Sager 2090 Blue Screen

This is more of a general PC problem but I don't know where else to post it, so my apologies beforehand. I try to boot Windows Vista but I get this blue screen.

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SYSTEM
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.

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Some things surrounding this situation:

1) My laptop was dropped by my friend pretty hard recently, but it still worked fine afterward
2) Shortly afterward, this problem occurred right after I had let my laptop run the battery down accidentally

I lost my vista reinstallation cd, so I guess I'd have to get a new one somehow. But fist I want to know if that would even fix the problem. I don't know a lot about the problem but could this be a hardrive problem?

I appreciate your guys' time I did a little research but most of it just goes over my head.

 

Basically, you need to repair the registry in your installation. It's possible that your registry got corrupted when the computer was dropped, in which case it's almost certain that the hard drive was damaged and you're living on borrowed time - download the diagnostic utility for your drive from the webpage of the drive's manufacturer and run it to see if the drive is still in spec or not. If the drive is out of spec, you're going to have to replace it, and then fix the registry by either doing a clean installation or fixing it as per below. If the drive is fine, then it's probably a software problem only.

It's quite likely that the registry file wasn't properly written back to the hard drive when the battery ran down (I'm assuming that the system shut itself down due to low battery power). In that case, it would just be a software issue, and can be fixed by either doing a clean install or a repair install of the OS, or by following one of the registry repair methods described in Microsoft's knowledgebase article KB256986.

The simplest method from that KB article is to just do a system restore using a restore point that was created prior to the time you let the battery run down. If that doesn't do it, then try using a restore point that was created prior to the time the computer was dropped.

 

1) you can get another Vista disc through your vendor or Microsoft for under $20..... the disc is not worth anything, its the license (COA - Certificate of Authenticity) that is what you are paying for when you buy Windows.

2) those errors can occur do to:
- Memory errors ........ get MemTest86+, burn the ISO, and autoboot from it
- HDD errors ........ run CHKDSK C: /F (run Command Prompt as admin)

 

Thank you so much for your replies, I'll set out to try all of the methods.

Shyster and Gophn: For the System Restore or CHKDSK method wouldn't I have to be able to load up Windows in the first place? I can't get past the blue screen.

 

have you tried to get into Safe Mode?
.... tap F8 before Windows loads up... then you can choose to get into Safe Mode.

Or get a Windows disc and go into System Recovery Console to run CHDSK C: /R

 

First thing I did was try Safe Mode. I can't get into Windows at all. But I'll try to get my hands on a Windows disc asap.