repairing xp home install with xp pro disk 3

[sazebac]

I have a laptop that has XP Home (not sure what SP it has)
basically it has a ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt or missing error and will not boot up.
I can't do a repair with the XP Home disc. I never get that option when I boot from the CD. I only have the option to install on the selcted partition.
However, when I boot from the XP Pro CD, it does give me the option to repair the selected install.
It basically looks like the repair option does not exist with the XP Home disc, so my question is, is it possible to repair the XP Home installation with an XP Pro disc? It seems like this would cause no problems, but wanted other opinions. Thanks

 

[linney]

If you are not very careful it will probably upgrade your Home to XP Pro rather than do a repair of Home (it can't repair it as they are different operating systems), then you will be in trouble with Licensing and Activation issues and be facing a clean install of Home.


See if this article helps with ntoskrnl.

314477 - Error Message: Windows Could Not Start Because of a Computer Disk Hardware Configuration

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314477

Just Loading the Recovery Console from the Pro CD should not be a problem (again make sure you don't slip into the upgrade routine).

 

[sazebac]

I should have specified that my only concern is , will the files be intact? Thanks.

 

[Wishdiak]

sazebac,

If you're careful, you probably won't lose data. No guarantees in this. Reading over the MSKB article that linney refers to, it appears that Windows XP Home has the Recovery Console option, as per Microsoft.

If not, step 3 in the MSKB article deals with replacing just the [red]ntoskrnl.exe[/red] file. Once you do that, you should be able to boot Windows XP from your hard drive.

Wishdiak

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[bcastner]

Once you enter the CD Key it will fail the PID test. It is just not possible without manipulating the CD PID to allow XP Pro to upgrade XP Home. It just will not happen.

 

[bcastner]

Correction: It is not possible to repair XP Home with XP Pro. An upgrade is possible.

 

[Wishdiak]

I should have specified that my only concern is , will the files be intact? Thanks.

If you're positive that Windows XP Home doesn't give you the option to get to the recovery console, and

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314477

explicitly states that it does, then the question is "What files do you mean?"

You always run some risk of data loss.



Wishdiak

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[sazebac]

Home does have the recovery console, but I was looking for the repair option that Pro has.
Since I can't boot the computer up at all, I'm trying to find the boot.ini file by using the recovery console but can't seem to find it on the computer that will not boot up. I've looked in c:\windows and c:\windows\system32 and it's not in either of these folders. I also did a search on my desktop and a search for this file turned up nothing. Where exactly is this boot.ini file? Thanks

 

[Wishdiak]

sazebac,

If you can get to the recovery console in Windows XP Home, then Method 3 from the MSKB article (quoted below) should do the trick.

Start the computer by using your Windows XP CD-ROM. Press any key to boot from the CD.
After the setup files are finished loading press R to repair using Recovery Console.
When you are in the recovery console, select the installation to log on to (usually number 1), and then press ENTER.
Login to the Administrator account by typing the password for this account, and then press ENTER.
At the recovery console command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

For Uni-Processor systems:
expand cd-rom:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ drive:\Windows\system32

For Multi-Processor systems:
expand cd-rom:\i386\ntkrnlmp.ex_ drive:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

Cd-rom is the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, and drive is the drive letter of the hard disk on which windows is installed.
If you receive a prompt to overwrite the file, press Y.
Type exit, and press ENTER at the command prompt.

Wishdiak

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[linney]

Your boot.ini file is a hidden, system, and read only file, located in the root of your System drive (normally C Drive).

Bootcfg is used to manipulate the Boot.ini for boot configuration and recovery (via Recovery Console).

A Discussion About the Bootcfg Command and Its Uses

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q291/9/80.asp

http://www.wown.com/j_helmig/wxprcons.htm

I thought Windows was saying that the "ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt or missing" have you fixed that up with the first link I gave you at the top of the page?

 

[sazebac]

Hi, Linney. I was able to copy the ntoskrnl.exe file to system32 folder on the hard drive. I was not able to use the XP Home disc to do this as when I tried to go into recovery console it asked me for the admin password. But this computer has none that I know of. The reason being that when I went into recovery console using an XP Pro disc, I was able to bypass the password prompt just by hitting enter.
So I had to use this bootable cd-rom that gives you a fully working bootable XP OS albeit very stripped down. I was able to use it to copy the ntoskrnl file.

But now the compuer will not even go into BIOS. It wants to go straight to the DVD-ROM for some reason, and I can't change the boot order.

 

[sazebac]

I am able to get into the BIOS now and the regular "ntoskrnl is corrupt or missing" is coming up again. Not sure why the error went away and the pc would not go into bios.

 

[linney]

308402 - 'The Password Is Not Valid' Error Message Appears When You Log On to Recovery Console in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308402&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

When it comes to replacing the ntoskrnl.exe the version on a Home CD and Pro CD are identical. However over time with various updates etc. they can become different versions and vary slightly from any original on any CD. Therefor if you can, replace the Home version from your most recent updated version of ntoskrnl.exe which should be found in the DllCache folder of Home.

If you still have problems after that then retry your original idea of a repair install with the Home CD. Make sure you follow the prompts correctly.

Try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

A couple of reasons why that might not work for you would be that Windows Home has determined that your installation is not repairable and requires a clean install. Or you are using an OEM recovery disk and not a retail Home CD, with only the ability to return to the factory condition of Home.