ntoskrnl.exe is corrupted. windows wont open

April 22nd, 2006, 10:21 pm

Well, I first of all apologize for resurrecting an old topic but I am sorely in need of help here. I also am suffering from the missing root\system32\ntoskrnl.exe file. My issue however is when I go in to repair it with the recovery console, I immediately get this error:

"Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.

Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic or setup program.

Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3."

This is a brand new computer that was built by a friend only a few days ago. It has run fine and restarted tons of times in the past 2 days while I installed new software. Is the problem simply that my hard drive is nuked? When I press tab to key into the user window during start up it gives me a notice saying the number of disks is not adequate to create a raid however at the bottom it lists:

Serial_ch0 Mastere WDC WD800JD-00LS SATS 74.53 Gb Hdd


Does this mean it still registers it and that it isn't dead or am I just getting my hopes up as I fumble around in various options during start up. I don't know very much about the side of building computers or fixing problems like these but if given any instructions that might help I should be able to follow them. I really hope the hard drive isn't dead after only two days of use. I moved the computer before I got this problem and I hope I didn't mes up the hard drive by setting it down too sharply. I set it down a little rough but nothing more than what would be expected from normal travel. I even went in and disconnected and reconnected all the cables onnected to the hard drive but to no avail. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

April 22nd, 2006, 10:42 pm

have you tried searching google with the error messages? because the websites in response are rather abundant... http://www.google.com/search?q=Setup+di ... r+computer

April 23rd, 2006, 1:12 pm

Well well..
it seems like one of my friends have the exact same problem.
( regarding the <Windows Root>\ System32\Ntoskrnl.exe error )

The only thing though...
His computer is an OEM ( manufactured by E-machines)
And the only CD that came with it is a Restore CD.
The only thing it will do is.. reformat his Hard Drive and then install Windows XP: Home Edition.


So my question is that..
If I lend him my Windows XP: Professional CD.. could I then use the Recovery thing on there on his computer?

Or.. would a retail Windows XP: Home Edition CD work?

Any help about this would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.



Note: As of right now, I don't know if he has Service Pack 2 installed or not.

April 23rd, 2006, 6:59 pm

Quote:

So my question is that..
If I lend him my Windows XP: Professional CD.. could I then use the Recovery thing on there on his computer?

Or.. would a retail Windows XP: Home Edition CD work?

yes.

May 18th, 2006, 5:57 am

Line number On/Off

Code: Select all

cd "c:\windows\driver cache\i386"

expand sp1.cab -F:ntoskrnl.exe c:\windows\system32

Will need to change if you have XP SP2 or if you created your own SP2 install disk from your SP1 disk and windows downloads...

Line number On/Off

Code: Select all

cd "c:\windows\driver cache\i386"

expand sp2.cab -F:ntoskrnl.exe c:\windows\system32

May 19th, 2006, 5:59 pm

I have the same problem ntoskrnl.exe is missing and I was wondering if there is a place where I can just download that file for windows 2000 instead of a $100 disc.

May 22nd, 2006, 6:32 pm

Why is this problem so prevalent? Are we all missing something here?

Here's what happened to me.

Last night I was gaming as always... comp starts slowing down (odd cause it is very fast). I close out my game and decide to defrag. I open up dfrag on drive C (I have 2 drives... C has one partition and all my games, drive 2 has 4 partitions 40 gigs big each) It could not initialize my defrag... kept stopping it.

So I figure ok let me restart....


you know what comes next.... ntoskrnl.exe


So I try recovery but no dice... I tried installing win2k on my slave drive's H partition... and of course that does not work (who knew you can't install an OS on a slave drive?)

I did JrzyCrim's method... and I keep getting file cannot be found... but I noticed a problem with his code... I do not HAVE a sp1.cab. I do have an sp4.cab SO I check there... it spins up for a few, then says unable to copy the file....

So now what I am doing is running chkdsk /r on the C drive (which of course is taking so long I may see retirement before it is done).

What I had planned to do if this does not work is to take out slave drive, convert it to master, and install win2k on one of the partitions (I don't know if it will allow me to use the last partition in series, since I have info on the first 3). IF this does indeed work then I plan on moving all my games to that drive.

Are there any other suggestions I can try while I wait for this thing to get past 25% chkdsk status?


THank God I have 2 computers... but I gotta get comp 1 back up... in addition to games it has all my music recording software, and songs. (also a musician).


Anyone else with ideas, can also email me (send me PM too). I also sent a PM to JrzyCrim... before I read to post here instead of PMing lol.

Drew

P.S.- I do not have recovery floppies nor a floppy drive in this computer... just the two hard drives (the one with the problem is a maxtor 40 gig, the other is a seagate 200gig) I do however have a dvd rom in this computer.

May 24th, 2006, 4:41 pm

Update...

it's been several days and several reinstalls later. I swapped out the slave and master drives too...

Now the new issue is it goes to win2k splash screen, then the blue screen where you sign in, then boom... back to complete restart... over and over...

I am starting to think this is a hardware issue now.

Tempted to buy a whole new hard drive (who has money for this crap)

I am utterly stumped.

HELP!

June 12th, 2006, 3:03 pm

If your -system HDD- is in SLAVE mode at BIOS and acting as master, try to switch it to MASTER mode, the problem can be solved.

Mine is solved

June 24th, 2006, 2:57 pm

I too have had the same problem...

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

<windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

Please reinstall a copy of the above file.

Once I've pressed 'R' to get to the recovery console, everything seems to go tits up. I don't have an option to choose which installation I want, and CHKDSK failed at 50% with this: the volume may contain one or more unrecoverable problems.

Any help? Or is my HD FUBAR'd?

September 2nd, 2006, 7:49 pm

JrzyCrim wrote:

:) I've used this method to replace corrupted system files on a few occasions. There is a folder in system32 called dllcache which contains backups of many critical system files. Generally, if you have a problem with a corrupted file which causes windows 2000/XP to crash or not load at all, you can use the recovery console and replace the file in question with the copy found in dllcache. The chances that the original file and the copy in dllcache are both corrupted are very slim. Of course, if you have problems with lots of files, you should always run a Virus scan...

Cheers,

My computer has the same problem as the one described in previous posts. I dropped my laptop and now it won't boot up. It's an IBM ThinkPad T23. It will show me the Thinkpad startup screen, then go blank for about 30 seconds and the hard drive makes a rhythmic loading sound. Then it shows me that message about ntoskrnl.exe being missing or corrupt.

JrzyCrim, you have posted a suggestion and it has seemed to work for at least one person. However, I am extremely computer-illiterate when it comes to hardware, OS, or registry problems. I have described my problem casually to an IT person and they said it may be that my hard drive has failed. But before I try to buy a new harddrive, I would like to try your suggestion. The problem is, though, that I have no idea how to access the dllcache in System 32. Could you tell me how to do this considering my computer won't even boot? And do I need a Windows XP CD to do this?

Thank you very much. You help would be so appreciated.

November 11th, 2006, 6:12 am

Hi all

I have just recieved this "error message" upon swithing on this morning although after rebooting and entering "F5" I was allowed to boot to windows using the "last known working configuration" option.

After an hour of browsing and 30 minutes of playing NFS CARBON, I have yet to encounter any problems ?

Any way I found this guide for using the recovery console to repair the corrupt file(s) and was wondering if anyone has tried this method :- http://www.short-media.com/printcontent ... t=r&id=313

Any fresh feedback would be greatly appriciated.

November 11th, 2006, 7:53 am

I have received the dreaded message that the following file was missing or corrupt: ntoskrnl.exe.

The first two times this appeared was after rebooting when I intalled the motherboard drivers. Running the XP CD to repair the installation fixed the problem.

Yesterday I went in to install the IIs web server and on reboot was presented with the message again. Nothing I have done since has enabled me to get Win XP repaired or installed.

First step, however, was to rescue my data. This was done through installing my Fedora Core 5 Linux drive as master and making my Win XP a slave. I had to download and install an rpm file to update the Linux kernel so it would read the NTFS partition. This was successful, and I was able to see all files on my WIN XP drive and transfer my data files across to my Linux drive.

I am not concerned about the programs running under XP - I have most of them backed up on a USB Hard Drive anyway.

So I tried initially all the repair options suggested in this thread. To no avail. I have also deleted all partitions on the drive and let the Win XP CD go through partitioning and long format, and still get the same problem.

I even tried this suggestion:
http://www.short-media.com/printcontent ... t=r&id=313
and still i come up with:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.
...."

My windows HD is a 80GB Seagate, about 3 months old, that is not making any untoward noise. It was running Linux SuSE with no problem up to two weeks ago, before I deleted the partitions and installed Win XP on to it.

Any recommendations? At the moment the best I can come up with is returning this drive for Linux use and finding another drive for Win XP, but its not the optimum option.

Further note: To eliminate the possibility the problem may be from CD media corruption, I have tried doing a clean full install from both a Win XP Pro SP1 CD and Win XP home CD, both resulting in the error message.

November 18th, 2006, 7:53 am

Hi Folks.

This is my 1st post with you .

I have read all the posts about the above topic,but I still can not get my p.c to work. This is what happed to me.


I was working on the p.c the other day,when the power in the house triped,
when the power came back on i had the error msg come up saying Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.

Now, this is where i fall down,the problem i have is this.

I turn on the p.c-----blank screen for 10-20 sec
Screen lights up with the above msg.
i put in the disc that came with the p.c (tiny-software libray/system driver and factory reset--this cd is for backup use only version xp 1.2) but the same thing happens, it seems that it will not read a disc,as i have made a copy of the above file from my laptop burned it to disc and tried that but to no avil.
Any help at all would be fantastic.

sorry for the misspelling ect,and any help you may render.

Steve

November 20th, 2006, 1:17 pm

Well i have problem with the same "ntoskrnl.exe" file, but this goes beyond my understanding, see it's like my computer can't find my keyboard after the boot screen, i can go to bios and do what i like there but i can't boot from windows CD or anything, because when it says "press any key" the keyboard doesn't work anymore so i'm wondering if this could be some kind of a hardware problem because on my other computer it works fine... No idea what to do for it...

does anyone know what could be the cause and what to do? thanks in advance