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# Windows 95 Err Msg: Registry File Was Not Found

Article ID: 116250

Article Last Modified on 11/15/2006

APPLIES TO

- Microsoft Windows 95

This article was previously published under Q116250

## SYMPTOMS

When you try to load Windows 95, you may receive the following error message:
Registry File was not found. Registry services may be inoperative for this session.
After the error message appears, you may be returned to an MS-DOS command prompt.

## CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the registry file (SYSTEM.DAT) is missing from the Windows 95 directory or if it is corrupted. The error can also occur if the [Paths] section is missing from the MSDOS.SYS file.

## RESOLUTION

- Add the [Paths] section to the MSDOS.SYS file. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  118579 Contents of the Msdos.sys File

  -or-
- Check your system for an existing SYSTEM.DAT file using the following steps:
  1. In the Windows 95 directory, type the following command to see if SYSTEM.DAT is present:

     `attrib system.dat`

  2. If the SYSTEM.DAT file exists, proceed with steps 3 and 4; otherwise, skip to step 5.
  3. Use the MS-DOS ATTRIB command to remove the Read-Only, System, and Hidden attributes of the SYSTEM.DAT file:

     `attrib system.dat -r -s -h`

  4. Rename the SYSTEM.DAT file to SYSTEM.BAD with the following command:

     `rename system.dat system.bad`

  5. Reboot your computer. During the boot process, if Windows 95 cannot find the Registry file, it uses SYSTEM.DA0. If this file works well, it is renamed to SYSTEM.DAT.
  -or-
- If the above steps fail, rerun Windows 95 Setup to recreate the SYSTEM.DAT file from the original disks.

Additional query words: err msg register

Keywords: kberrmsg KB116250