Startup Error: missing or corrupt IFSHLP.SYS and VMM32.VXD

[Lindon]

Recently as I was starting my computer (I have been using XP for about
2 years), I got the error messages:

The following file is missing or corrupted: C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS
The following file is missing or corrupted: C:\WINDOWS\VMM32.VXD
Type the name of the Windows loader (e.g. C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\VMM32.VXD)

I tried restarting my computer, scanning for viruses, and using an XP
boot disk, with no luck. Using the XP automatic repair process from
the CD didn't help, either.

I finally reinstalled XP from the CD. The strange thing is, the
system thought that my hard drive was completely free--and believe me,
I had plenty of information on my hard drive.

The XP installation formatted my hard drive. Once my computer was up
and running again, I looked up everything I could on that error,
including Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles 258471, 311188, 167889.
Every time it was referenced, however, it was shown to apply to
Windows 9x or ME, not XP.

I dismissed it as some fluke, as I had ME on my computer before I
upgraded to XP.

Everything was fine for a few days, then yesterday, I got same error
messages again. Once again, nothing worked, and I ended up
re-installing XP.

Does anyone know what is going on?

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Rich Barry]

Lindon, do you have more than one Partition on the hard drive? That
indeed is a WinMe file that's located
usually in Config.sys. Next time you are in WinExplorer choose
tools>folder options>view. Click on "show
hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating
system files" Then close WinExplorer
and reopen. You should see Config.sys in C:\ Rt click and
open with notepad.