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hi i'm new to this forum could anybody help me plz.
my problem is i just d/l all microsoft updates when it finished updating i was asked to reboot my pc .then when my pc restarted this notice came up .
windows root sytem32 ntoskrnl.exe file corrupted or missing please re install from cd. my problem is how do i do that plz help

First, try system restore if you have been periodically saving good installs.
Usually, you an boot to your windows CD, and run Windows XP in repair mode... but this could be malware as well.
The computer believed that this file is corrupt: C:\WINNT\System32\Ntoskrnl.exe
This is often caused by a bad hard drive that is beginning to fail. On some computers it is caused by a defective keyboard. But it can come from any set of corrupted files. Some times it is the boot.ini file

But the problem can be more complicated if your computer came with a Recovery or Restore disc instead of a Windows XP install disc. If that is the case, you are better off reformatting and reinstalling Windows after you save the data... for which you will require a separate disc.
Using a regular Windows XP dis, you boot to the disc, then press the R for repair to enter the repair or recovery console.
Select the operating system, then enter your admin password.
Type: Expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ C:\Windows\System32.
You should get a prompt asking you if you want to Overwrite the File.
You should enter Y for yes, the press <ENTER> to Overwrite.
If that works, you are probably home free.
To know for sure, shut down the computer, then run a cold boot with the <Start> button.
If it starts, correctly, then you are done. And lucky.

raybay. thanks for this speedy sollution to my querry. i done everything that you told me to do my question to you is after everything the last line says overwrite ntoskrnl.exe? i typed y the next line reads as ntoskrnl.exe 1 file expanded. my question to you is do i just take my xp disc out of my machine then try and restart it as normal. many thanks for your assistance. oh the hard drive is only 2 months old

Yep, you can go ahead and restart now. Hopefully that should have resolved your problem.

If it worked, it will start normally. There is no guarantee that "fix" will work on your particularly machine, but it is worth a shot. It will not make it worse.
Then, if it doesn't work, you need to save your data using another computer with your drive installed as a slave. Then you need to reformat and reinstall. Lets hope you do not have to do that.

thanks a lot raybay for all your help but it looks like your last option is going to be the one it still says the file is missing

This is my first time ever visiting this site .... can anyone help ????

I opened my laptop tonite and got the following error message:

"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."

I have a Dell Lattitude D600 that is running Windows XP. Can anyone help?

Thanks, David

Raybay ... Are you out there ??

I saw a msg where you helped a guy with a similar problem.

I don't know how to "view" who is online or not.

Please help... Thanks ... David

Since it is a D600, I assume you have some real miles on it by now. I have had mine since 2002 or 2003.
It is possible that your hard drive has gone bad.
You might see if your version of Windows will allow a "Repair" install...
However, if your data is valuable, I would work on saving that data first.
You can buy a new hard drive fairly cheaply and install it yourself using the Dell software that came with the machine. 40GB for $52. 60 Gb for $790, 80 GB for $65, or 100 GB for $74 with shipping included.
You can buy a mobile hard drive adapter that will enable you to put that existing drive into a desktop computer as a slave then drag and drop all the data, or use data saving software. Adapters are available at a number of computer stores and online for between $3.00 and $12 depending on where you buy them.
It is possible that your drive can be repaired, but not often with the Dell discs. You will need a full version of Windows XP to run the "repair" attempt. Based on the age of the computer, I suspect you will not be successful.

I am receiving the same error message (windows root sytem32 ntoskrnl.exe file corrupted or missing please re install from cd.) and after the process of elimination, my keyboard seems to be the issue. Now, the problem is that I continue to get this error message no matter what keyboard I am using. I have tried three different ones now. I am running window XP media center edition and do not have the disc. Any comments or suggestions? Please PM me with any info. and I would be forever greatful!

USB keyboards as well?
Look for soldering errors around the PS/2 socket. Look for loose socket or "wiggle".
Use a lot of canned air to blow dirt and dust out of the pin holes.
I have never seen a good, permanent fix of a PS/2 socket once it is bad, if the canned air doesn't work.

Hey RayBay! Yes... USB as well. I will try cleaning the sockets. Thanks for the tips.

I would think the cleaning of sockets would not help if the problem is in both the PS/2 socket, and with a USB keyboard. Sorry.

Er....not to be rude or anything, but we got off topic there kinda fast. Did this thread get merged with a system32 fix topic or something?

...at any rate....yeah windows vista...about that...

does anyone know a particular release date for the updated and repaired version of windows vista?

I want to have some good timing in terms of when I purchase my new system. I plan on buying a new system as soon as the better Vista release comes out.

No. It was only Tuesday that Microsoft announced that it would be releasing a service pack... in response to a law suit from Google and from the California Attorney General Jerry Brown. Guesses on Tuesday were that it would be sometime between October 1 and November 1, but could be as early as September 1... depending on what problems they have to fix due to European law suites.

I am getting this error message as well on my Compaq laptop that I have had for a little over a year. I was wondering if I could just put Windows Vista on my computer instead of Windows XP, and not only fix the problem but upgrade my operating system? My computer meets the requirements for the upgrade. I only have the recovery disc, so I am thinking it would just make more sense to upgrade and buy Windows XP. Do I follow the same steps described here as if I were using windows XP? And should I buy Windows Vista or the Upgrade disc? Thanks for reading.

I receive <windows root> \ system 32\ntoskrnl.exe please re-install a copy of the file.

Does anyone know what that means, or how do fix this?

Okay... where to begin.

First off, thank you in advance to anyone that helps.

So heres the skoop:

I have a dell inspiron e1705 - about a year old.

My battery has been dead and worthless for about 6months.

I started receiving the windows root\system32\ntoskrnl.exe error about 2 or 3 months ago... I hardly ever shut my computer down so it was never really something I thought to take care of.

about 1 1/2months ago my laptop keyboard and mouse touch pad became impossible to use:

Keyboard requires multiple key stroaks to place letters

touch pad skips the cursor all over the screen making it impossible to mouse accurately

I had gotten around this problem with a USB keyboard and mouse up until about 3 days ago.

my USB mouse started to "lag skip" as well... you could still accurately move the cursor 6 inches before it skipped 2 or 3.

Also at the time my USB mouse started skipping my audio and video began to skip... not horrible but would lag every 2 or 3 seconds and sound like a broken record - all audio did this, even the windows start up sound.

And thats the straw that broke the camels back...

so after backing up everything i thought a fresh install would do the trick.

used symantics ghost - ctrl + f11 ... did not fix the problem

tried a install using the boot cd on repair mode... still broken

tried to reformat by deleting all partitions and start from scratch... a nightmare but after fumbling about with drivers I am back online and my USB mouse and Keyboard are working with accuracy again.

But my Laptop Keyboard and Touch pad are still broken and worthless.

Also, I am still getting the windows root\system32\ntoskrnl.exe error. Not every time the computer reboots but i would say at least 4 times out of 10.

Anyone have any ideas?

Im going to try installing the ntoskrnl.exe file like mentioned earlier in this thread but I wanted to get my story out because i believe it is unique to this error we are talking about.

Any opinions, Ideas, directions would be much appreciated.

Thank You,

Aaron

ok,my story is the same but i want to repair it without losing data - is there anyway of backing up the harddrive to save my documents

Hi, I'm just today newly registered to this site, but I successfully used the info from this site to fix a problem with another pc.

I received the same jolly greeting from my almost 18 month old pavilion. I wound up running from the system recovery disk a couple of times. Once I apparently performed the system recovery, I couldn't make the mouse work, so I found a usb mouse and the mouse work okay. When I got to the page where you give the computer a name, the keyboard also worked very nicely. When I got to the part where the computer must restart, up comes the <Windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe message again. At this point I did the Google thing and another website suggested using an XP cd and copying the file from there, but when I got to the part where the boot order can be changed, neither the keyboard nor the mouse worked. I can get neither mouse nor keyboard to work when I try the setup menu. There is also no dos prompt where I could select the cd drive and have the machine copy the problem file, so I am pretty frustrated at this point.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. It is a good thing I also own a mac. This is computer I am using at the moment. I never have to deal with this crap with my macs.

Also the keyboard works fine when I'm in the system recovery, but not the mouse. bkingscott again