I have the academic edition of Windows XP from my university. It is installed
with a common disk that is property of the school. How then is it possible
for me to use ASR if I don't have a disk to use during startup? I am getting
the C0000218 Registry File Failure message and there is no other way to get
mny computer to run. Last Known Good Configuration does not work, Safe Mode
with Command Prompt will crash during the loading of \DRIVERS\agp440.sys (or
at least, thats the last thing that loads before it crashes). Can this error
also be caused by faulty connections between the HDD and the motherboard, or
is this most likely an internal HDD error? What are my options short of
reinstalling another copy of Windows?

TedJr wrote:

ASR works by first installing XP on the drive, then restoring the
backup. Therefor an installation CD is essential. You'll need the
installation CD anyway if you were to do a reinstall.

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm
0xC0000218: UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR

One resolution for this is to follow the KB article listed below which
requires the recovery console. If that is not already installed you'll
need the installation CD or the six setup floppy disk set.

How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows XP from
Starting:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=307545

--
Rock
MS MVP Windows - Shell/User