MG's Notes

Stop: C0000218 {Registry File Failure} Registry cannot load the hive (file): \SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE

Nothing is more frustrating than a Windows Blue Screen of Death. The Blue Screen of Death will keep your PC from booting and the messages are usually pretty cryptic. This message is no different. What it means is that the SOFTWARE registry key is corrupt.

Fortunately, the fix for this error is not as painful as the message would lead you to believe. The following steps must be taken to fix this error:

-Boot your PC from the Windows 2000 or Windows XP CD and go into the recovery  console by choosing “R”

-Type the following at the command prompt to replace your current SOFTWARE registry key with a repair copy.
ren c:\windows\system32\config\software software.old
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config

-Then reboot your PC.

If your computer is just part of a workgroup, you should be back in business. However, if you computer is part of a Domain, you may have to reinstall some applications and run:
gpupdate /force

This will refresh group policy. In any case the steps in outlined above should let you log back in to your PC.

written by MG \\ tags: Windows