# <windows root>\system 32\ntoskrnl.exe is missing



## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

I need help this file is missing !! and I can't start my laptop or do anything at all!


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Hi Justin,
Do you have an XP installation disc? If so, insert the disc and boot up from it. (You will need to change your boot order in BIOS to do this.) After Windows setup runs, press R to enter the Recovery Console and press the number option for your installation of Windows. This is usually option 1. At the DOS prompt, change to your windows/system32 directory and type expand X:/i386/ntoskrnl.ex_ (where X is the drive letter for your CD drive) and press return. When the file is copied, reboot and change the boot order back to floppy as first boot device, then save the change and reboot. Let me know how you get on.
Regards,
Pilot.


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok thank you I will try this


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok i'm in the process


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok i'm stuck at the part where i change to my windows/system32 directory and then expand it. need help please


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

from the C:\> prompt type

```
CD windows\system32
```
Then from C:\Windows\System32> type

```
expand X:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32
```
Where X is the letter corresponding to your CD drive. It would likely be D or E.

Verify that the file was expanded correctly by typing

```
dir ntos*.*
```
 Check that the file appears there. Try to reboot your computer normally (reset your boot priority in the bios to HDD first).


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

thank you justpassing by let me try this please monitor this forum incase i have anay more problems


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

I also don't know my cd drive


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

however thank you so very much for explaining that much clearer to me.


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Try D: first. If that doesn't work, try with E: and so on. Usually you can press F3 or use the up arrow key to recall the previous line so that you don't have to retype the whole line.


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok thank you let me try this


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok so I did this and it says unable to create fild ntoskrnl.exe 0 files expanded.


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Yeah, I just tried that too and noticed it wouldn't work. Let's try approaching the problem from another angle.

from c:\windows\system32> type dir ntos*.* and tell us what you see.

Had you updated Windows with the service pack 2 on that laptop and is the service pack 2 included on your XP install disk (should be written on the disk) ?


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Just saw your PM, were you in c:\windows\system32> when you typed the expand command ? If not then check the reply I sent you and retry from c:\windows\system32>


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

it includes windows sp 1a, when i type that I see the following:

C:\windows\system32>dir ntos*.*
The volume in drive C has no label
The volume serial number is 2830-5305

Directory of C:\windows\system32\ntos*.*
02/28/07 5:10a -a------ 2180352 ntoskrnl.exe
1 file(s) 2180532 bytes
25005502464 bytes free


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

I believe service pack 2 was on there, this occured when I was trying to install the automatic updates


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Problem is the ntoskrnl.exe file is not missing. The problem lies elsewhere.

We may have to come back to the recovery console later but let's try one or two other things first. 

Reboot the computer normally (reset your boot priority to HDD first in the BIOS) and repeatedly press the F8 key during startup. This should bring you to some menu with different options. Select "last known good configuration" and tell us if it helps. Tell us about any error message you should get.


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok I have 2 HDD in the bios. Which one? Ide HDD: ic25n030Atmr04 or USB HDD:


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Ide HDD:



If last known good config didn't work then back to the recovery console (Boot on XP CD, press R to repair, choose the Windows installation).

from c:\windows> type "cd \" to get back to c:\>
from c:\> type "type boot.ini" and copy the result here.


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok i selected this one as first : Ide HDD: ic25n030Atmr04 and i hit f8 repeatedly and got to those options then i selected last known good configuration.... and now it is just black screen


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

wait for 5 minutes and if there's no change follow the instructions from my previous post.

*Edit : *or better : retry the F8 menu but select "safe mode" instead of "last known good config". Then if that fails check the boot.ini file. Sorry if I'm a bit confusing here.


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok and after about 2 minutes I get an error message that says:

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.


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Ok, you can skip the safe mode test as it will fail with the same message. Go back to the recovery console.

Type "cd \" (the space is important) then from c:\> type "type boot.ini" and copy the content of the file here.

If there's nothing weird in your boot.ini file then we'll check your drive for errors but I'll wait for your reply first.


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok one moment i'm rebooting the cd now going to the re covery console this should take about 2 minutes thanks for your patience and help


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

boot loader
timeout = 30
default = multi (0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows="Microsoft Windows Xp Professional"/fastdetect /noexecute=OptIn


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

what does all of that mean?


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok so what do you think?


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Ok. What's the brand and model of this computer ?

How many options were you given before you entered the recovery console and had to choose your Windows installation ? Were you given 2 options ?

How many drives letters can you access from the recovery partition ? What drive was your CD drive ? Was it D or E ? If it was E, try typing "D:" then type dir and tell us what you see.


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

Dell brand Intel Celeron Processor windows xp professional.
I was given 2 options before i selected recovery console. One is "set up windows xp now and the other is repair a windows xp installation using recovery console."
I can only access C: drive from recovery partition. my cd drive is D


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

I meant after you pressed R to "repair a windows installation using recovery console". There should be some menu asking you to select your windows installation and press 1. to select the first one, 2. to select the second one. Was there more than one choice there ?


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

no there was only one choice there and th at is the C:Windows choice


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

What shall we try now?


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Ok, then the only thing I see remaining before we attemp a repair install is scanning your drive for errors.

From the recovery console type "chkdsk /R". If that doesn't work try "chkdsk c: /F /R". Tell us if the scan found any error.

It may take some time and I may not be around when the scan is finished. Retry booting normally once the scan is done and see whether by any chance that solved the problem.


In the mean time, using another computer, create an XP install disk with SP2 following these instruction : http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

ok I will do this it would be awesome if you will be around when it is finished because slipstreaming windows will be very hard for me to do


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## jful_23 (Apr 10, 2007)

60 percent complete


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Don't worry, the instructions are complete and very simple. All you need is access to another computer with internet (to download the required softwares) and a CD burner (to burn the resulting CD).

I won't be around very long (you don't want to know what time it is in Belgium) so I'll post the rest of the instructions in my next post. Should you have problems creating the slipstreamed disk I'm sure another tech will be able to help you.


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

If the computer still doesn't boot after the chkdsk here's what you'll have to try :


*1. *Use your newly created slipstreamed install disk and go back to the recovery console. Type the following

```
cd system32
```
 This will bring you in c:\windows\system32>. Then type

```
ren ntoskrnl.exe ntoskrnl.old
```
If you get a read-only error then type the following : 

```
attrib ntoskrnl.exe -r
```
and retry the step above. If that didn't work skip the rest and go to 2. Else proceed :

```
expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32
```
If this step didn't work for some reason then let's get the old ntoskrnl.exe file back :

```
ren ntoskrnl.old ntoskrnl.exe
```
If all steps here were successful then reboot, set device priority back to HDD and see how it goes.


*2. *If that didn't work then still in the recovery console type

```
CD \
```
then

```
bootcfg /rebuild
```
Check this website for the rest of the instructions : How to rebuild the Windows boot.ini file

Reboot, set device priority back to HDD and see how it goes.


*3. *If the computer still fails to boot then let's repair your Windows installation using your slipstreamed XP SP2 install disk.

Boot on the CD but this time choose "to setup XP now". Agree the license on the next screen and you'll arrive on a screen where you have to choose your Windows installation and you're given the option to press 'R' to repair your current installation. Now pay attention : if there's more than one windows installation in the list OR if the option you get is not exactly "press 'R' to repair your current installation" then exit and report here. Else press R and proceed with the instructions. The computer will reboot at some point, make sure you don't press any key to start from the CD this time when that message appears.

This will replace all Windows system files but will leave all you documents and programs unharmed. First thing to do once you're back in Windows is go to Windows update and download all the latest critical updates. If the rare case some program would stop working you'll have to reinstall it.

Should you have any problem with the repair install you may want to read this about performing a Windows XP repair install.


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

The instructions from this last post (#37) are alright but I just noticed I made a mistake in the expand syntax earlier. See posts #6, #12 and #13.

Let's say you start from c:\windows\system32>, typing 
*expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:ntoskrnl.exe* will never work. It'll give a message "unable to create the file". What will work is 
*expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32*
or 
*expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_* provided you're already in c:\windows\system32>, which is the instruction JohnthePilot gave in his first post (but for the backslashes instead of the slashes). You also don't need to rename the ntoskrnl.exe to ntoskrnl.old. It'll just ask whether it should overwrite the file, to which you should answer y.

If replacing the ntoskrnl.exe did the trick then it could already have been done yesterday. I apologize for making us both lose much of our time :sigh:

If replacing the ntoskrnl.exe file (following the instructions from #37) didn't work then the repair install should do the trick.


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## kman02061954 (Apr 30, 2008)

i am havingthe same problem. so i think i understand how to fix the problem. simply follow everything in your postings and it should run again. and if i have any problems that i do not see an answer to just post it here. thank you.

ed


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Hi and welcome to TSF. 
No, if you have problems please start a new thread explaining what you have done. Threads are user-specific and not topic-specific as although the problem may seem the same the cause and solution may not be.


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## nsynurse (Jun 7, 2008)

Help!!! Same thing is coming up on my laptop, Toshiba Satellite, but all I have is the recovery disk that came with the computer. Windows xp was preloaded... What can i do now??


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## justpassingby (Mar 11, 2007)

Hi nsynurse, welcome to TSF !

As JohnthePilot said in the post just above yours we prefer to keep one thread per user. Please refer to your thread in the laptop section. When you see a thread that appears to be related to your problem you can post a link to that thread in your own thread.


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## eojocd (May 31, 2008)

I have the same problem, but on my desktop, it goes to a black screen telling me that the file <Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe is missing please install it to continue, I was going to rum reapir utility from the XP Pro CD, but my keystrokes are not recognized during boot up, the lights on the keyboard will flash green from time to time, but not stay lit, so whrn it asks me to pres any key to boot from CD, i cant do it, any suggestions or I deas what the hell is going on? I am using a ps2 keyboard, and have tried a USB converter and plugging it in to a USB port with th same result. The Machine is an COMPAQ Presario SR2002X with an AMD Sempron processor.

Any help / ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


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## JohnthePilot (Mar 30, 2006)

Please read justpassingby's comment above and my previous post at #40


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