Could this a mother board issue?

[Lorne]

Hello everyone,
i am assisting a neighbour with her computer (she's so cute, i couldnt say
no to her)....
On boot up, she is getting the message:
missing or corrupt file: ntoskrnl.exe reinstall a copy of the above
file.....

so after researching the net and newsgroups i thought i found the way to
repair this.... easy enough, just boot from xp cd and use the repair
console.... BUT here is the problem.... i can not get the computer to boot
from the cd rom!!!
I went into the bios and set boot priority to:
cd/rom 1st, floppy 2nd and ide hard drive 3rd (can't go wrong with this,
right?) Using her windows xp, the computer says searching for boot record
from cd.... then after sevceral seconds, changes to try to boot from the
hard drive.....
Ok, i thought maybe the cd rom is not working...... so i put in a spare cd
rom.... same thing..... took the cd and put it into a different computer,
and the cd boots up......

so, any idea of what my issue is all about???

thank you all....

 

[beb]

Try booting into safemode, tap F8 key while booting computer, and selecting
last known good configuration.

 

[Guest]

I would try using the CD-ROM drive from the computer that allowed the CD boot.

Eric,
PC Buyer Beware!
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Remove all other options from the boot listing, do not give the system a
choice.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

ometime s, maybe most, you have to hit any key on keybrd to get it to boot
from CD!!

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

My keyboard doesn't have an 'any' key..

 

[Lorne]

thank you everyone..
1) i tried the safe mode and last known config.... didnt work,
2) tried pressing any key to get it to read from the cd... after a few
seconds, it tries the hard drive

i will try to remove all options from the boot list and see what
happens,.... i will repost with the results

 

[Guest]

Funny. Mike. I didn't use the quote either.

My keyboard doesn't have an 'any' key..

 

[Lorne]

ok, removed all boot options other than cd rom..... no reading from the cd.
tried the cd again in another computer and it booted up fine.....
replaced the cd rom on the computer... same thing.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Either the XP CD is faulty, wrong type, whatever, or your CD ROM drive is
not playing ball.. how old is the drive?.. what type of XP CD do you have?

 

[Lorne]

using original windows xp cd pro,
i tried changing the cd rom... same issue...
just a thought, cuz i've seen some strange things, but how about the power
supply failing? my neighbour is a heavy smoker (all gunged up inside the
computer).... could that be it?

 

[Anna]

Lorne:
This might have been covered before, so if it has, excuse me for repeating
(I'm too tired to look), but have you tried another bootable CD in the
machine? Same problem?
Anna

 

[Lorne]

hi anna,
i didnt try another bootable cd cuz i only have the one xp cd.... which
does boot up on a different computer. !

 

[Lorne]

ok... i have putzed with this for way too long!!
can i take the hard drive , install it as a master on another computer (the
one where her xp cd boots up), format the hard drive, install her OS and
then put the hard drive back into her computer?? will that work?
of course there is always a hitch...... she doesnt have the original mother
board cds that came with her computer... (i didn't know i had to keep those,
she said!)