Need computer help!

[Ed]

My computer at home crashed! Can someone give me some guidance?

When I start it up it gives me an error message saying that Windows did not start up properly. It gives me different options: Start up in Safe Mode, Start up using the last known configuration that worked, and start up normally. None of these options work, I did get a message saying that a file was missing or damaged: "<windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe"

So I got my Windows XP disk and tried to reboot via disk. It then gave me two options, one I had to push "R" (sorry I can't remember what for) which eventually led me to a C:\ prompt. The second option was to reinstall Windows XP. It told me it had to format a partition to be able to reinstall.

What do I do? If I format will I loose all the data on my hard drive? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ed

[zman525]

well im no wiz with computers.... but i know a little. You most likely got a virus of some sort... maybe a worm, and it destroyed an important .exe file. If u can get ur computer to start up and go to the start menu, try running some anti virus software if u have any... preferabley norton anti virus. If u cant work around this problem and cant fix it. You may have to do a system restore if u have the restore disks, often they can be found on the internet tho. Try also running AD-aware SE or 6.0. good luck! ill keep checkin back to see whats happening

[sblake01]

Ed, take a look here. It will tell you what to do at that recovery console c prompt. http://www.ozzu.com/ftopic24580.html

[Virto]

Well, if you can find someone running the same version of XP with the same service pack installed, you might be able to copy the NT kernel from them, and using that DOS prompt, insert it into your system32 directory.

This isn't neccesarily virus or ad-ware related. It used to be fairly common to walk into major retail stores and find PCs that were crashed out with the same (or similar, depending on software release) condition.

Most common cause - Windows terminated unexpectedly...power outage, kernel panic, system fault...or act of God. The OS didn't shut down properly and the kernel was corrupted.

Second most common cause - Hard disk failure...or impending hard disk failure. Drives don't often fail all at once...they usually start to produce read or write errors as time goes on. This is even more true now that PCs run at higher temps and may not be properly ventilated.

Other possibilities - As Zman said...virus, or some other malware. Most virii prefer to cause problems with a working system, as it's more satisfying for most virus authors. Ad-ware would not do anything that could take down a system because, without a functioning PC and internet connection, how could they make money?

My copy of ntoskrnl.exe is 1.9mb...too big for a floppy. If you can get it from someone, it'll need to be on CD.

However, a full restore might be required. In order to keep your existing data, take the hard disk out of your PC and install it in someone else's PC. Hopefully, they have enough drive space to copy all the information from your disk to thiers...after that's done, you can wipe your drive, reinstall, and then either swap the drives again or copy the files back using a LAN.

EDIT: OR you can do it Steve's way...but where's the adventure in that?

[ChrisA]

Ed,

If you can get the computer into "Safe Mode" then you can do a "System Restore" to a previous state. Do you have any friends that have a Win XP system? You could take your hard drive out and install it as a slave in their computer. You could then save files to CD's or some other format. Then do a clean install on your drive (in your computer) and then put the saved files back on the drive. It sounds like you may have a hard drive failure. It does happen for almost no reason some times.

Is it a desktop or laptop? Laptop hard drives can be slaved into a desktop but you'd need an adapter.

Don't hesitate to ask more questions and give us some more info.

Chris A.

Whoa, Kelly types fast, his info is spot on. As is everyone else's so far.

[dogma420]

I run into this problem a lot at work...

More than likely even if you replace that file, it won't boot up anyways.

Your best option is to reinstall Windows XP over itself...this would reset all Windows XP options, but leave all programs and data files intact.

You would have to reinstall all Service Packs and critical updates as well, but you'd keep your files and programs working.

1. Boot from your Windows OS disc...

2. press enter to setup Windows XP

3. I think press F8 to accept license agreement

4. Make sure your XP is highlighted, and press R to repair Windows XP

5. You'll have to re-activate your copy via Microsoft and install all updates including service packs.

PM me if you have any problems Ed. There are ways to fix if you want to spend a LOT of time on it--but it isn't as easy as replacing that file.

More than likely you have a bad sector (or bad block)....when you reinstall it will skip that file.

You could also try recovery console and type c:\chkdsk /f /r at the prompt to scan the partition for errors, but doubtful this will help.

[Ed]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Steve, I went to your link and the symptoms were spot on. Only bad thing is the fix didn't work.

ChrisA, It won't go to safemode. Also it's a desktop.

Once I get to the Recover console.

C:\

It won't change directory to windows, or system or anything, it responds: The path or file specified is not valid.

When I type DIR it responds:

An error occured during directory enumaration.

I typed CHKDSK

It got to 26% completed, then it responded:

The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems.

I borrowed a windows XP disk from a friend. To reinstall the entire OS it told me that it had to format a partition. Will I loose any files or data if I do this?

Thanks again guys.

[hls30.com]

Ed,

If you format, everything that is on the harddrive will be gone...

It sounds like the drive is going bad.

In the mean time, I would remove the current drive, get a new drive, install it and set up windows on it to get you back up and running.

Most new drives come with utilities that allow you to copy the contents of your old drive to the new drive-from the sound of it, you will have lost some data, but the copy process will not change the contents of the original drive, meaning you could also try some of the hard drive recovery utilities as time permits.

WIll

[ChrisA]

Ed, I believe you were on the right track when you got to the point where you press "R".

Here's what I suggest (if the machine will let you):

You first need the machine to boot from the CD. Change that setting in the BIOS.

Insert your Windows XP compact disc (CD) into your CD drive, and then restart your computer.

(You can also boot with a Windows 98/Me Startup disk with CD support and run WINNT.EXE in the I386 folder on the CD)

When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message is displayed on your screen, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD.

When you see the following message displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

At this point an option to press R to enter the Recovery Console is displayed. Do not select this option.

On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 to agree to the license agreement.

Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP is selected in the box, and then press the R key to repair Windows XP. You shouldnt lose any files.

Follow the instructions on the screen to complete Setup

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Chris A.

[webdawg1]

Do you happen to know what kind of hard drive it is? (I.E. - Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor) Find out what kind of hard drive it is and you can download a diagnostic disk on a friends computer. Run the diagnostic disk on the hard drive and it will confirm the errors on the hard drive. (Most of them are self booting, so you can run it without the OS being up and running) More than likely it will tell you that you have some bad sectors...etc...etc. If you format the hard drive you "Will lose all data on the drive". Nowdays hard drives are pretty cheap...you may want to spring for a new hard drive in the mean time, keep the other one around until you get the new one loaded with the OS and see what you can recover from the old drive. Sort of a "Best of both worlds" type of thing. Let me know if you need more info...etc...etc

webdawg1

[ncz]

As Andy Griffith once said, "Call the man Aunt Bea". Take your computer to local repair guru and have them copy what they can from your c drive on a disk(s). At least that way you will have most of your files left on something somewhere. My hard drive did the same and I must admit I am not as good as the guys here with debugging these things, so I was scared I would perform the wrong function and wipe the whole thing clean

[Ed]

As Andy Griffith once said, "Call the man Aunt Bea". Take your computer to local repair guru and have them copy what they can from your c drive on a disk(s). At least that way you will have most of your files left on something somewhere. My hard drive did the same and I must admit I am not as good as the guys here with debugging these things, so I was scared I would perform the wrong function and wipe the whole thing clean

I hear ya. Pulling the hard drive and borrowing another or loading onto another computer sounds easy enough and I'm sure it is for you guys that have done this. But, I'd rather adjust my valves blindfolded then take my CPU apart. Don't get me wrong guys, I really appreciate your help and I was hoping for an easy fix. But it's not looking that way.