I have a Dell Inspiron 1000 Laptop that was new in Feb. '05. When I turn it on I get a error telling me ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt or missing and Windows will not start. I have recieved the XP CD from Dell and would like to know if there is a way to save (or keep from deleting) the digital pictures on the hard drive before booting from the CD. What are or will be my options?

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP People say that data will not be lost.

Try using the recovery console. You need to know wich service pack you have in your computer... Place the CD into the drive and boot from it... on the menu Select Repair (Press R) Select the operative system partition (usually 1) and type your admin password (sometimes just hit enter if you didn't set one before) Once there follow the next steps: 1.- cd "c:\windows\driver cache\i386" (Here you can use "dir" to see wich service pack you have... it will be like spN.cab) IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS SERVICE PACK 1: 2.- expand sp1.cab -F:ntoskrnl.exe c:\windows\system32 IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS SERVICE PACK 2: 2.- expand sp2.cab -F:ntoskrnl.exe c:\windows\system32 NOTE: If you are prompted to overwrite the file, type y and then enter. Restart the machine and try again ----- GK-One @ Undernet <gk-one@irchelper.org> #IRCayuda Founding Member