[maxd72]

My Toshiba notebook was working fine and then I left what I was doing and it went into hibernation. It wouldn't come back. I've tried everything. The computer will reeboot, but I can only get the following message after it tries start up:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Sett-up using original Set-Up CD ROM.

Select 'r' at first screen to repair"

I've tired everything to get the set-up disk to run. It won't. It is just a vicous circle of that meassage and then a reboot. My toshiba logo comes up following by a blank screen with a line at the bottom (similar to that showing that a task is being completed) and then it goes to the above message. I've tried hitting every combination of keys (CTR-ALT-DEL, ESC, F-8, r, enter, doing nothing, putting the disc in at different times). Nothing gets out of this cycle. I can't get to safe mode or DOS or anything. I've been told that it's just one of those things and I need to get my computer reformatted and I will lose everything on it. I'd hate to lose my hard drive and have to reload all my software. Is there a solution out there?

Thank you.

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Have you set it to boot from the CD ROM Drive then the hard drive

1. Use the Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD to restart your computer.

2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to select the To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R option.

3. Type the number of the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console, and then press ENTER.

4. Type the administrator password when you are prompted, and then press ENTER. If no administrator password exists, just press ENTER.

5. At the command prompt, type the following commands (press ENTER after each command):

cd \windows\system32\drivers

ren ntfs.sys ntfs.old

Note This step renames the corrupted Ntfs.sys file to Ntfs.old. If the Ntfs.sys file is not found, the file is missing.

6. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

copy cd:\i386\ntfs.sys drive:\windows\system32\drivers

Where cd is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD, and drive is the drive where you installed Windows XP.

7. Remove the Windows XP CD from your CD-ROM drive, type quit at a command prompt, and then press ENTER to quit the Recovery Console.

8. Restart the computer.

[Retired Tech]

Have you set it to boot from the CD ROM Drive then the hard drive

1. Use the Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD to restart your computer.

2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to select the To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R option.

3. Type the number of the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console, and then press ENTER.

4. Type the administrator password when you are prompted, and then press ENTER. If no administrator password exists, just press ENTER.

5. At the command prompt, type the following commands (press ENTER after each command):

cd \windows\system32\drivers

ren ntfs.sys ntfs.old

Note This step renames the corrupted Ntfs.sys file to Ntfs.old. If the Ntfs.sys file is not found, the file is missing.

6. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

copy cd:\i386\ntfs.sys drive:\windows\system32\drivers

Where cd is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD, and drive is the drive where you installed Windows XP.

7. Remove the Windows XP CD from your CD-ROM drive, type quit at a command prompt, and then press ENTER to quit the Recovery Console.

8. Restart the computer.

[maxd72]

Have you set it to boot from the CD ROM Drive then the hard drive

- How do I do that? At this point I can't get the computer to do anything except boot up, go to a blank screen with a stus bar on the bottom and then the error message I have described. The only thing that can happen after the message screen is either nothing, or another re-boot. I have tried a re-boot with the CD in and with it out and there is nothing I can do to get to a "Welcome to Setup." I have tried every way I know to try and break the cycle, but nothing will.

[computerwiz12890]

Configuring Your Computer to Boot from CD

Many computers are not configured to boot from the CDROM. If you cannot boot from the CDROM, this is probably due to the boot order of your devices being incorrect. You can change this in the BIOS.

You enter the BIOS from the first screen you see when you turn your computer on. To enter your BIOS, most users here will press the DEL key.

Most Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, Sony & HP systems will press F2.

Compaq users will usually have to press F10.

IBM typically uses F1 or F2.

Other brands may have different keys to press to enter setup, F1, F2, Del, Tab and CTRL+S. If possible see the manual for your computer or motherboard. Also, the BIOS will usually display which button to press to "enter setup" during POST (if it flashes by too fast, press the Pause key).

When you enter the BIOS setup, you need to change the boot order. The CDROM should be setup before the Hard Drive. Each BIOS is different, but here is an example:




All this info and more can be found at http://www.geekstogo...ws-XP-t138.html

[maxd72]

Thank you. I'll try it when I get home tonight. I have tried htting various keys at different points in time to get out of the cycle I am in. It would be great if this works. I will verify that F-2 is the proper key for my Toshiba Satellite. When I start my computer I get a flash of a screen that says Toshiba and has some Windows insginia before it goes to the blank screen with the status bar below.

Should I hit F-2 when the Toshiba screen comes up, or when the computer is struggling to boot and showing a balnk screen with a status bar below?

None of the function keys have any impact when the error message is displayed.

Thanks again.

[computerwiz12890]

Start tapping the button that applies to your computer as soon as you press the power button to turn it on.

[maxd72]

Thanks for the help. Hitting the Escape key allowed me into BIOS to change the loading order. I did have to reformat the computer, losing the contents of my hard drive in the process, but at least I was able to reload windows and other software and get my computer running without paying someone to fix it.

[Retired Tech]

Thank You for letting us know

[Soonyow]

I encountered the exact same problems experienced by Maxd72 a couple of days ago with my relatively new laptop. I'm no computer geek, but I've been around computers since the 80s and I often find problems like this one seem complicated and perplexing at first. But there's usually one simple little thing that's causing it all. Anyway, out of frustration, I got caught up once again in the complexities of this problem. I went to the computer store where I bought the computer (it is still under warranty - a Compac Presario v2000 laptop). The expert salesmen told me with an air of unquestionable confidence that they would have to reformat the whole thing and reistall windows xp, plus it will take at least two weeks to fix. I went home more determined the ever to fix it myself. Lucky I have a desktop computer and immediatley set out to surf the message boards on the internet. One message board said it's often a RAM memory module (card) problem or your hard drive was physically damaged somehow. I immediately dug into the back of the laptop and gingerly removed the upgraded memory thingies (two 512 MB) and put the old ones (two 256 MB RAMs) back in. I turned it on and Voila! It now works perfectly, but with only 384 MB of available Ram. I backed up my hard drive data in one heck of a hurry. Now I have to take back and replace those RAM upgrades (an AZENRAM 512 and a Kingston 512), which were probably not compatible, contrary to the sales guy's recommendation. Thank goodness we have message boards to turn to for real support. Hope this helps someone else.