windows could not start because

[holmesy]

Hi all,i will start this off by saying my brother brought down his laptop asking if i could find out why it was running really slow (taking about 10 mins to open a file etc ) i just suspected the usual like he had a trojan or virus etc because he was using limewire and his kids were always on it,so a ran ewido spyware and it found nothing though it took 6 hours+ to do the scan,then i thought i would try and install hijack this to his lappy so i could post a log on here but it would not open the file after i downloaded it,i then tried running pc pitstop while i went out,when i came back i had this message kernel_data_inpage_error on a blue screen,so i restarted the laptop in safe mode but now get this message,windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt <windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe.
please reinstall a copy of the above file.So the question is guys what do i do now or how do i go about it ???? thx in advance..

[vaio]

Format and wipe away all the rubbish

[holmesy]

To format it,dont i have to be able to get into windows?? like i said i cant get past that message i was getting..windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt \system32\ntoskrnl.exe.
please reinstall a copy of the above file,do you mean i need to reinstall windows or maybe a repair ?? and i am posting these messages on my pc and not his because i cant access his ???

[Thrax]

Try this (http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=313), and if it doesn't work, try a repair install of Windows.

[holmesy]

Hello all again ,i tried the repair etc with no luck,now trying to do a reinstall but during formatting it sticks at 91% its done this twice now, any ideas guys...

[profdlp]

Give it a few passes of Memtest-86 (http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=58). A full test of the hard drive using the manufacturers test wouldn't be a bad idea, either.

[holmesy]

the thing is m8 i cant get into the windows because i am doing a fresh reinstall from scratch,been getting all sorts of errors like file\1386\system32\bios info.inf could not be loaded the error code is 47872 ,and i still cant get past 91% on the formatting

[Enverex]

Is there anyone elses PC you can use to make the needed disks with? I'd make sure you get the HD testing program from the manufacturer of the drive and run that too as said above if it's not passing formatting.

[Zain020]

Ok. Let me get this straight (Don't worry guys, You can delete my post if it's too devistating..). Your Bro's laptop is laggy, you tried doing a reinstall of Windows and got the message that the present Windows copy on the hard drive was bad, right? I tried the repair function and it didn't work for my problem and said Windows was perfect so I wiped everything using my WinXP Disk(Delete Patrition however I'm going by the fact you awready know this).

Sometimes if the intallation constantly stops, it might be your motherboard. My old AMD K-6 Died due to that cause, however if it's a new board then thats in the people-who-run-this-site's job to assess you. It might also be your CDROM or scratches. For me it was the total obvious answers that poped up. Howver that doesn't mean you should go out and spend another 3000 bucks or higher to get your bro a new Laptop.. I'm just giving as much info or posibilitys to help.

[profdlp]

Is there anyone elses PC you can use to make the needed disks with? I'd make sure you get the HD testing program from the manufacturer of the drive and run that too as said above if it's not passing formatting.
Exactly. :thumbsup:

holmesy, both those programs will run off a bootable floppy or CD. :)

[holmesy]

Not quite sure what to make of Zain020 comment,sounds to me he is taking the mick a bit.From step one i will tell you what happened, my brother brought down his laptop asking if i could find out why it had been running really slow and i said i woud run the virus checker you guys recommend and post a hjt log on here.
I ran the scan it found nothing after a 6 hour scan,i then ran another application called pc pit stop that i run on my pc quite a lot.After about 3 or 4 hours the screen just went blank turned itself off then restarted with error messages etc,it was at this point that i could no longer access windows through the normal start up proccedure or through safe mode or any of the other obvious ways of getting in.
I then tried doing the Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands which didnt work ,so then i tried the windows repair option and that went through the usual set up and i was thinking that everything looked to be going good, well that was until it starting saying it could not install a 1386 file, i think thats what it was called.
So then i had no other option other than to keep pressing cancel everytime it popped up just so that i could get through to the end of the installation,it was then after that that i decided to do a complete reinstall thinking that would sort it,but as you can see it didnt as it kept on stopping at 91% during the formatting.
So i now have no operating system installed on the lappy at all so for me its all a bit above my head now, and i am getting a bit puzzled by it all. As for the advice about getting the HD testing program from the manufacturer of the drive,how do i go about finding who the manufacturer of the hd is??? its a Fujitsu Siemens AMILO L1300..thx again

[Enverex]

You may want to start spreading your sentences out a bit as it's rather hard to read and may be one of the reasons you're not getting many responses. Although you seem to have written all the information, this is what people see: