• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

NTFS.sys missing or corrupt (Windows XP)

S

sohcrates

Diamond Member
Windows XP Pro. Machine froze up, when i rebooted started getting BSOD followed by reboots.

Turned machine off, then back on, then i got "NTFS.sys missing or corrupt. Try running XP repair off CD"

So i ran repair and renamed ntfs.sys to ntfs.old and replaced with a new copy of ntfs.sys from \i386 folder on xp cd, rebooted, and this time i didn't get the ntfs.sys error but still got BSOD and reboot.

Once i turned machine off again, then back on, got "Missing ntfs.sys" error again.

HMMMMMM


I guess i'm wondering if it sounds like HDD could be going? Or do you think installing XP over itself again might fix this? (w/out losing data)

Any other thoughts? Thanks
 
Originally posted by: BadThad
Sorry, I see you've already done that. Can you get into safe mode and check event viewer for any clues?
Click to expand...

i can try that tonight, didn't think to check out event viewer (assuming i can get in)
Will report back, thanks
 
Originally posted by: Smilin
run a chkdsk /p from recovery console. Fairly decent chance this simple thing will fix it.
Click to expand...

ran chkdsk /p

returned "the volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems"


blue screens trying to get into SAFE mode as well

thoughts?
 
Run the hard drive mfg diagnostic program on the drive. Sometimes they can do things for a drive that chkdsk cannot.
 
Originally posted by: BadThad
Run the hard drive mfg diagnostic program on the drive. Sometimes they can do things for a drive that chkdsk cannot.
Click to expand...

ok, ran maxtor's diagnostic software. it says drive passed both the short and long test.

i rebooted into safe mode and it worked, so i rebooted into normal mode and it worked as well.

on first reboot into normal mode is said "windows has recovered from a serious error"...never seen that before

then about 2 minutes in the computer blue screened again....

is there a link where i can plug BSOD's in and it translates the error at all?

thanks
 
Originally posted by: sohcrates
Originally posted by: Smilin
run a chkdsk /p from recovery console. Fairly decent chance this simple thing will fix it.
Click to expand...

ran chkdsk /p

returned "the volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems"


blue screens trying to get into SAFE mode as well

thoughts?
Click to expand...

ouch. That's the result you don't want to see.

unrecoverable means just that. You may be able to get into the disk and do limited things but the MFT is shot. The only way to fix that is to create a new filesystem (format).

Boot the system any way you can or mount the drive as a secondary. Retrieve your data then reload.
 
Hi All,

I'm having a similar problem in W2K Pro.

Boot error ; winnt\system32\config\system is corrupt

How can I replace that file? I can enter the Recovery Console but can't seem top remember enough DOS to copy that file from the 2K CD (where it is of course compressed).

I tried the ERD but it is either too old (this system has run pretty happily for several years) or its not up for file repair.

I should note I have been getting regular Stop Errors overnight but attributed that to the dust bunnies I vacuumed out of my heatsink a couple of days ago.

I ran Chkdsk/p without apparent errors or repairs...


TIA
 
Originally posted by: azkiwi
Hi All,

I'm having a similar problem in W2K Pro.

Boot error ; winnt\system32\config\system is corrupt

How can I replace that file? I can enter the Recovery Console but can't seem top remember enough DOS to copy that file from the 2K CD (where it is of course compressed).

I tried the ERD but it is either too old (this system has run pretty happily for several years) or its not up for file repair.

I should note I have been getting regular Stop Errors overnight but attributed that to the dust bunnies I vacuumed out of my heatsink a couple of days ago.

I ran Chkdsk/p without apparent errors or repairs...


TIA
Click to expand...

Your registry (the system file part of it) is corrupt. You can load it into WinXP SP1 or later, but it's a tremendous amount of work if you're not savvy with filecopies and Windows registry editing.

Basically, you copy the registry elsewhere, or install XPSP1 to that drive, then using regedt32 in XPSP1 or later, you can fix many corrupt registry issues.
 
Sounds grim 🙁

Are you suggesting I copy my corrupt registry and repair it on a XP machine?

I have XP (Home) on my laptop - but don't know how to copy the 2K registry from the console, and you seem to indicate its more work than a reinstall.

If you are suggesting I install XP over my 2K installation, why is that different from re-installing 2K? I prefer 2K for my work environment.

Thanks for your help.
 
Pop the drive into a USB container, use your XP machine's regedt32 to open and read the registry and, assumedly, fix it.

I don't suggest installing anything over anything ...
 
Good idea ... if I had a USB container. Its looking like I'll be doing a fresh install over the weekend 🙁

At least I keep the OS on its own drive, but nothing good to look forward to. Who knows why these things happen - I haven't added anything new except a printer for a couple of years!
 
You can also (ie in addition to 2000) install XP on the drive and do those steps to see if you can recover the registry.
 
Originally posted by: dclive
Pop the drive into a USB container, use your XP machine's regedt32 to open and read the registry and, assumedly, fix it.

I don't suggest installing anything over anything ...
Click to expand...

What dclive is saying here is that the program Regedit.exe has some built in functionality that will repair a corrupted system hive. So if you can somehow boot a good install and get access to your corrupted install you can open the c:\windows\system32\config\system file with regedit, close it back out again then your original install should boot fine. See "load hive" in regedit help for how to do this.

You should also search both the MS KB and the AT forums for the error you are getting. This is a very well covered topic and can often be recovered from.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top