Last nite while using the computer, the system just died and when I rebooted the system says missing or corrupt ntoskrnl.exe file and asks for the XP disk. Of course I have one of those systems with no disk (on separate partition). I tried to boot to safe mode and lastknown good cofiguration but no boot. Should I get another stick of memory (was going to do that soon anyway) and swap it? Can I borrow an XP CD from someone to fix this corrupt or missing file..does it have to be XP Home or could it be Professional? Do ypu think this is a hardware problem? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you Linda I have a system that I had bought from one of those computer outfits in Cleveland. It has a PCchips motherboard and an AMD 1.5 processor. The system just completely freezes at least once a day.

you should have a restore disk. just boot to it if you have one. if you don't have a restore disk you will probably have to do a complete reinstall of your system. just putting a friend's disk in to try to fix it won't work as there is a serial # encrypted in the disk and if it isn't the correct disk it won't work!

This is a boot.ini corruption and below is a method to fix it but you must have an XP cd and borrowing one might get you through an ordinary missing file, but this course takes you through the reocery console where I doubt another cd will work, and if it did you would never be able to reactivate it anyway. http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000648.htm never buy "one of those pc's without a Windows CD", your only choice now is reformat and start from scratch, or buy an XP CD which everyone should have anyway, and use it to recover, either Home or Pro will do,but it has to be the version you currently have loaded, and change the product code with it as you go.

You don't need to restore, or format. You do need "A" windows xp cd. Depends on the version. First version, 2nd version had service pack 1 and or 1a and newest version with service pack2. Yours probably being a newer machine should have service pack 2. Find a win xp cd and do a repair. If your license is legit, than the cd will work. I repair lots of windows, and as long as the person has a license, the cd will work.

VTech, you are right repair will work, but you have to put product code in and that will change the product code to the other person's cd and that will require activation, which only llies will get you through with Ms. Is it so wrong to ask he buys CD, which everyone with a pc should have anyway, and the mfgr should be prevented from not providing when they sell a machine?