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Random restarts and NTFS.sys now missing?!

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Twist

Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2002
Hey,
For a while now my PC has been restarting at random times, and upon startup again it would sometimes freeze. Last night, I left my computer to update to SP2 final (I had RC2 installed) via windows update, and when I woke up this morn. my computer had restarted and on the screen it had a message like:
"Missing or corrupt NTFS.sys..."

I've run HDD diagnostics for both my drives (Seagate and WD, 7200rpm, 80gb each) and no problems. I also ran a memory test and no problems were found (I did one pass on each "test").

Is this a PSU problem or a heat problem? Or could it be Windows? I get the feeling my PSU is dying, but I'm really not sure. My temps are around what they should be, maybe a little warm, but nothing (I thought) to worry about.

My specs:
-----------
Intel 845GBV mobo
Intel P4 2.4ghz
WD 7200rpm 80gb HDD
Seagate 7200rpm 80gb HDD
Sony 4x DVD (DRU-510A)
TDK 48x CD-RW
 
Likely a PSU problem... When a user doesn't include his PSU in his specs, that is always the first indication of the PSU being at fault. ;)

Nice to see that you already ran diagnostics on both the HDD and memory, that would have been my first advice.

Are you stock or OC'ed?
 
i think its a windows problem. sometimes it does that and corrupts system files. what you should try first before getting a new hardware is to copy ntfs.sys from another computer and copy it to the computer with the problem. if this doesn't help, do a recovery(or windows reinstall). That should fix it. if it doesn't then go with IMOG.
 
When a user doesn't include his PSU in his specs, that is always the first indication of the PSU being at fault.
Haha. I'm just not at my PC right now so I don't have the PSU specs. Thr CPU is stock.

I'm going to try replacing NTFS.sys, but I'm still skeptical about it being a windows-only problem.
 
Windows usually doesn't kill ntfs.sys on its own though... Its usually the result of something else putting it under attack.

Copying the file over or doing a recovery is definetly a good idea, but if he is getting random restarts I would suspect a hardware problem... Which will lead to this becoming a recurring problem. ;) If you can swap out the PSU, you might want to give that a shot and observe results.
 
Any other options? I don't have an extra PSU handy, so I guess I might as well go buy one...

Hmmmm...man I hope I won't need to reformat...
 
A new PSU won't fix the problem you have now. That problem needs to be fixed, then a new PSU might help keep it from recurring again.

Get a Good big name PSU.

I think your memory is fine as bad ram usually fails diagnostics, but its also still a possibility that your HDD is a problem. I have had a lot of drives pass IBM drive fitness tests when they are clicking and having other obvious HDD failures.
 
Yeah, I don't hear/see any obvious problems with my drives. The WD HDD is brand new, and the Seagate one I've had for ~3 years with no problems. I've run their respective tests (one from WD, one from Seagate) and neither picked up any problems.
 
Well, I tried replacing NTFS.sys, but I still get the "NTFS.sys missing or corrupt" error! I get the feeling it could be my RAM, but the test I'm running doesn't seem to show it. Maybe its a PSU + RAM problem?

Either way this is driving me insane and any help would be great right now!
 
my friends new NF7-S 2.0 was having the same problem...with blue screens and it said that file was at fault....then, i took one of his memory sticks out and now it seems to be working fine....
 
Only one stick, but its not a blue screen. Its black & white.

Also, this is probably important, but I forgot to mention that I had left SP2 RTM to install before the crash.
 
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