Re-installing lost file

  • Thread starter Thread starter Richard
  • Start date Start date
R

Richard

This morning, windows will not open on my laptop. After a
long time, it gives me the following message: "Windows
could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe. Please re-
install a copy of the above file." I'd be very grateful
for advice as to how to proceed. I've copied the file of
the same name from my work desktop (which is Windows NT).
How do I install it, please? (When I start the computer,
the manufacturers start page appears briefly, and this
allows me to press F2 to get to startup - I don't know if
I should be using this somehow?).
 
Thanks for this - I haven't got my XP discs here, but can
try it at home tonight (if I can find the bloody things!).
I also found an Microsoft Knowledge Base Article which
addresses it (103673), but to follow the procedure, I need
to get a DOS prompt! I'd be very grateful if you know how
to get one in these circumstances...
 
Hi

You can edit the boot.ini file from a command prompt - you don't need to go
into 'DOS'. Use the command as described. Or in Windows right click
boot.ini, select Properties and then uncheck 'Read Only'. It is a hidden
file, so you will need to go to Tools>Folder Options>View and enable 'Show
hidden files and folders'. Don't forget to reverse those options - if need
be - after you have finished with boot.ini
 
Ah - still flumoxed, I'm afraid (the Knowledge Base
article says I need an MS-DOS or OS/2 command line). When
I turn the thing on, after I get the manufacturer's page,
it goes blank and I end up with the error message.
Pressing any key sends it off again - no command line.
From the manufacturer's page, I can F2 to setup, but I
don't know how to (or if) you can get a command line from
there. The only other thing I can do from the
manufacturere's page is F12 boot from network (its not
networked). There isn't a command line at the end of that,
either. Any other ideas??
Thanks for your help.
 
Sorry - wasn't thinking when I posted that last message. You can use a Win
9x boot disk to access 'DOS'. The files can be obtained from here:

www.bootdisk.com

Have a look at 'Read1st'. When you boot with the disk, select 'Minimal'.

You may also like to check with your Laptop manufacturer. They may be able
to help you.
 
Hi, Richard.

KB article 103673 is in a language that I'm not sure I recognize
(Portuguese?) There are many KB articles about ntoskrnl.exe; Google finds
359 such pages in English on support.microsoft.com. Ntoskrnl.exe is, as the
expanded name NT Operating System Kernel suggests, a most basic file; WinXP
can't run without it. Every version of Windows since at least WinNT4 has a
file with this name. But, as you might expect, the file contents vary with
the Windows version, so the WinNT version is not likely to work well - or at
all - with WinXP. Including "xp" in the Google search still gets over 100
hits (in English).

I think the WinXP English version of the KB article you are looking for is
this one:
Error Message: Windows Could Not Start Because of a Computer Disk Hardware
Configuration Problem
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314477

In most cases when that "missing or corrupt" message appears, the file is
neither missing nor corrupt, but the computer is looking for it in the wrong
place. That's the reason for the suggestion to edit C:\boot.ini; this is
the file that "points to" the boot folder (\Windows, by default) in some
partition on some HD in your computer. If it points to the wrong place,
then whatever the computer finds there looks like a corrupted version of the
file it is looking for; it doesn't know what to do, so it panics and puts up
that "missing or corrupt" error message. It even suggests replacing the
file, but that is seldom the right solution and often just messes things up
further, especially if the replacement is the wrong version of the
same-named file.

The DOS prompt suggestion is most likely a red herring in your case. There
are better ways to edit C:\boot.ini if WinXP is running, but if WinXP won't
boot, then we need to use other editing tools, such as booting to MS-DOS on
a floppy diskette or - much better - by booting to the WinXP Recovery
Console from the WinXP CD-ROM. Many OEMs (including notebook makers) fail
to include a full WinXP CD-ROM, leaving the user with no option except to
boot from a MS-DOS boot floppy. But even that doesn't work if your "system
partition" (almost always Drive C:) is formatted NTFS, because MS-DOS can't
read or write - it can't even SEE - an NTFS partition. And computers
(including laptops) that come with WinXP preinstalled usually are formatted
NTFS.

All of that brings us back to KB article 314477 - IF your laptop
manufacturer (you STILL haven't mentioned the make and model of your
computer) furnished you with the WinXP CD-ROM. If you don't have that disk,
then you really should be discussing this with the computer vendor.

Please read 314477, then post back with further questions. In your next
post, please tell us (a) the make and model of your computer; (b) which
Windows version came preinstalled on it (and how Drive C: is formatted); and
(c) did you get a full WinXP CD-ROM with the computer?

RC
 
Odd - the article comes up in reasonably sound English for
me! (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;103673). The article you mention is more extensive, but
seems (to my woefully untrained eye) to adopt the same
basic approach (ie getting at the boot.ini).

Before I go any further, the answer to your questions are:
(a) Its a Samsung Q [something - 7?];
(b) It came with XP Professional, and I don't know how the
c: drive is formatted;
(b) No, it didn't come with a full set of XP discs - just
a manufacturer's disk called a recovery CD. This says it
will restore the operating system, but threatens that use
will require me to re-install all of my applications, and,
surprise, I don't have the discs for them, either. It
won't run automatically, but anyway, frightened by the
warning, I didn't change it to look at the cd drive first
(which I assume I could do in setup).

So the problem is booting it so as to do the editing - and
I've now handed it over to a repair shop! I hope that that
will provide the cure, in that I hope that they will be
able to use the recovery console, but in any event I'm
going to point them towards this exchange,so if you have
any further thoughts, I'd still be very grateful!
 
Hi, Richard.

Thanks for the additional detail about your computer. Since I've never
owned or dealt with a Samsung or a laptop, I'll not try to give specific
advice. I hope your repair shop has such experience; if they have some
connection to Samsung support, so much the better.

Repair shops vary from very good to very bad. Since I don't know your shop,
I'll assume it's average. ;^}

Since WinXP was preinstalled by Samsung, it is most likely Samsung's OEM
version, which is licensed only to your specific computer. Your repair shop
should be able to boot into the Recovery Console, if not from your recovery
CD then from a generic WinXP CD that the shop should have and be authorized
to use to repair customers' systems. If the shop is unable to revive WinXP
without deleting your applications, then the in-place upgrade may be your
only way to go, and you may need to buy a retail WinXP CD-ROM to do that.
Odd - the article comes up in reasonably sound English for
me! (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;103673). The article you mention is more extensive, but
seems (to my woefully untrained eye) to adopt the same
basic approach (ie getting at the boot.ini).
Click to expand...

Hmm... When I copy'n'paste this URL, I get it in English, too. Your
earlier post just mentioned the number, so I went to support.microsoft.com
and asked for that number - and got the Portuguese version.

Yes, editing boot.ini is the standard approach, because we have to make it
point to where ntoskrnl.exe really is on your computer - today, as we
discussed earlier. Your Drive C: is most likely formatted NTFS, since WinXP
was pre-installed. This means that booting into MS-DOS won't help you, but
booting into RC from the WinXP CD will work - if it's on your Samsung CD or
you can borrow a retail CD.

Let us know how it works out for you.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

Richard said:
Odd - the article comes up in reasonably sound English for
me! (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
us;103673). The article you mention is more extensive, but
seems (to my woefully untrained eye) to adopt the same
basic approach (ie getting at the boot.ini).

Before I go any further, the answer to your questions are:
(a) Its a Samsung Q [something - 7?];
(b) It came with XP Professional, and I don't know how the
c: drive is formatted;
(b) No, it didn't come with a full set of XP discs - just
a manufacturer's disk called a recovery CD. This says it
will restore the operating system, but threatens that use
will require me to re-install all of my applications, and,
surprise, I don't have the discs for them, either. It
won't run automatically, but anyway, frightened by the
warning, I didn't change it to look at the cd drive first
(which I assume I could do in setup).

So the problem is booting it so as to do the editing - and
I've now handed it over to a repair shop! I hope that that
will provide the cure, in that I hope that they will be
able to use the recovery console, but in any event I'm
going to point them towards this exchange,so if you have
any further thoughts, I'd still be very grateful!

Hi, Richard.

KB article 103673 is in a language that I'm not sure I recognize
(Portuguese?) There are many KB articles about ntoskrnl.exe; Google finds
359 such pages in English on support.microsoft.com. Ntoskrnl.exe is, as the
expanded name NT Operating System Kernel suggests, a most basic file; WinXP
can't run without it. Every version of Windows since at least WinNT4 has a
file with this name. But, as you might expect, the file contents vary with
the Windows version, so the WinNT version is not likely to work well - or at
all - with WinXP. Including "xp" in the Google search still gets over 100
hits (in English).

I think the WinXP English version of the KB article you are looking for is
this one:
Error Message: Windows Could Not Start Because of a Computer Disk Hardware
Configuration Problem
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN- US;314477

In most cases when that "missing or corrupt" message appears, the file is
neither missing nor corrupt, but the computer is looking for it in the wrong
place. That's the reason for the suggestion to edit C:\boot.ini; this is
the file that "points to" the boot folder (\Windows, by default) in some
partition on some HD in your computer. If it points to the wrong place,
then whatever the computer finds there looks like a corrupted version of the
file it is looking for; it doesn't know what to do, so it panics and puts up
that "missing or corrupt" error message. It even suggests replacing the
file, but that is seldom the right solution and often just messes things up
further, especially if the replacement is the wrong version of the
same-named file.

The DOS prompt suggestion is most likely a red herring in your case. There
are better ways to edit C:\boot.ini if WinXP is running, but if WinXP won't
boot, then we need to use other editing tools, such as booting to MS-DOS on
a floppy diskette or - much better - by booting to the WinXP Recovery
Console from the WinXP CD-ROM. Many OEMs (including notebook makers) fail
to include a full WinXP CD-ROM, leaving the user with no option except to
boot from a MS-DOS boot floppy. But even that doesn't work if your "system
partition" (almost always Drive C:) is formatted NTFS, because MS-DOS can't
read or write - it can't even SEE - an NTFS partition. And computers
(including laptops) that come with WinXP preinstalled usually are formatted
NTFS.

All of that brings us back to KB article 314477 - IF your laptop
manufacturer (you STILL haven't mentioned the make and model of your
computer) furnished you with the WinXP CD-ROM. If you don't have that disk,
then you really should be discussing this with the computer vendor.

Please read 314477, then post back with further questions. In your next
post, please tell us (a) the make and model of your computer; (b) which
Windows version came preinstalled on it (and how Drive C: is formatted); and
(c) did you get a full WinXP CD-ROM with the computer?

RC
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Many thanks for all your help on this. Its with the repair
shop at the moment. I more or less read out your last post
to them, and pointed them towards the two Knowledge Base
articles, so I'm just hoping ...!

-----Original Message-----
Hi, Richard.

Thanks for the additional detail about your computer. Since I've never
owned or dealt with a Samsung or a laptop, I'll not try to give specific
advice. I hope your repair shop has such experience; if they have some
connection to Samsung support, so much the better.

Repair shops vary from very good to very bad. Since I don't know your shop,
I'll assume it's average. ;^}

Since WinXP was preinstalled by Samsung, it is most likely Samsung's OEM
version, which is licensed only to your specific computer. Your repair shop
should be able to boot into the Recovery Console, if not from your recovery
CD then from a generic WinXP CD that the shop should have and be authorized
to use to repair customers' systems. If the shop is unable to revive WinXP
without deleting your applications, then the in-place upgrade may be your
only way to go, and you may need to buy a retail WinXP CD- ROM to do that.
Odd - the article comes up in reasonably sound English for
me! (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx? scid=kb;en-
us;103673). The article you mention is more extensive, but
seems (to my woefully untrained eye) to adopt the same
basic approach (ie getting at the boot.ini).
Click to expand...

Hmm... When I copy'n'paste this URL, I get it in English, too. Your
earlier post just mentioned the number, so I went to support.microsoft.com
and asked for that number - and got the Portuguese version.

Yes, editing boot.ini is the standard approach, because we have to make it
point to where ntoskrnl.exe really is on your computer - today, as we
discussed earlier. Your Drive C: is most likely formatted NTFS, since WinXP
was pre-installed. This means that booting into MS-DOS won't help you, but
booting into RC from the WinXP CD will work - if it's on your Samsung CD or
you can borrow a retail CD.

Let us know how it works out for you.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

Odd - the article comes up in reasonably sound English for
me! (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx? scid=kb;en-
us;103673). The article you mention is more extensive, but
seems (to my woefully untrained eye) to adopt the same
basic approach (ie getting at the boot.ini).

Before I go any further, the answer to your questions are:
(a) Its a Samsung Q [something - 7?];
(b) It came with XP Professional, and I don't know how the
c: drive is formatted;
(b) No, it didn't come with a full set of XP discs - just
a manufacturer's disk called a recovery CD. This says it
will restore the operating system, but threatens that use
will require me to re-install all of my applications, and,
surprise, I don't have the discs for them, either. It
won't run automatically, but anyway, frightened by the
warning, I didn't change it to look at the cd drive first
(which I assume I could do in setup).

So the problem is booting it so as to do the editing - and
I've now handed it over to a repair shop! I hope that that
will provide the cure, in that I hope that they will be
able to use the recovery console, but in any event I'm
going to point them towards this exchange,so if you have
any further thoughts, I'd still be very grateful!

Hi, Richard.

KB article 103673 is in a language that I'm not sure I recognize
(Portuguese?) There are many KB articles about ntoskrnl.exe; Google finds
359 such pages in English on support.microsoft.com. Ntoskrnl.exe is, as the
expanded name NT Operating System Kernel suggests, a
Click to expand...
most
basic file; WinXP
can't run without it. Every version of Windows since at least WinNT4 has a
file with this name. But, as you might expect, the file contents vary with
the Windows version, so the WinNT version is not likely to work well - or at
all - with WinXP. Including "xp" in the Google search still gets over 100
hits (in English).

I think the WinXP English version of the KB article you are looking for is
this one:
Error Message: Windows Could Not Start Because of a Computer Disk Hardware
Configuration Problem
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN- US;314477

In most cases when that "missing or corrupt" message appears, the file is
neither missing nor corrupt, but the computer is looking for it in the wrong
place. That's the reason for the suggestion to edit C:\boot.ini; this is
the file that "points to" the boot folder (\Windows, by default) in some
partition on some HD in your computer. If it points to the wrong place,
then whatever the computer finds there looks like a corrupted version of the
file it is looking for; it doesn't know what to do, so
Click to expand...
it
panics and puts up
that "missing or corrupt" error message. It even suggests replacing the
file, but that is seldom the right solution and often just messes things up
further, especially if the replacement is the wrong version of the
same-named file.

The DOS prompt suggestion is most likely a red herring
Click to expand...
in
your case. There
are better ways to edit C:\boot.ini if WinXP is running, but if WinXP won't
boot, then we need to use other editing tools, such as booting to MS-DOS on
a floppy diskette or - much better - by booting to the WinXP Recovery
Console from the WinXP CD-ROM. Many OEMs (including notebook makers) fail
to include a full WinXP CD-ROM, leaving the user with no option except to
boot from a MS-DOS boot floppy. But even that doesn't work if your "system
partition" (almost always Drive C:) is formatted NTFS, because MS-DOS can't
read or write - it can't even SEE - an NTFS partition. And computers
(including laptops) that come with WinXP preinstalled usually are formatted
NTFS.

All of that brings us back to KB article 314477 - IF
Click to expand...
your
laptop
manufacturer (you STILL haven't mentioned the make and model of your
computer) furnished you with the WinXP CD-ROM. If you don't have that disk,
then you really should be discussing this with the computer vendor.

Please read 314477, then post back with further questions. In your next
post, please tell us (a) the make and model of your computer; (b) which
Windows version came preinstalled on it (and how Drive
Click to expand...
C:
is formatted); and
(c) did you get a full WinXP CD-ROM with the computer?

RC

Thanks for this - I haven't got my XP discs here, but can
try it at home tonight (if I can find the bloody things!).
I also found an Microsoft Knowledge Base Article which
addresses it (103673), but to follow the procedure, I need
to get a DOS prompt! I'd be very grateful if you know how
to get one in these circumstances...


-----Original Message-----
Hi

Try the following article on John Barnett's web site:

http://www.freelanceit.glowinternet.net/how_do_i_recti
Click to expand...
fy
_a
_missing_or_co1.htm

--

Will Denny
MVP - Windows Shell/User

"Richard" <[email protected]>
wrote in message
This morning, windows will not open on my laptop. After
a
long time, it gives me the following message: "Windows
could not start because the following file is
Click to expand...
missing
or
corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe. Please
re-
install a copy of the above file." I'd be very grateful
for advice as to how to proceed. I've copied the
Click to expand...
file
of
the same name from my work desktop (which is Windows
NT).
How do I install it, please? (When I start the computer,
the manufacturers start page appears briefly, and this
allows me to press F2 to get to startup - I don't know
if
I should be using this somehow?).
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

.
Click to expand...
 
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