Windows could not start because...

[theshoeshineman]

The Error:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\Windows\System32\Config\System

My attempts at fixing.

1) Tried chkdsk \R
Result: Got further into windows but still did not totally boot

2) Put in Windows CD and did a Windows Repair
Result: Booted into windows but system was extreamly slow

3) Got new hard drive and installed a fresh copy of windows
Result: Worked fine for a while and booted and shut down a number of times, but while I was shutting down I got a blue screen of death and then when I rebooted the original error message has come up again.

Could it be a RAM problem? As it was shutting down windows. Maybe it had trouble releasing stuff from memory?

Could it be the motherboard. Most of the time if it's a weird error it's usually because of the motherboard. None of the capacitors look blown but hey any part could fail.

I've told them to get a new pc but this is a nice looking Biostar Ideq, any suggestions?

[theshoeshineman]

I went into the recovery consol this time and typed in the following 4 lines

md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

It's now booting back into windows, but I'm still unclear as to what the cause might be as I have rulled out power failure/surge or a corrupt hard drive.

The PC is normally connected to a UPS.

[nevermind1534]

Sometimes, it just comes out of nowhere.