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Pc will not boot. Weird message says Windows corrupt.

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jab635

Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Location
Bayside, Queens, New York
My 5 year old niece was playing with my sister's coomputer and now this message comes up at boot.
Windows could not start because the following file is missing
or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
What do I do?
1. Copy and paste from XP CD.
2. Use Windows repair. (Dont know how?)
My sister really needs your help!
 
I tried Method 2 from Microsoft site and I get an error message that says run chkdsk. When I run chkdsk it says volume in good condition. Method 3 doesnt even work. What should I do?
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314477#appliesto
Method 2
Use the Bootcfg utility in the Recovery Console to correct the Boot.ini file:
1. Use the Windows XP CD-ROM to start your computer.
2. When you receive the message to press R to repair Windows by using the Recovery Console, press the R key.
3. Select the Windows installation that you want, and then type the administrator password when prompted.
4. Type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER.
5. When the Windows installation is located, the following instructions are displayed:
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
[Type Y in response to this message.]

Enter Load Identifier:
[This is the name of the operating system. Type Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition.]

Enter OS Load options:
[Leave this field blank, and then press ENTER].
After you perform the preceding steps, restart the computer, and then select the first item on the boot menu. This should allow Windows XP to start normally.

After Windows XP has successfully loaded, the Boot.ini can be modified to remove the incorrect entry.
 
When I press "r" the Recovery Console comes up. From the Recovery Console I tried what is outlined above. Now I am running chkdsk and its taking forever.
Is there a faster way to do this? Could I put her hard drive into my machine and fix it that way?
 
There is the possibility that the HD is on the way out. If you have the diagnostic software compatible with the HD, give it a run and see if you get errors. If you don't have the right one, you should be able to DL it from the appropriate website.
 
Is it possible that she entered the BIOS setup and changed the CPU or RAM settings?

You can get the same error message if the CPU OC isn't stable.
 
Beyond the last suggestion, I'd say it was just chance, not the kids fault, and like someone else said, the disk has just gotten old and worn out.


Good luck in any case, its worth trying to fix.

If I were you I'd see if I could access the drive from another PC (boot from different windows install basically..)
 
jab635 said:
When I press "r" the Recovery Console comes up. From the Recovery Console I tried what is outlined above. Now I am running chkdsk and its taking forever.
Is there a faster way to do this? Could I put her hard drive into my machine and fix it that way?

You pressed 'R' too early. You want to do a repair, not go into recovery mode.

Try again, but press enter at that screen. Choose the partition you want to repair and Press 'R'.
 
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