Free PC Support

waterchip1 · Joined: 02 Feb 2009 Posts: 1

Hi there

My Fujitsu A1630 laptop running on Windows XP home decided to crash and now won't boot Sad

I get the error message: windows root system32 ntoskrnl

This is the second time this has happened. I rectified it last time by re-formatting from the factory recovery disk after a failed attempt at repairing, it worked fine for a month or so. Is it worth doing this all over again or am I in need of a new hard drive? Would it work if I used a standard xp disk instead of the recovery one? Does this have anything to do with automatic windows updates such as service pack 3?

A massive thanks in advance to any who can offer advice!

SoftStag · Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 2045 Location: UK

I assume the error is:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows Root>\System32\Ntoskrnl.exe

This could be indicative of a failing hard drive, but it is by no means certain.

We can try to fix the issue if you have your Windows XP CD. To do this, do the following:

Restart the computer with the Windows XP disk in the drive

It should boot from the CD (you may need to change the boot order in the BIOS, however this is normally not required)

Select R for Recovery

You should now come to the Recovery Console with a C:\Windows prompt - type in D: (or whatever letter the drive the CD is in) and press Enter

Type in the following commands pressing Enter after each line: