Invalid Boot.INI corrupt: <Windows 2000 Root>\sys32\NTOSKRNL.EXE

[Mike]

Dell SX 270 PC w/ oneG RAM, W2K Pro SP4 will not boot.

Error message:
Invalid boot.ini
booting from c:\winnt
Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows 2000 Root>\sys32\NTOSKRNL.EXE
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Googled error message but only found boot from cd then run RC. Ran Dell
diagnostics and hardware appears to be fine. Booted from the CD then went
to recovery console but could not maneuver
to replace the file. I believe a duplicate file is stored in dllcache.
Could change directories.

Is the error message caused by a corrupt boot.ini? If so, how can I fix
it?
If I need to replace ntoskrnl.exe how to a replace w/ a current version?

How can I make ERDs for W2K Pro, XP Pro and Win Server 2003?
I don't want to get stuck like this again.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Mike]

Dell SX 270 PC w/ oneG RAM, W2K Pro SP4 will not boot.

Error message:
Invalid boot.ini
booting from c:\winnt
Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows 2000 Root>\sys32\NTOSKRNL.EXE
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Googled error message but only found boot from cd then run RC. Ran Dell
diagnostics and hardware appears to be fine. Booted from the CD then went
to recovery console but could not maneuver
to replace the file. I believe a duplicate file is stored in dllcache.
Could change directories.

Is the error message caused by a corrupt boot.ini? If so, how can I fix
it?
If I need to replace ntoskrnl.exe how to a replace w/ a current version?

How can I make ERDs for W2K Pro, XP Pro and Win Server 2003?
I don't want to get stuck like this again.

Thanks,

Mike

Could change directories

should read could not change directories

 

[Alfred Falk]

Dell SX 270 PC w/ oneG RAM, W2K Pro SP4 will not boot.

Error message:
Invalid boot.ini
booting from c:\winnt
Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows 2000 Root>\sys32\NTOSKRNL.EXE
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Googled error message but only found boot from cd then run RC. Ran
Dell diagnostics and hardware appears to be fine. Booted from the CD
then went to recovery console but could not maneuver
to replace the file. I believe a duplicate file is stored in dllcache.
Could change directories.

Is the error message caused by a corrupt boot.ini? If so, how can I
fix it?
If I need to replace ntoskrnl.exe how to a replace w/ a current
version?

How can I make ERDs for W2K Pro, XP Pro and Win Server 2003?
I don't want to get stuck like this again.

Whenever I have had this message it was actually because it was trying
to boot from a different disk or partition . It gets tricky. Check
your BIOS settings, compare with contents of boot.ini. Might involve
device driver for disk if SATA or SCSI.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
A L B E R T A Alfred Falk (e-mail address removed)
R E S E A R C H Information Systems Dept (780)450-5185
C O U N C I L 250 Karl Clark Road
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
http://www.arc.ab.ca/ T6N 1E4
http://outside.arc.ab.ca/staff/falk/

 

[Mike]

Whenever I have had this message it was actually because it was trying
to boot from a different disk or partition . It gets tricky. Check
your BIOS settings, compare with contents of boot.ini. Might involve
device driver for disk if SATA or SCSI.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
A L B E R T A Alfred Falk (e-mail address removed)
R E S E A R C H Information Systems Dept (780)450-5185
C O U N C I L 250 Karl Clark Road
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
http://www.arc.ab.ca/ T6N 1E4
http://outside.arc.ab.ca/staff/falk/

Not sure but I believe it's an IDE HDD drive. Are boot.ini's generic? IHow
can I view the current boot.ini?
The user told me he was attempting to install software then it wouldn't
reboot.

 

[Meat Plow]

Dell SX 270 PC w/ oneG RAM, W2K Pro SP4 will not boot.

Error message:
Invalid boot.ini
booting from c:\winnt
Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows 2000 Root>\sys32\NTOSKRNL.EXE Please re-install a copy
of the above file.

Googled error message but only found boot from cd then run RC. Ran Dell
diagnostics and hardware appears to be fine. Booted from the CD then went
to recovery console but could not maneuver to replace the file. I believe
a duplicate file is stored in dllcache. Could change directories.

Is the error message caused by a corrupt boot.ini? If so, how can I fix
it?
If I need to replace ntoskrnl.exe how to a replace w/ a current version?

How can I make ERDs for W2K Pro, XP Pro and Win Server 2003? I don't want
to get stuck like this again.

Thanks,

Mike

Means the entry in boot.ini that points to the location of ntoskrnl.exe is
invalid. Either it's pointing to the wrong directory, or that directory or
the ntoskrnl.exe files is missing or corrupt.

 

[John John]

You can make a Windows 2000 floppy boot disk and boot the machine with
it. Once booted and logged on it's easy to fix the boot.ini file. For
the purpose of fixing the boot files I find it faster and easier to use
a floppy boot disk than it is to use the Recovery Console. See here for
information: http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/ntboot/

You have to make the disk on a Windows NT/2000/XP machine. The disk
will fail if you make it on a Windows 9x machine! Pay attention to the
comments about the Windows installation folder, on Windows 2000 by
default it's WINNT, so the file would look like this:


========================================================================
[boot loader]
timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="First harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="First harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT="First harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINNT="First harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Second harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="Second harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINNT="Second harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINNT="Second harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
C:\="Previous Operating System on C:\"
==========================================================================

You don't need the /sos switch, you could use the /fastdetect switch
instead.

John

 

[Alfred Falk]

Not sure but I believe it's an IDE HDD drive. Are boot.ini's generic?
IHow can I view the current boot.ini?
The user told me he was attempting to install software then it
wouldn't reboot.

boot.ini is not generic. It's described in the Resource Kit
documentation. However, IDE boot usually is pretty much generic. You
might take the drive out and connect it as a secondary on another
computer. Then you can look at it and maybe find out what's going on.

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
A L B E R T A Alfred Falk (e-mail address removed)
R E S E A R C H Information Systems Dept (780)450-5185
C O U N C I L 250 Karl Clark Road
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
http://www.arc.ab.ca/ T6N 1E4
http://outside.arc.ab.ca/staff/falk/

 

[Mike]

You can make a Windows 2000 floppy boot disk and boot the machine with it.
Once booted and logged on it's easy to fix the boot.ini file. For the
purpose of fixing the boot files I find it faster and easier to use a
floppy boot disk than it is to use the Recovery Console. See here for
information: http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/ntboot/

You have to make the disk on a Windows NT/2000/XP machine. The disk will
fail if you make it on a Windows 9x machine! Pay attention to the
comments about the Windows installation folder, on Windows 2000 by default
it's WINNT, so the file would look like this:


========================================================================
[boot loader]
timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="First harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="First harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT="First harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINNT="First harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Second harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="Second harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINNT="Second harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINNT="Second harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
C:\="Previous Operating System on C:\"
==========================================================================

You don't need the /sos switch, you could use the /fastdetect switch
instead.

John

Just realized it doesn't have a FDD.

Can I burn the files to a CD then boot from the CD?

Mike

 

[Mike]

========================================================================
[boot loader]
timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="First harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="First harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT="First harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINNT="First harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Second harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="Second harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINNT="Second harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINNT="Second harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
C:\="Previous Operating System on C:\"
==========================================================================

W2K is in C:\WINNT so shoulod the line read C:\=windows2000 on C:\


Mike

 

[John John]

========================================================================
[boot loader]
timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="First harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="First harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT="First harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINNT="First harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Second harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="Second harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINNT="Second harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINNT="Second harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
C:\="Previous Operating System on C:\"
==========================================================================

W2K is in C:\WINNT so shoulod the line read C:\=windows2000 on C:\


Mike

No, that line is to boot earlier DOS, Windows 95/98/ME operating
systems. It's not needed for NT systems, you can remove it if you want.
But I did make a mistake in the first (default=) line, I didn't change
the WINDOWS folder to WINNT. The line should read:

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT

John

 

[John John]

You can make a Windows 2000 floppy boot disk and boot the machine with it.
Once booted and logged on it's easy to fix the boot.ini file. For the
purpose of fixing the boot files I find it faster and easier to use a
floppy boot disk than it is to use the Recovery Console. See here for
information: http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/ntboot/

You have to make the disk on a Windows NT/2000/XP machine. The disk will
fail if you make it on a Windows 9x machine! Pay attention to the
comments about the Windows installation folder, on Windows 2000 by default
it's WINNT, so the file would look like this:


========================================================================
[boot loader]
timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="First harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="First harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT="First harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINNT="First harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Second harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="Second harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINNT="Second harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINNT="Second harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
C:\="Previous Operating System on C:\"
==========================================================================

You don't need the /sos switch, you could use the /fastdetect switch
instead.

John

Just realized it doesn't have a FDD.

Can I burn the files to a CD then boot from the CD?

Mike

No, I don't think so. At least not that I know of, I suppose if someone
tried to burn it to a bootable cd it might work but I have never heard
or read on anyone doing it with just these 3 files. Boot cd's are
usually a bit more elaborate.

You could use something like this: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ or
this: http://www.nu2.nu/bootablecd/ or a Linus live cd. These are a
bit more involved than making a boot diskette, big images to download
and burn. If the pc can boot from a USB diskette you can use that.
Otherwise you will have to use the Recovery Console or the repair
process and the ERD.

You can also use a Windows 9x boot cd providing that you have an ntfs
editor like EditBINI to edit the file if it's on an NTFS partition.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html

John

 

[Mike]

========================================================================
[boot loader]
timeout=-1
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="First harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="First harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINNT="First harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINNT="First harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Second harddisk, first
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\WINNT="Second harddisk, second
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\WINNT="Second harddisk, third
partition" /sos
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\WINNT="Second harddisk, fourth
partition" /sos
C:\="Previous Operating System on C:\"
==========================================================================

W2K is in C:\WINNT so shoulod the line read C:\=windows2000 on C:\


Mike

No, that line is to boot earlier DOS, Windows 95/98/ME operating systems.
It's not needed for NT systems, you can remove it if you want. But I did
make a mistake in the first (default=) line, I didn't change the WINDOWS
folder to WINNT. The line should read:

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT

John

Thanks, I believe it has only one HDD and one partition.

Mike

 

[Mike]

No, I don't think so. At least not that I know of, I suppose if someone
tried to burn it to a bootable cd it might work but I have never heard or
read on anyone doing it with just these 3 files. Boot cd's are usually a
bit more elaborate.

You could use something like this: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ or
this: http://www.nu2.nu/bootablecd/ or a Linus live cd. These are a bit
more involved than making a boot diskette, big images to download and
burn. If the pc can boot from a USB diskette you can use that. Otherwise
you will have to use the Recovery Console or the repair process and the
ERD.

You can also use a Windows 9x boot cd providing that you have an ntfs
editor like EditBINI to edit the file if it's on an NTFS partition.
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html

It also needs whatever files are needed to allow me to move around to
different directories
and copy files. I've got a W2K Dell repair CD that I've booted from but I
could move around to
different directories so I can copy files.

Mike

 

[John John]

It also needs whatever files are needed to allow me to move around to
different directories
and copy files. I've got a W2K Dell repair CD that I've booted from but I
could move around to
different directories so I can copy files.

I'm not sure what you mean. Did you make a typo in your reply, is it
"could" or "couldn't" move around? In the Recovery Console your access
to directories is restricted to hard disk roots, the %systemroot%
(\winnt) folder and the %systemroot%\system32 folder. That is a
security feature by design. To repair a "standard" Windows 2000
installation these are the only folders that you would or should need to
access from the Recovery Console. If you are trying to do it from a
Windows 9x/DOS boot all you need to edit the boot.ini file is the
EditBINI utility. From a DOS/Windows 9x boot obviously you won't be
able to access an NTFS drive but that is beside the point here, unless
there is more than the boot.ini file involved.

Is this a laptop? Or is it a desktop/tower? If the latter then you can
just stick a floppy disk drive in the machine, even if only temporarilly
to try to boot the machine. Borrow a diskette drive from another
machine, or better yet fit a new one to the box! They only cost about
ten to fifteen dollars!

John

 

[Walter Mautner]

Mike enlightened us 24hoursupport.helpdesk-(ab)users with:

.....

It also needs whatever files are needed to allow me to move around to
different directories
and copy files. I've got a W2K Dell repair CD that I've booted from
but I could move around to
different directories so I can copy files.

You can our you cannot?
What you surely can do with a RD, is to chkdsk. Do that first.
Next time when you are lucky and back up, use gpedit.msc - security
settings and allow what you need for the RC next time.
Or torrent one of the nice winPE cds which contain a lot of useful
recovery programs. Sometime you get them with a computer magazine as
well, without the non-free programs.

 

[Keme]

Dell SX 270 PC w/ oneG RAM, W2K Pro SP4 will not boot.

Error message:
Invalid boot.ini
booting from c:\winnt
Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows 2000 Root>\sys32\NTOSKRNL.EXE
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

[...}

Is the error message caused by a corrupt boot.ini? If so, how can I fix

it?
If I need to replace ntoskrnl.exe how to a replace w/ a current version? [...]

The message indicates a search for an executable kernel at the correct
location, so boot.ini is probably OK. If it isn't, you have ample advice
from others concerning that.

Windows installation will normally leave the install source in a hidden
directory on your system partition: C:\i386. From there you can extract
what you're missing. you will probably find a large number of files
where the last character of the file name is an underscore. The
underscore indicates that it is a compressed version of the file.

Boot from your system CD and use the Recovery Console. (Note that while
RC looks just like the usual command line shell, it isn't quite the same.)

Not sure if "expand" is available in Win2k. In case not, "extract" will
do the job. To replace a defective ntoskrnl.exe, you need one of the
following commands to work (depending on the contents of \i386):
expand c:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ winnt\sys32
extract c:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ winnt\sys32
copy c:\i386\ntoskrnl.exe winnt\sys32

 

[Mike]

Dell SX 270 PC w/ oneG RAM, W2K Pro SP4 will not boot.

Error message:
Invalid boot.ini
booting from c:\winnt
Windows 2000 could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt: <Windows 2000 Root>\sys32\NTOSKRNL.EXE
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

[...}

Is the error message caused by a corrupt boot.ini? If so, how can I fix

it?
If I need to replace ntoskrnl.exe how to a replace w/ a current version? [...]

The message indicates a search for an executable kernel at the correct
location, so boot.ini is probably OK. If it isn't, you have ample advice
from others concerning that.

Windows installation will normally leave the install source in a hidden
directory on your system partition: C:\i386. From there you can extract
what you're missing. you will probably find a large number of files where
the last character of the file name is an underscore. The underscore
indicates that it is a compressed version of the file.

Boot from your system CD and use the Recovery Console. (Note that while RC
looks just like the usual command line shell, it isn't quite the same.)

Not sure if "expand" is available in Win2k. In case not, "extract" will do
the job. To replace a defective ntoskrnl.exe, you need one of the
following commands to work (depending on the contents of \i386):
expand c:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ winnt\sys32
extract c:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ winnt\sys32
copy c:\i386\ntoskrnl.exe winnt\sys32

I wonder if I'll need to update the expanded ntoskrnl.ex_ to SP4?

 

[Mike]

I'm not sure what you mean. Did you make a typo in your reply, is it
"could" or "couldn't" move around?

I should have typed ". . . I could not move around to. . . ."
I believe subdirectory dllcache contains an uptodate verison of ntoskrnl.exe
that I'd like to move to system32 subdirectory.

In the Recovery Console your access

 

[Mike]

Mike enlightened us 24hoursupport.helpdesk-(ab)users with:

....
You can our you cannot?

I can not.

What you surely can do with a RD, is to chkdsk. Do that first.
Next time when you are lucky and back up, use gpedit.msc - security
settings and allow what you need for the RC next time.

I ran the Dell diagnostic disk and all the hardware check out ok.

Or torrent one of the nice winPE cds which contain a lot of useful
recovery programs. Sometime you get them with a computer magazine as
well, without the non-free programs.

Good pont there's got to be a bootable CD with the needed utilities out
there.
Do you know the name of one so I can google to find it?

vista policy violation: Microsoft optical mouse found penguin patterns
on mousepad. Partition scan in progress to remove offending
incompatible products. Reactivate MS software.
Linux 2.6.17-mm1,Xorg7.1/nvidia [LinuxCounter#295241,ICQ#4918962]

 

[John John]

I should have typed ". . . I could not move around to. . . ."
I believe subdirectory dllcache contains an uptodate verison of ntoskrnl.exe
that I'd like to move to system32 subdirectory.

The %sytemroot% folder and subfolders should be accessible from the
Recovery Console. If you can't navigate these folders the drive might
be corrupt.

John