Need total IDIOT's Guide to the Command Prompt Please.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Machine Messiah
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Machine Messiah

I was playing with a "change you boot screen" prog and managed to trash
my XP installation.
Error message at boot:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys

I search the net and find:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822800
The problem is I have:
C:windows>
am I supposed to type "cd \windows\system32\drivers" after that????
When I do I get "the command is not regonized"
I shouldn't have:
C:windows>cd \windows\system32\drivers
all on 1 line, correct?
If I type C:windows>cd
I just get 2 more lines of
C:windows
C:windows
Obviously I don't understand what "at the command prompt" means.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Machine said:
I was playing with a "change you boot screen" prog and
managed to trash my XP installation.
Error message at boot:
Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt: System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys

I search the net and find:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822800
The problem is I have:
C:windows>
am I supposed to type "cd \windows\system32\drivers" after
that???? When I do I get "the command is not regonized"
I shouldn't have:
C:windows>cd \windows\system32\drivers
all on 1 line, correct?
If I type C:windows>cd
I just get 2 more lines of
C:windows
C:windows
Obviously I don't understand what "at the command prompt"
means.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

You're already at C:\Windows. Just enter cd system32\drivers.
Now see what happens.

Nepatsfan
 
You're already at C:\Windows. Just enter cd system32\drivers.
Now see what happens.

Nepatsfan
Click to expand...
Thanks.
I got the file renamed.
Now I'm getting "acess denied" when I try to copy the file from the cd to
the windows\system32\drivers folder.
 
Machine said:
Thanks.
I got the file renamed.
Now I'm getting "acess denied" when I try to copy the file
from the cd to the windows\system32\drivers folder.
Click to expand...

The "Access is denied" error message occurs when you try to
access a folder other than the current Windows folder or the
root of any drive. Take a
look at this article for more info:
Directory and folder access/Recovery Console restrictions
http://tinyurl.com/brsbv

Getting back to your current situation:
The prompt in the Recovery Console should now look like this
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers>

Enter the following command including the trailing period

Copy X:\I386\ntfs.sys .

Note: Replace X with the correct letter for your CD drive.

My best guess is that even if you get this file replaced,
you're
still going to have problems getting your system to boot. Some
of the web articles that discuss this issue talk about problems
that pop up even after replacing the ntfs.sys file.

You might want to file this web site away for future reference:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Good luck

Nepatsfan
 
snip
The "Access is denied" error message occurs when you try to
access a folder other than the current Windows folder or the
root of any drive. Take a
look at this article for more info:
Directory and folder access/Recovery Console restrictions
http://tinyurl.com/brsbv

Getting back to your current situation:
The prompt in the Recovery Console should now look like this
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers>

Enter the following command including the trailing period

Copy X:\I386\ntfs.sys .

Note: Replace X with the correct letter for your CD drive.

My best guess is that even if you get this file replaced,
you're
still going to have problems getting your system to boot. Some
of the web articles that discuss this issue talk about problems
that pop up even after replacing the ntfs.sys file.

You might want to file this web site away for future reference:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Good luck

Nepatsfan
Click to expand...
Many thanks for the reply.
Yes, I finally got the hang of working in the recovery console with the
command prompt. You are correct, despite re-installing the ntfs.sys file
about 20 times (+ a few others) xp still will not boot.
I have also tried to to do a repair install of xp several times and that
hasn't worked either. My version of xp home came with service pack2
slipstreamed. I am currently running a diagnostic utility on my hd.
I have 2 folders on the c drive I will be very unhappy to lose. If there
was some way I could copy them to one of my 2 sata drives I could
reformate and reinstall Xp.
I don't suppose you know of a utility that would let me do that?
Hard to believe so many problems could result from just playing with the
boot screen.
Thanks again very much.
 
Machine said:
snip
Many thanks for the reply.
Yes, I finally got the hang of working in the recovery
console with the command prompt. You are correct, despite
re-installing the ntfs.sys file about 20 times (+ a few
others) xp still will not boot.
I have also tried to to do a repair install of xp several
times and that hasn't worked either. My version of xp home
came with service pack2 slipstreamed. I am currently running
a diagnostic utility on my hd.
I have 2 folders on the c drive I will be very unhappy to
lose. If there was some way I could copy them to one of my 2
sata drives I could reformate and reinstall Xp.
I don't suppose you know of a utility that would let me do
that?
Hard to believe so many problems could result from just
playing with the boot screen.
Thanks again very much.
Click to expand...

Here's the approach I'd take in order of preference:

1. Take the hard drive out of the problem computer and install
it as a slave in a second PC. Make sure you set the jumpers on
both drives correctly.
Note: Once the hard drives are in place, you'll probably need
to take ownership of the folders. Here's that procedure:

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421

2. Follow the procedure outlined here to create the Ultimate
Boot CD for Windows:

http://www.ubcd4win.com/index.htm

Go through the links on the left (FAQ, How to build, Download,
Screen Shots, etc.) in order to familiarize yourself with this
useful tool.

Once you've created the CD you can use it to access the folders
on your hard drive.

3. Create a Knoppix disc. Knoppix is a version of Linux. Once
again, you create a bootable CD which should give you access to
all the folders on your hard drive. Download the .iso file from
here:

http://archive.cs.stedwards.edu/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V3.9-2005-05-27-EN.iso

Note: In order to creat either of these CD's you need CD
burning software such as Nero that's capable of creating a
bootable CD from an iso file. A free alternative is available
here:

CDBurnerXP Pro
http://www.cdburnerxp.se/download.php

4. You can also retrieve those folders using third party
programs such as Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image. If those
folders are that valuable then you might want to consider
buying one of these apps. A big plus with these progams is that
you can create an image of your XP installation before you go
experimenting. If it blows up, you simply restore the working
image. It also backs up the folders that you can't afford to
lose.

That's the end of my lecture. I think you've found out the hard
way that A: you should always have a reliable backup strategy
in place and B: Windows hacks sometimes have a way of
backfiring.

Good luck.

Nepatsfan
 
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