missing kernel file...

[Jae]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

Hi. I am hoping someone might be able to help me...

Background: I worked at a big firm, the tech dept
installed NT 4.0 on my computer so I could log on
from home... Useful while I was working there...
bad idea now that I left. Because I don't have
any of the NT system disks...

Problem: I tried to open a disk in my A:/ drive.
The computer froze. Waited for a while; nothing.
Had to manually re-boot... But, when turned the
computer back on, this is the message i get:

"A kernel file is missing from the disk.
Insert a system diskette and restart the system."

The problem, as suggested above, is that I don't
have an NT system disk... is there ANYTHING that
I might be able to do without one? I would hate
to have to buy one because I have a feeling theyre
quite expensive, since thry're usually for large
companies, and plus, complicated to install and
I'm not a computer technician. So I was thinking
to buy Windows XP... but I have a sinking feeling
that installing XP would write over my data...

If anyone has any ideas or help they could provide
me, it would be much, much appreciated.

Thank you,
Jae

 

[Calvin]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

Hi Jae,

you did pull the floppy disk you were trying to read out of the drive before you
rebooted ? It sounds very much like the PC is now trying to boot from it, hence
the error message.

If it is not this obvious problem, can you give us some more detail of what
state the machine is at ie: what size Hard Disk, organised how, (partitions
etc...) what service Pack level NT4 is up to, and if you have done anything else
to the machine recently that cause the problem.

Calvin.

 

[Jae]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

Thanks for your reply Calvin.

Well, it's not as simple as the disk still in the A drive;
I wish...

No, unfortunately I'm afraid either a virus* was on the
disk I inserted, or perhaps, as you suggested, I might
have removed something critical. I had three browser
programs installed (IE, Netscape, @Home), and recently
removed @Home... don't think I rebooted since then...
maybe I deleted something? I don't think I would have
touched something as critical as a root file; I didnt
touch anything in the WinNT folder.

*as far as virus protection, I have the Avast home edition
system installed, as well as I run Ad-Ware and SpyWare
Blaster frequently. I used to have Norton but the
databases were outdated so I disabled it.


As to the Service pack, I must admit I forget... the last
time I was wroking at my firm was Nov 2001; so the latest
service pack at that time would have been installed;
nothing since then...

FYI- the machine is a COMPAQ DeskPro Pentium III.


The problem seems to be that the machine does not even
make it to the Windows NT Op system... As soon as one
turns it on, it flashes the COMPQ welcome screen, and then
immediately comes a black screen, with the "kernel"
message. So it doesnt even appear to hit the WinNT Op
system ... ie, I dont get a "Windows" screen up before
the "kernel" message...


I hope some of the above information helps... but I am
depressed in feeling that there's nothing to do without
the NT disks... and I guess right now my biggest fear is
losing my data that is on the computer by maybe
overwriting if I tried to install a new Op system...

Thank you for any assiatnce or guidance you might be able
to provide.

Jae

>-----Original Message-----
>Hi Jae,
>
>you did pull the floppy disk you were trying to read out
of the drive before you
>rebooted ? It sounds very much like the PC is now trying
to boot from it, hence
>the error message.
>
>If it is not this obvious problem, can you give us some
more detail of what
>state the machine is at ie: what size Hard Disk,
organised how, (partitions
>etc...) what service Pack level NT4 is up to, and if you
have done anything else
>to the machine recently that cause the problem.
>
>Calvin.
>.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

In article <12dd01c49c65$9ac49160$a301280a@phx.gbl>, xe77
<xe77@yahoooo.com> writes
>I can't determine the cause of this problem.
>Is it possible that the computer has a boot sector virus?
>Unfortunately I don't recognize the error message.
>Do you get the message:
>"Press Space NOW to invoke Last Known Good"?
>or the Windows NT Choices Menu? (ie.
>"OS Loader 4.00
>Please select the operating system to start: ....."
>screen?
>Do you get "NTDETECT Checking Hardware"?
>
It appears to be generated by setupdd.sys :
"A disk read error occurred.
<bh:00>)<bh:00>A kernel file is missing from the disk.
<bh:00>%<bh:00>A kernel file is too discontiguous.
<bh:00>3<bh:00>Insert a system diskette and restart the system."

I'm not too familiar with the NT4 load sequence so can't go from there
with any confidence, but it is interesting as to what it's looking for
and where it expects to find it, and whether this freeze has caused a
reversion to a default path which no longer exists.
I'd have a look in boot.ini and see what's there.
>BTW You can easily obtain Windows NT installation discs on
>EBay for 15$, if that helps.
>
Well worth it!
--
Roger Hunt

 

[Calvin]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

Hi Jae,

It sounds, from your description, that whatever is going on occurs VERY early in
the boot process. To clarify, you aren't getting even the boot loader screen or
the 'NTDetect is .....' messages on the first text screen before NT starts ?

I doubt that removing an application could break the system that badly, but it
is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Can you give me more detail on how the NT4 was installed, what size HDD,
partitioned how etc, etc...

At 2001, if they were efficient, you would have been up to SP6a, but the later
security rollups and hotfixes most likely won't be there, this does make you
rather vulnerable to recent problems like the 'Blaster' worm :-(

I gather this machine is rarely rebooted? This raises the added problem of what
is causing your current problems could be anything that has happened since the
last reboot, so it may take so doing to sort out what is going on.

Ordinarily I would have suggested a parallel install of NT4 to give you full
access to the partitions on the HDD to permit repairs, but if you don't have the
install CD etc, this could prove to be difficult :-(

Please, even if you do manage to get your hands on an install, resist the
temptation to use any of the 'repair' processes offered using the CD and/or ERD,
these activities usually break the machine irreparably.

Calvin.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

I can't determine the cause of this problem.
Is it possible that the computer has a boot sector virus?
Unfortunately I don't recognize the error message.
Do you get the message:
"Press Space NOW to invoke Last Known Good"?
or the Windows NT Choices Menu? (ie.
"OS Loader 4.00
Please select the operating system to start: ....."
screen?
Do you get "NTDETECT Checking Hardware"?

BTW You can easily obtain Windows NT installation discs on
EBay for 15$, if that helps.



>-----Original Message-----
>Hi Jae,
>
>It sounds, from your description, that whatever is going
on occurs VERY early in
>the boot process. To clarify, you aren't getting even the
boot loader screen or
>the 'NTDetect is .....' messages on the first text screen
before NT starts ?
>
>I doubt that removing an application could break the
system that badly, but it
>is not beyond the realm of possibility.
>
>Can you give me more detail on how the NT4 was installed,
what size HDD,
>partitioned how etc, etc...
>
>At 2001, if they were efficient, you would have been up to
SP6a, but the later
>security rollups and hotfixes most likely won't be there,
this does make you
>rather vulnerable to recent problems like the 'Blaster'
worm :-(
>
>I gather this machine is rarely rebooted? This raises the
added problem of what
>is causing your current problems could be anything that
has happened since the
>last reboot, so it may take so doing to sort out what is
going on.
>
>Ordinarily I would have suggested a parallel install of
NT4 to give you full
>access to the partitions on the HDD to permit repairs, but
if you don't have the
>install CD etc, this could prove to be difficult :-(
>
>Please, even if you do manage to get your hands on an
install, resist the
>temptation to use any of the 'repair' processes offered
using the CD and/or ERD,
>these activities usually break the machine irreparably.
>
>Calvin.
>.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

This almost seems like a file is too fragmented for the
Kernel to load.
First try defragging the hard drive.
You may need to install it in another computer first to
read the drive and defragment it.

>-----Original Message-----
>In article <12dd01c49c65$9ac49160$a301280a@phx.gbl>, xe77
><xe77@yahoooo.com> writes
>>I can't determine the cause of this problem.
>>Is it possible that the computer has a boot sector virus?
>>Unfortunately I don't recognize the error message.
>>Do you get the message:
>>"Press Space NOW to invoke Last Known Good"?
>>or the Windows NT Choices Menu? (ie.
>>"OS Loader 4.00
>>Please select the operating system to start: ....."
>>screen?
>>Do you get "NTDETECT Checking Hardware"?
>>
>It appears to be generated by setupdd.sys :
>"A disk read error occurred.
><bh:00>)<bh:00>A kernel file is missing from the disk.
><bh:00>%<bh:00>A kernel file is too discontiguous.
><bh:00>3<bh:00>Insert a system diskette and restart the
system."
>
>I'm not too familiar with the NT4 load sequence so can't
go from there
>with any confidence, but it is interesting as to what it's
looking for
>and where it expects to find it, and whether this freeze
has caused a
>reversion to a default path which no longer exists.
>I'd have a look in boot.ini and see what's there.
>>BTW You can easily obtain Windows NT installation discs on
>>EBay for 15$, if that helps.
>>
>Well worth it!
>--
>Roger Hunt
>.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

In article <355501c49d03$c6116cf0$a601280a@phx.gbl>, xe77
<xe77@yahoooooo.com> writes
>This almost seems like a file is too fragmented for the
>Kernel to load.
>First try defragging the hard drive.
>You may need to install it in another computer first to
>read the drive and defragment it.
>
Oh Sorry!
I was sloppy with my copy/paste and included the text of a bunch of
messages rather than the relevant strings, namely :
>A kernel file is missing from the disk.
>Insert a system diskette and restart the
>system."

I'd love to know what's in boot.ini though.
--
Roger Hunt

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.setup (More info?)

Does that mean that's the only text you get when you start up?

It could be a corrupted BOOT.INI file.
Yours should look something like this...
You can copy and paste this text to create a new BOOT.INI
Please the file in C:\, give it hidden and system and
read-only attributes.

[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT
Workstation Version 4.00"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows NT
Workstation Version 4.00 [VGA mode]" /basevideo /sos







>-----Original Message-----
>In article <12dd01c49c65$9ac49160$a301280a@phx.gbl>, xe77
><xe77@yahoooo.com> writes
>>I can't determine the cause of this problem.
>>Is it possible that the computer has a boot sector virus?
>>Unfortunately I don't recognize the error message.
>>Do you get the message:
>>"Press Space NOW to invoke Last Known Good"?
>>or the Windows NT Choices Menu? (ie.
>>"OS Loader 4.00
>>Please select the operating system to start: ....."
>>screen?
>>Do you get "NTDETECT Checking Hardware"?
>>
>It appears to be generated by setupdd.sys :
>"A disk read error occurred.
><bh:00>)<bh:00>A kernel file is missing from the disk.
><bh:00>%<bh:00>A kernel file is too discontiguous.
><bh:00>3<bh:00>Insert a system diskette and restart the
system."
>
>I'm not too familiar with the NT4 load sequence so can't
go from there
>with any confidence, but it is interesting as to what it's
looking for
>and where it expects to find it, and whether this freeze
has caused a
>reversion to a default path which no longer exists.
>I'd have a look in boot.ini and see what's there.
>>BTW You can easily obtain Windows NT installation discs on
>>EBay for 15$, if that helps.
>>
>Well worth it!
>--
>Roger Hunt
>.
>