Hello,
I have the same problem with the file system32\drivers\pci.sys.
I have Windows XP Home Edition. When I turn on the PC, a screen appears saying that Windows did not start normally. Then there are different options: start Windows normally, safe mode, last known good configuration... Safe mode and starting Windows normally do not work; it leaves me with a black screen and as soon as I touch the keyboard, the computer restarts.
And when I select last known good configuration, it says that the file system32\drivers\pci.sys is missing or corrupted. Use the recovery disk...
So I start the Windows installation software, when it offers to repair I press "R".
A black screen appears with C:\>
(the first times I tried it asked for an administrator password, now it doesn't ask for it anymore. Sometimes it showed C:\WINDOWS>, this time the WINDOWS has disappeared... I don't know if all these changes from one attempt to another are normal?....)
I went to this site to see what solutions were proposed.
I followed the following procedure:
"With the XP CD, when the welcome screen of the installation program appears, press the R key to start the recovery console.
Then type 1 and confirm with enter.
You should arrive at a prompt:
C:\windows>
then type:
cd repair and confirm with enter
dir and confirm with enter "
The problem is that after that I get a list of files and I don't know what I need to do.
So I restarted to attempt the following procedure:
"Once C:\Windows> appears, I type cd system32\drivers"
The procedure is supposed to go further than that, but I am already stuck. It says that the file access path is not valid.
So I don't know what to do. I don't want to reformat because I would lose a lot of files.
I have also seen on the site that some mention a RAM problem, that you need to remove a stick... Others say it's a graphics card or hard drive problem.
Is it the same problem every time or does it have nothing to do with it? I don't understand much of all this, I'm not very tech-savvy.
I have also seen that there is a way to do what looks like an installation but is actually just a repair. By starting the Windows XP installation program, you hit "Enter" instead of "R" and just after the program offers to repair the existing system or install a new one. If you choose repair, it only repairs the system files and all other data is kept intact.
Is this approach reliable?
If someone could help me it would be nice.
Thank you in advance.
See you soon.
So thank you!