Windows config file suddenly missing???

[james_mac]

I am running Parallels build 5582 on Leopard 10.5.1. I have been running it for a while without any problems. Today I resumed my saved state (as I normally do) and the Windows screen was frozen. The green hills desktop of XP showed up, but I couldn't do anything (ex: open the start menu, click on icons, etc.). That happens from time to time with Parallels, so I had to manually reset the virtual machine. When I did, it wouldn't go past the black screen. It gave me an error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM

You can attempt to repair this file by restarting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Selet 'r' at the first screen to start repair.

I tried pressing 'r' like the instructions said. It did something, but then took me back to that same black screen.

So what happened??? Is my Windows install screwed? or is there something I can do to resurrect this thing?

 

[james_mac]

any ideas on how i can make this work again?