Missing or corrupt files on computer..?

Question

I have a Gateway Solo laptop loaded with Windows XP Home. Today it seemed to be working fine, but when I left alone for about 15 minutes to shower, I came back to find the screen black and saying that I had a file missing or corrupt and it was unable to boot up-- I'm not sure why it had powered down in the first place, as it was not running off of the battery at that time, and had no updates in queue. Here is the message I get:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

<Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.

Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Now I can't get it to boot up, and I don't quite know how to repair that file. It didn't come with a disc for Windows when we bought it, as the program was supposed to be on the hard drive by way of partition. However, I cannot seem to access anything other than the F2 setup menu, and that gives me nothing as far as being able to repair corrupt files. Any advice, besides throwing it in front of an oncoming semi?

Answer 1

You will need the Windows XP Home Disc to repair the error.

   1.  Insert the Microsoft Windows XP CD. Note: If you have a recovery CD or a restore CD and not a Microsoft Windows XP CD it is likely the below steps will not resolve your issue.

   2. Reboot the computer, as the computer is starting you should see a message to press any key to boot from the CD. When you see this message press any key.

   3. In the Microsoft Windows XP setup menu press the R key to enter the recovery console.

   4. Select the operating system you wish to fix, and then enter the administrator password.

   5. Type expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32

   6. You will then be prompted if you wish to overwrite the file type Y and press enter to overwrite the file.

   7. Type exit to reboot the computer.

Edit: You will need to take your laptop to a repair shop to fix the CD drive, and they will also be able to fix the main problem you are having.

Answer 2

press f5 or f6 and restore it to original settings. you will lose all saved data though including music, pictures, pre filled forms.

Answer 3

Question:

Do you have the recovery console installed?

If no,

This is not really fixable without a Windows disc, because you if you cannot access the Command prompt, you can&#039;t edit the boot.ini file (which sometimes becomes corrupt and gives this error message. But there are also other reasons as well.)

You might have to reinstall windows using a &quot;Repair Installation&quot;. You keep your apps and personal documents, but you lose all Windows XP patches and hotfixes so you need to update again)

A really risky way of fixing it is to replace the corrupted file while running a Linux Live disc -- Linux live is an OS that is designed to run only on a CD. It works by running entirely on RAM memory and doesn&#039;t touch your hard drive at all.