Intermittent error on boot up 'ntoskrnl missing or corrupt'

I had a PC running WinXP Pro which suddenly started to display
'system32\HAL.dll missing or corrupt' errors on booting. I extracted
the file but continued to experience the problem. I reinstalled WinXP
over the top and failed to stabilize the system. I run AVG 7 Antivirus
and SpyBot and feel that the PC is relatively well protected.

I bit the bullet and formatted the system and installed Windows 2003
Standard server. All runs fine unless I power the machine off for
period of more than 2 hours. On rebooting, I get the
'system32\ntoskrnl.dll file missing or corrupt' error. If the machine
is left running at the command prompt for 5 minutes or more, a warm
reboot will permit it to boot and run with no problems.

Given this pattern, I suspect a problem with some hardware component or
the BIOS battery. Does anyone have any clues in how to apprach this. To
me, this is not a virus, nor an operating system issue (no changes have
been made the the system hardware). No recent software additions were
made.

I'd look at the drive controller or the disks.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Grant_S" wrote:
|I had a PC running WinXP Pro which suddenly started to display
| 'system32\HAL.dll missing or corrupt' errors on booting. I extracted
| the file but continued to experience the problem. I reinstalled WinXP
| over the top and failed to stabilize the system. I run AVG 7 Antivirus
| and SpyBot and feel that the PC is relatively well protected.
|
| I bit the bullet and formatted the system and installed Windows 2003
| Standard server. All runs fine unless I power the machine off for
| period of more than 2 hours. On rebooting, I get the
| 'system32\ntoskrnl.dll file missing or corrupt' error. If the machine
| is left running at the command prompt for 5 minutes or more, a warm
| reboot will permit it to boot and run with no problems.
|
| Given this pattern, I suspect a problem with some hardware component or
| the BIOS battery. Does anyone have any clues in how to apprach this. To
| me, this is not a virus, nor an operating system issue (no changes have
| been made the the system hardware). No recent software additions were
| made.
|

[TheStar]

just spent a fortune with a complete overhaul of my system and solved varius boot problems with the removal of the cdrom/dvd drive on the master IDE cable

previusly i had 2 PATA connectors but on the new mb i only had one so i did the nono and used same cable for both harddrive and cdrom

after alot of problems and installations

system missing
and the hanging of the system at bootup
the infamus ntoskrnl missing or corrupt

solved with only having Harddrive installed on the cable..
will probably go back to testing to see if the problem starts again with the new ata100 cables

:) will backup the sata raid now that i am able to boot again and reinstall xp on raid drives, and only have the cdrom/dvd on pata cable

hope this answer helped you
TS

(know its an old thread but i had to post it for future visitors with same problem)