Help my laptop is on the fritz. XP starts up normally. goes to the start xp professinal or xp setup. Click on xp professional; click on start normally. then the the message "windows could not start because the following file is missintg or corrup: System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys "You can attempt to repair this file bystarting Windows setup using the original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair." I used a oringinal setup cd but it still just goes back to that screen. This is a laptop older model. I'm really stuck. Please help

NTFS.sys is the file that tells windows how to understand the file system you'r using. Basically what's happening is that your operating system can no longer understand the arrangement of bits and bytes on your hard drive. It can't tell where the files start and end, etc.... This could be caused by a virus, poorly written software, software not safe for use with XP, etc... Your best hope of recovery is to reinstall windows without formatting the disk. It will overwrite the "Windows" folder but not the "Documents and Settings" folder, so you should be able to go in and recover your data. Other files on the HD like C:\taxreturn (for example) will also not be destroyed by the re-install. This works, I know. I had to do this a few months ago when my system crashed. The other possibility is that your Hard Drive is corrupt. If that is the case you should seek out the diagnostic tools from the manufacturers website, you might be able so save the drive. They're usually made for floppies so grabbing them from the library should work. hope this helps.

You mentioned that you used a original windows setup cd. Did you use the exact cd that was used way back when? If not, that is your problem.

Actuall she said the error message suggested she use the install CD. I don't think Crecia attempted to restore/repair using the installation CD, here's why: If you havent' created the "System Restore Disks" (4 of them I think), with the backup utility, you can't do a system recovery from any install CD. If you try you will get as far as the "insert the system restore disk #1" prompt and no further. Without those disks the restore/repair never occured, hence no damage was done by her and the install CD.

From Microsoft: To resolve this problem, you must replace the missing or corrupted Ntfs.sys file. To do so, follow these steps: Start your computer with the Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive. You are prompted with the following option: To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R When you are prompted with this option, press R to select it. 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, then the file was missing. 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 that you installed Windows XP to. Remove the Windows XP CD from your CD-ROM drive, type quit, and then press ENTER to quit the Recovery Console. Restart Windows XP