XP boot problems.... missing or corrupt file??? help needed

[Lopyswine]

hi all..... okay so my neighbor calls me over... she is having problems starting her computer with xp... she has had xp pro for monthes without any problem and she says that this error message just started appearing recently... she said whe did not do anything different but one day she got the error...


"windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: windows root\system32\ntoskrnl.exe"


i have no idea what this error means... she asked for my help cause i play video games all day.. but i am not good at trouble shooting.... could you guys offer me some tips or advice so that we can get her computer working...




also i have tried to boot from cd and run xp recovery and auto-fix however she never made the xp recovery disks.... so that doesn't appear to be an option.....

 

[lowtech1]

Have you try "last known good"?

Did she install a new hardware device or service pack patch?
Try uninstall the new device & driver.
Try roll back the SP if applicable.

It could also be many thing such as a bad BIOS, mother board, memory, or any hardware.

 

[Lopyswine]

alright... gonna try last good config.... beyond that...... lord only knows...


my skills are limited to going into safe mode, backing up, then FORMAT C:\

 

[Lopyswine]

okay i have now tried going to last known good and it sill wouldn't work...

then i tried to go to safe mode... no luck either...

same error for all settings tried....


the only thing that seems to work at all is when i boot from cd and then i can reinstall xp over itself... but booting from cd will not take me into windows. i get same error.

 

[Vic]

Try this:
boot from the CD and go into the Recovery Console. Log onto the administrator account and run chkdsk /p

This may work or may not work, but I have known it to be helpful on systems with a corrupt MFT, etc.

Too bad XP doesn't have the Emergency Recovery like 2k.

 

[Lopyswine]

thanks for the advice Vic....

checkdisk actually didn't do it... but i did boothelp or something... some recovery command with boot in it.... i forget... and that solved the problem.



THANKS