JeanLeFrancais
asked on
lost ability to boot up to WIndows XP -- ntoskrnl.exe damaged error
Hello.
I installed Partition Manager from 7Tools on my computer, then I proceeded to change partition size and merge. It gave me a warning about LILO would have to be overwritten, or something like that. Anyways. The result was that I lost GRUB. I managed to reinstall it. But then to my horror, I could not longer boot up to Windows XP. I have another partition Windows server 2003 that still works and resides on disk C. As for the RedHat partition, I deleted it since it seemed to cause trouble. But solved nothing. I put the Windows XP CD in the drive, and booted with it in the Recovery mode. I typed fixmbr, and that got rid of GRUB and gave me a list of the two Windows O/S mentioned above. But like I said, I can only boot to Windows server 2003. So I rebooted in recovery mode, and tried the command bootcfg /rebuild. It found the Windows server 2003 partition, but not the Windows XP partition. So I tried the fixboot D: (XP is on drive D). That fixed nothing.
By the way, when I try to boot to Windows XP, it gives me an error that the file ntoskrnl.exe is damaged or missing. So I went in the boot.ini file, and changed the disk(X) parameter where I tried X=2,3,4,5. It solved nothing. I also tried to reinstall that file with the expand command such as expand /F:ntoskrnl.exe sp2.cab, but that solved nothing.
At this time, I am stuck. I have a big web site that sits on the Windows XP partition (I have a backup but not the latest). I don't want to have to reinstall Windows XP, and fear to loose that web site.
Jean
I installed Partition Manager from 7Tools on my computer, then I proceeded to change partition size and merge. It gave me a warning about LILO would have to be overwritten, or something like that. Anyways. The result was that I lost GRUB. I managed to reinstall it. But then to my horror, I could not longer boot up to Windows XP. I have another partition Windows server 2003 that still works and resides on disk C. As for the RedHat partition, I deleted it since it seemed to cause trouble. But solved nothing. I put the Windows XP CD in the drive, and booted with it in the Recovery mode. I typed fixmbr, and that got rid of GRUB and gave me a list of the two Windows O/S mentioned above. But like I said, I can only boot to Windows server 2003. So I rebooted in recovery mode, and tried the command bootcfg /rebuild. It found the Windows server 2003 partition, but not the Windows XP partition. So I tried the fixboot D: (XP is on drive D). That fixed nothing.
By the way, when I try to boot to Windows XP, it gives me an error that the file ntoskrnl.exe is damaged or missing. So I went in the boot.ini file, and changed the disk(X) parameter where I tried X=2,3,4,5. It solved nothing. I also tried to reinstall that file with the expand command such as expand /F:ntoskrnl.exe sp2.cab, but that solved nothing.
At this time, I am stuck. I have a big web site that sits on the Windows XP partition (I have a backup but not the latest). I don't want to have to reinstall Windows XP, and fear to loose that web site.
Jean
Missing or damaged ntoskernel can definitely occur as a result of boot.ini misdirection. Unfortunately, changing the disk(x) parameter does nothing. If there were multiple HDD's (I do not get the impression, from your comments, that this is the case), then changing the rdisk(x) parameter would be appropriate. You might try changing the partition(x) parameter if your resizing and merging changed the partition makeup of the HDD. If you can provide more specific info, we might get closer to resolving this.
ASKER
My apology. It is the partition(x) parameter that I changed with x=2,3,4,5 to no avail. What puzzles me is that the command bootcfg /rebuild did not detect the XP partition. Why? Is it because its boot sector is damaged? I think I might decide to reinstall XP in the hope that it will not erase all my stuff. I cross my fingers.
For purposes of discussion, I am going to assume that C: (where you have 2003 Server) is the "Active, System" partition where all the bootstrap stuff is located. And, that there are only two partitions on the HDD (since RedHat was deleted), and that they are both 'Primary'. On that basis, the Fixboot D: command is irrelevant, since the only boot record of importance is the one on the 'Active' partition, the one invoked by the MBR. I guess one can assume that ntldr and ntdetect.com are OK, as is the kernel in 2003 Server, since you can boot this O/S. Don't know about boot.ini, however. Must be in the 'Active' partition since you get the dual boot screen. Should only be two lines in the main body {partition(1) and partition(2)}.
Would be a good thing if you could boot into "Safe Mode" with Command Prompt and run: sfc /scannow but I suspect it wont fly. The kernel version in my XP O/S is .2622, perhaps you can copy it from the dllcache in your box. All of this presumes that the kernel is corrupted or...
A word or two about reinstall. As you probably aware, if you proceed as though you were going to do an install and press R, a "repair" install will occur. This is mostly a benign process preserving all your apps and personal settings, with some exceptions. It's been a while since I had to do this, so I may not get them all. You will lose SP2 and all the updates and hotfixes, unless you create a slipstreamed install CD with something like nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/). You may have to reinstall drivers not in Windows catalog. You may need to copy your profile and Outlook .pst/.ost files to a folder in 2003. You may wish to export or backup your registry. Stuff like that, but for the most part all will be preserved.
Let me know where you're going with this.
Would be a good thing if you could boot into "Safe Mode" with Command Prompt and run: sfc /scannow but I suspect it wont fly. The kernel version in my XP O/S is .2622, perhaps you can copy it from the dllcache in your box. All of this presumes that the kernel is corrupted or...
A word or two about reinstall. As you probably aware, if you proceed as though you were going to do an install and press R, a "repair" install will occur. This is mostly a benign process preserving all your apps and personal settings, with some exceptions. It's been a while since I had to do this, so I may not get them all. You will lose SP2 and all the updates and hotfixes, unless you create a slipstreamed install CD with something like nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/). You may have to reinstall drivers not in Windows catalog. You may need to copy your profile and Outlook .pst/.ost files to a folder in 2003. You may wish to export or backup your registry. Stuff like that, but for the most part all will be preserved.
Let me know where you're going with this.
ASKER
I just thought of something. The command bootcfg /rebuild did not detect the XP partition possibly because XP is in a logical partition, not a primary partition. Could that be the reason?
By the way, I decided to delete all Linux partitions, and I reinstalled XP. That will mean that I will have to reinstall all software, etc. But there appears to be no data loss, since I never actually reformatted the XP partition. I used 7Tools Partition Manager to play around with the partitions (once I got XP back). Then when I rebooted, I got that same 'ntoskrnl.exe damaged error' back again. Well. I realized that Partition Manager does not update or change the file boot.ini. It still said partition(3) for XP. I changed it to partition(2), and it worked!
I don't think I will ever again install a linux OS with Windows partitions. Windows does not seem to like to see a non-Windows OS along side... ;-)
Jean
ASKER
Dear Calmar46,
Oops! I saw your message too late about the Repair. Oh! Well reinstalling everything back again will keep me out of trouble for a while. Actually I did try the Repair option before, but all it does is take me to a prompt that asks for the admin password, and a C: prompt (or D prompt).
If I understand you well, one can only boot to an active partition, and there can be only one active partition. My active partition is WinServer2003. It has the boot.ini file. But the other partition XP must have a boot sector too, no? Otherwise, how can it start up when the boot.ini file tells where the partition is? I read a lot about partitioning in the past, but never clearly understood the fine details. Do you know of a good web site that teaches this?
Oops! I saw your message too late about the Repair. Oh! Well reinstalling everything back again will keep me out of trouble for a while. Actually I did try the Repair option before, but all it does is take me to a prompt that asks for the admin password, and a C: prompt (or D prompt).
If I understand you well, one can only boot to an active partition, and there can be only one active partition. My active partition is WinServer2003. It has the boot.ini file. But the other partition XP must have a boot sector too, no? Otherwise, how can it start up when the boot.ini file tells where the partition is? I read a lot about partitioning in the past, but never clearly understood the fine details. Do you know of a good web site that teaches this?
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Everything is getting out of order, I need to remember to refresh before commenting!.
What you refer to as Repair is actually the Recovery Console. When doing a "Repair Install" you bypass this page by hitting enter and going into the Windows install process. You eventually get to a page where you are asked "if you want to repair windows press R". Setup then goes through a dramatically shortened process and preserves stuff.
Well, you understand correctly. To expand further, the only boot sector the MBR understands is the one in the active partition because it's purpose is to locate and load 'ntldr' which invokes boot.ini, provides memory space and controls the loading of the O/S. ntDetect determines what hardware is in the box and the kernel takes care of loading drivers (it's at this point that the partition the O/S is in becomes relevant. A somewhat simplistic explanation. I can refer you to a web site that covers this material in a somewhat ancient context (but a lot has not changed in 30 or 40 years), start at this page and step through the subsequent material. You will then have a good overview of Hrd Disks:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/index.htm
What you refer to as Repair is actually the Recovery Console. When doing a "Repair Install" you bypass this page by hitting enter and going into the Windows install process. You eventually get to a page where you are asked "if you want to repair windows press R". Setup then goes through a dramatically shortened process and preserves stuff.
Well, you understand correctly. To expand further, the only boot sector the MBR understands is the one in the active partition because it's purpose is to locate and load 'ntldr' which invokes boot.ini, provides memory space and controls the loading of the O/S. ntDetect determines what hardware is in the box and the kernel takes care of loading drivers (it's at this point that the partition the O/S is in becomes relevant. A somewhat simplistic explanation. I can refer you to a web site that covers this material in a somewhat ancient context (but a lot has not changed in 30 or 40 years), start at this page and step through the subsequent material. You will then have a good overview of Hrd Disks:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/index.htm