Last Known Good Menu