Ntoskrnl is missing or corrupt... unable to expand file from XP cd

[conwayan]

Hi,

XP Home Edition:

I am unable to boot my pc. Says ntoskrnl is missing or corrupt. I am
unable to start in safe mode. I have tried using the recovery console
and expanding the file from my XP cd. When I try to expand the file, I
get an access is denied error message. At no point was I prompted for
a password.

I have also tried to run a repair installation but my installation of
XP was not available for repair.

Any help please? I would like to get some picture and music files off
the hard drive at the least.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

 

[conwayan]

Update 1: Was finally able to work out the problem with the Ntoskrnl.
Now I am getting an error that says Winnt\system32\config\system is
missing or corrupt.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

It's a corrupt registry, see:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307545

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[conwayan]

Thank you Rick. I found that KB article but was unclear on the
statement of not trying this if you have an OEM version of XP. My XP
did come preinstall on my Gateway computer. I do have a full version
disc that came with the PC. I wasn't sure if I should proceed with the
solution in the article. What do you think?

Thank you!

 

[Rock]

Hi,

XP Home Edition:

I am unable to boot my pc. Says ntoskrnl is missing or corrupt. I am
unable to start in safe mode. I have tried using the recovery console
and expanding the file from my XP cd. When I try to expand the file, I
get an access is denied error message. At no point was I prompted for
a password.

I have also tried to run a repair installation but my installation of
XP was not available for repair.

Any help please? I would like to get some picture and music files off
the hard drive at the least.

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

If you don't have a current, full and complete backup it would be best
to first backup the important data before trying any repair options.
One way to do this is to put the hard drive in another XP or windows
2000 computer as a slave drive and copy the important files from it.
The data should be accessible even though the drive is not bootable.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Yes, you have an OEM system. But, to put it bluntly, you have nothing to
lose by trying it. If you don't, you are faced with reinstalling a new copy
of Windows and depending on the recovery software you have, you may lose
everything currently on the drive (many, by design, simply wipe the existing
installation and replace it with a new image, others allow for repairs of
existing installations). At worst, the procedure doesn't work and you are
faced with the above anyways. At best, it works and you are able to get your
system back as it was.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org