ntfs.sys file corrupted

  • Thread starter Thread starter JT
  • Start date Start date
J

JT

ok, I just went to boot up yesterday on my desktop and it
went into a constant reboot cycle. First thing I think
is, uh oh, this isn't good. So I try safe mode and that
doesn't work, try last known good config, that doesn't
work either.

So I put the xp disc in and boot from that to perform a
repair installation. I get to the fat32 part of the file
loading and receive:

"the file ntfs.sys is corrupted. Setup cannot
contiune. Press any key to restart your computer."

and upon pressing the any key, I start over and continue
up to this point again.

I have read some of the posts regarding this ntfs.sys
file and I can't even do some of the fixes mentioned
because I can't get to anything!!

No command prompt, no safe mode, no nothing. I recently
installed a new drive on my system ( second HDD) and
thought of that so I removed it from the boot equation
(i.e. disconnected cables) and still have managed to
acheive the exact same results....NOTHING!!!

HELP!!!

How do I get my computer back???

The only thing I have done since it worked last time was
install a digitally signed driver for my video card
(updated driver) directly from NVIDIA's website.

If this is it how do I fix this???

ANYONE??? PLEASE!!!


Sincerely,

JT Krupa
 
Make sure the jumper pins are now correct on the master drive with xp
enter BIOS,exit page,select,load set-up defaults,save and exit BIOS.With xp,yo
can either tap F8 for safe-mode or similiar,other option is booting to xp cd,whicheve
gets you the farthest.Keep in mind w/o a complete boot-up,continuously failed try
arent good either,also when you shut-down computer leave off for 8-10 seconds
Good-luck!
 
I've double checked the drive jumpers and used the xp
cd...the farthest I can get is to the setup screen with a
message "The file ntfs.sys is corrupted. Press any key
to continue" and down in the little gray bar at the
bottom of the screen "Setup failed. Press any key to
restart your computer."

When I restart the system or power down completely I can
manage to get to the same screen.

The farthest I have gotten with the setup from the cd for
a repair installation is to the "Setup is starting
Windows" at the bottom of the screen...from there it just
hangs and does nothing. I left it sit that way for about
10 minutes just in case is was "thinking" about what to
do next but is just sits idle.

If I could get to the command prompt with cd rom support
perhaps I could manually overwrite the ntfs.sys file by
copying from the cd to the drive, but I can't get to the
prompt. How do I do that?

I really hope that I haven't lost the drive, because I
have too much stuff to lose that I can't afford to lose.
If the drive is failing, could I use the second drive to
install windows on and boot into and possibly access
the "old" drive from within windows to transfer my files??

I have an older system with ME on it. Could I use that
to reformat and repartition my slave drive, set it as a
master and install it into my "good" system,
disconnecting my "bad" drive, and install a clean copy of
xp to that drive and then put my "bad" drive back in as a
slave to get my files?

Do any of these things sound feasible if I cannot get
directly into my computer as it sits? I would greatly
appreciate any additional help as this is rather
important to me at this particular time.

Normally I would take the time to figure it out on my
own, but I really really need this thing back up and
running ASAP...personal reasons.

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

JT Krupa
-----Original Message-----
Make sure the jumper pins are now correct on the master drive with xp,
enter BIOS,exit page,select,load set-up defaults,save and exit BIOS.With xp,you
can either tap F8 for safe-mode or similiar,other
Click to expand...
option is booting to xp cd,whichever
 
JT said:
I've double checked the drive jumpers and used the xp
cd...the farthest I can get is to the setup screen with a
message "The file ntfs.sys is corrupted. Press any key
to continue" and down in the little gray bar at the
bottom of the screen "Setup failed. Press any key to
restart your computer."

When I restart the system or power down completely I can
manage to get to the same screen.

The farthest I have gotten with the setup from the cd for
a repair installation is to the "Setup is starting
Windows" at the bottom of the screen...from there it just
hangs and does nothing. I left it sit that way for about
10 minutes just in case is was "thinking" about what to
do next but is just sits idle.
Click to expand...

OK, so any sort of repair installation, setup, etc. has failed. It
certainly sounds like your hard drive or possibly some other hardware
component has gone south. I would start with a non-destructive test
using a diagnostic utility from the drive mftr.
If I could get to the command prompt with cd rom support
perhaps I could manually overwrite the ntfs.sys file by
copying from the cd to the drive, but I can't get to the
prompt. How do I do that?
Click to expand...

If the problems are being caused by hardware (as I suspect), then
getting to the command prompt isn't going to do you any good. If this
would have worked, you would have been able to do a repair install.
I really hope that I haven't lost the drive, because I
have too much stuff to lose that I can't afford to lose.
If the drive is failing, could I use the second drive to
install windows on and boot into and possibly access
the "old" drive from within windows to transfer my files??
Click to expand...

Although I'd want to test *all* the hardware in your system before
bothering to do a second install on a different hard drive, yes of
course you could do the above.
I have an older system with ME on it. Could I use that
to reformat and repartition my slave drive, set it as a
master and install it into my "good" system,
disconnecting my "bad" drive, and install a clean copy of
xp to that drive and then put my "bad" drive back in as a
slave to get my files?
Click to expand...

I don't think doing the above is productive. You'd be better off with
scenario 1, where you take the dodgy drive out, install Windows on the
new drive, add the dodgy one as slave and pull the data off. There
isn't any real reason to mess around with the ME system. But no matter
what, you want to make sure the hardware in the box is OK before
spending any more time on it. Since time is an issue for you, you would
probably be best served by taking the box to a good local computer
repair shop (not a BestBuy or CompUSA type of store) and have them
rescue your data and fix your box.

Good luck,

Malke
 
I've run a diagnostic on BOTH of my HDD and they both
come up clean...one is an IBM and the other a WD. I got
the utilities from each mfr. off my laptop and run them
from floppys on my desktop.

Both drives give no errors or problems of any sort. I
completely removed the slave drive (empty) and ran the
diag. on the master drive...it comes up clean and working
normally without corruption. Yet when I remove the disk
and reboot it follows the same pattern.

It give me the "windows did not shut down properly" and
gives me the safe mode, safe mode with command prompt,
last known good config, and start windows normally
options.

No matter which option I choose, it returns to the same
screen each time.
Trying the xp cd boot for repair yields the "the file
ntfs.sys is corrupted. Setup has been stopped" error msg.

Should I bother with the option of trying an clean
install of xp on the secondary drive, making it a master
and slaving the "stupid" drive and trying to reclaim my
data from it, or should I just take the whole unit to a
repair shop for fixing?

I would like to try to fix it myself if possible, as I
don't have much money right now to pay for repairs, which
I know can get costly with labor charges.

Any other possible options left?

If so, please give me a little bit of "how-to" instr. as
I know enough for most fixes (viruses and general config.
conflicts, etc) but am by no means a programmer, so to
speak.


Thanks for any more help!!
This is really starting to get frustrating.

JT
 
JT said:
I've run a diagnostic on BOTH of my HDD and they both
come up clean...one is an IBM and the other a WD. I got
the utilities from each mfr. off my laptop and run them
from floppys on my desktop.

Both drives give no errors or problems of any sort. I
completely removed the slave drive (empty) and ran the
diag. on the master drive...it comes up clean and working
normally without corruption. Yet when I remove the disk
and reboot it follows the same pattern.

It give me the "windows did not shut down properly" and
gives me the safe mode, safe mode with command prompt,
last known good config, and start windows normally
options.

No matter which option I choose, it returns to the same
screen each time.
Trying the xp cd boot for repair yields the "the file
ntfs.sys is corrupted. Setup has been stopped" error msg.

Should I bother with the option of trying an clean
install of xp on the secondary drive, making it a master
and slaving the "stupid" drive and trying to reclaim my
data from it, or should I just take the whole unit to a
repair shop for fixing?

I would like to try to fix it myself if possible, as I
don't have much money right now to pay for repairs, which
I know can get costly with labor charges.
Click to expand...

Hi, JT. I know how frustrating diagnosing these sorts of issues can be.
I understand about not having a lot of money, but my advice is to take
the machine to a good local shop - not a BestBuy or CompUSA type of
store - and have them check it out. This is just my opinion; maybe
someone else will differ. It is very hard to give accurate tech support
for this type of problem on a machine that one has never seen but has
only heard about through Usenet postings. So I'm really hesitant to say
"do this and all will be well". I really do think having a fresh pair
of eyes take a look would be the smart thing. You might have a bad
motherboard, or bad processor, or some other component that is faulty
that we won't be able to "see" from posting here but a tech in a good
shop will find.

Good luck to you,

Malke
 
Malke,
Thanks for the patience. You're right, it is frustrating
as hell...

I've tried everything I can possibly think of and then
some. I guess I really don't have any options left other
than the install xp on the other hdd and try to get my
data off the shady one..which I don't really want to do
because of the time involved and the fact that there is
no guarantee that I'll even be able to get access to my
main drive.

Thanks again,

JT
 
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