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Get the fix for the boot error "<strong>NTOSKRNL.EXE is missing or corrupt</strong>" for <strong>Windows XP</strong>.
<h2>About "ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt"</h2>
[kbintro]
<h3>Description and Symptoms</h3>
The error messages, alerts, warnings, and symptoms below are tied to this error.
<h4>Symptom 1: ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt error screen on startup</h4>
The ntoskrnl.exe (short for Windows NT operating system kernel) is responsible for various system services such as hardware virtualization, process and memory management. Right after NTLDR and NTDETECT boot files are done with the basic loading subroutines and hardware detection, the control over the boot process is passed to ntoskrnl.exe so that the operating system could start loading. However, if ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt, then the following error appears and the boot process is halted.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-938 size-full" title="Ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt error screen" src="https://neosmart.net/wiki/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/ntoskrnl-exe-missing-corrupt.png" alt="Ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt error screen" width="980" height="250" />
<pre>Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
&lt;Windows root&gt;\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.</pre>
For more information on <a href="http://neosmart.net/wiki/mbr-boot-process/">how computers start up</a> and <a href="http://neosmart.net/wiki/windows-xp-boot-process/">how the Windows XP boot process works</a>, please refer to the respective pages in our extensive wiki and knowledgebase.
<h3>Causes of this Error</h3>
This error has been known to occur as a result of one or more of the following:
<h4>Cause 1: Invalid boot.ini configuration</h4>
An incorrectly configured boot.ini file may result in the Windows XP bootloader attempting to load Windows from the wrong drive or partition.

If NTLDR attempts to load Windows from the wrong partition, it will not find ntoskrnl.exe and this error may be occur.

Boot.ini may become misconfigured as a result of incorrectly installed software, a failed Windows update, virus infection, or an incomplete Windows upgrade.
<h4>Cause 2: Corrupt boot volume</h4>
Corruption of the boot partition on a Windows XP PC can cause this error to be present.

The boot drive can become corrupted as a result of an unsafe shutdown, sudden power loss, unsafe removal of a local or external disk, or physical disk damage and/or corruption.

A corrupted boot partition may occur on both NTFS and FAT32 filesystems and volumes.
<h4>Cause 3: Corrupted or deleted ntoskrnl.exe</h4>
As the error screen states, this error is sometimes caused by a lost or corrupted ntoskrnl.exe file on the Windows system partition. The system partition may or may not be the same as the boot partition (see above).

<code>\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe</code> may be deleted or corrupted as a result of unsafe shutdown, NTFS or FAT32 volume corruption, failed Windows updates, or virus infection.
<h4>Cause 4: PS/2 keyboard incorrect behaviour</h4>
Keyboard-related software issues are largely no longer a concern with newer USB/internal keyboards. However, older PCs that use a keyboard attached to the PC via a serial interface, could misinterpret the device's mapped memory as a storage volume, leading to boot problems like this one.
<h4>Cause 5: Missing drivers for hard disk controller</h4>
If Windows does not have the necessary drivers to access the Windows system files on the main partition, this error message can be seen. This can happen as a result of a failed driver update, changes to the hardware configuration, or changes to the hard disk configuration in the BIOS.
<h2>Fix NTOSKRNL.exe is missing or corrupt in Windows</h2>
<h3>Fix #1: Use Easy Recovery Essentials</h3>
[easyre error="NTOSKRNL.EXE is missing or corrupt" bootscreen="xp" guaranteed="true"]
<h3>Fix #2: Replace or recreate a corrupted/incorrect boot.ini</h3>
[partial name="partial_bootini"]

Here is an example of what the PC's console output should look like once the boot.ini file is restored:

[caption id="attachment_4071" align="alignnone" width="720"]<a href="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/WinXP-bootcfg-rebuild.png"><img class="wp-image-4071 size-full" src="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/WinXP-bootcfg-rebuild.png" alt="Restoring Boot.ini file" width="720" height="396" /></a> Restoring Boot.ini file[/caption]
<h3>Fix #3: Boot into Last Known Good Configuration</h3>
[setupcd]

[partial name="partial_lkgc"]
<h3>Fix #4: Disconnect PS/2 or serial keyboard</h3>
If the fix above doesn't work and the PC is using an old PS/2 keyboard, it's recommended to attempt disconnecting it and then restarting the computer to see if anything changes. Here are the steps to do it:
<ol>
 	<li>Shutdown the computer</li>
 	<li>Disconnect the keyboard</li>
 	<li>Power up the computer</li>
</ol>
Some users have reported that that the NTOSKRNL.exe error disappears after disconnecting the keyboard and then reconnecting it after a restart.
<h3>Fix #5: Restore the ntoskrnl.exe file</h3>
[partial name="partial_restorefile_xp" file="ntoskrnl.exe" command="expand D:\\i386\\ntoskrnl.ex_ C:\\Windows\\system32\\"]

Here is an example of what the PC's console output should look like once the ntoskrnl.exe file is restored:

[caption id="attachment_4072" align="alignnone" width="720"]<a href="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/WinXP-ntoskrnl.exe-restore.png"><img class="wp-image-4072 size-full" src="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/WinXP-ntoskrnl.exe-restore.png" alt="Restoring the ntoskrnl.exe file" width="720" height="396" /></a> Restoring the ntoskrnl.exe file[/caption]
<h3>Fix #6: Run chkdsk</h3>
[partial name="partial_chkdsk_xp"]

Here is an example of what the PC's console output should look like once the chkdsk.exe is complete:

[caption id="attachment_4068" align="alignnone" width="720"]<a href="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/WinXP_chkdsk.png"><img class="wp-image-4068 size-full" src="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2013/08/WinXP_chkdsk.png" alt="Windows XP chkdsk result screen" width="720" height="396" /></a> Windows XP chkdsk result screen[/caption]
<h2>More Information</h2>
<h3>Linked Entries</h3>
The errors below have been verified as being associated with or related to this problem:
<ul>
 	<li>On Windows Vista, 7, and 8 this error appears as <a href="http://neosmart.net/wiki/winload-exe-missing-corrupt/">Windows\system32\winload.exe is missing or corrupt</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/mbr-boot-process/">MBR boot process</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/windows-xp-boot-process/">Windows XP boot process</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/bootcfg/">bootcfg</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/chkdsk/">chkdsk</a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/advanced-boot-options-menu/">The Advanced Options menu</a></li>
</ul>
[partial name="partial_moreinfo" versions="xp,server2003"]