The first set of specific Windows problems we’ll discuss are those that can be traced to missing,
corrupt, or misconfigured files. These issues can cause consternation to no end because they
can be troublesome to fix. Thankfully, the error message usually gives an indication of which
file is the problem.
In this section, you will learn about some of the various file-related problems that can
occur in Windows, as well as their solutions. These problems can be categorized into four
main areas:
System files not found
Configuration file issues
Swap file issues
Boot issues
Because the most easily fixed problems are related to missing system files, that’s the next
topic we’ll cover.
System Files Not Found
Every operating system or operating environment has certain key system files that must be
present in order for it to function. If these files are missing or corrupt, the OS will cease to function
properly. Files can be deleted by accident rather easily, so it’s important to know what
these system files are, where they are located, and how to replace them.
When you boot, the presence of the system files is checked, and each file is loaded. If you
remember, the computer’s BIOS first checks the PC’s hardware and then looks for a boot sector
on one of the disks and loads the OS found in that boot sector. However, if the computer
can’t find a boot sector with an OS installed on any of the disks, it displays an error similar
to the following:
No operating system found
This error means the computer’s BIOS checked all the drives it knew about and couldn’t find
any disk with a bootable sector. This could be due to any number of reasons, including these:
An operating system wasn’t installed.
The boot sector has been corrupted.
The boot files have been corrupted.
Thankfully, there are a couple of solutions to these problems. First, if the file or files
are missing, copy them from the original setup diskettes or CD-ROM, or copy them from a
backup (assuming you have one). The same holds true if you have a corrupt file, except you
must delete the corrupt file first and then replace it with a new copy.
These same concepts hold true for another system file–related problem:
Missing NTLDR
This error means that the NTLDR file is either missing or corrupt. Just replace it with a fresh
copy. The error should go away, and the computer will function properly. In the worst-case
scenario, an OS reinstall should take care of these issues.
Configuration File Issues
In older versions of Windows, this was a common problem because users could easily edit their
configuration files. Now, the Windows Registry stores nearly every configuration parameter
available, but on many computers it’s not secured: People can edit it. And worse yet, its structure
is incredibly complex and there’s no "undo" feature or Save button. Once you delete
something, it’s immediately gone. In addition, most software installation programs modify the
Registry when a new program is installed. An error you might see is this:
A device referenced in the Registry can not be found
If you just added hardware, then it might make sense that the particular piece of hardware or
its driver might be causing the problem. If not, then you would have to use the Registry Editor
(REGEDIT.EXE or REGEDT32.EXE) to search for corrupt or invalid entries.
Swap File Issues
Windows uses swap files (also called page files or paging files) to increase the amount of usable
memory by using hard-disk space as memory. However, sometimes problems can occur when
a computer doesn’t have enough disk space to make a proper swap file. Because Windows
relies on swap files for proper operation, if a swap file isn’t big enough, Windows will slow
down and start running out of usable memory. All sorts of memory-related problems can stem
from swap files that are incorrect or too small. Symptoms of swap-file problems include an
extremely slow system and a disk that is constantly being accessed. This condition, known as
hard disk thrashing, occurs because Windows doesn’t have enough memory to contain all the
programs that are running, and there isn’t enough disk space for a swap file to contain them
all. This situation causes Windows to swap between memory and the hard disk.
The solution to this problem is to first free up some disk space. With hard drives big
and cheap these days, the easiest thing to do is install a bigger hard disk. If that solution isn’t
practical, you must delete enough unused files that the swap file can be made large enough to
be functional.
Windows Boot Issues
Troubleshooting Windows boot issues is another type of Windows troubleshooting that is
commonly performed. To understand Windows boot issues, you must first understand the
Windows boot process, which was described a few sections ago.
Let’s take a brief look at some common Windows 2000/XP boot errors, what might be
causing them, and how to solve them:
Invalid Boot Disk You get the Invalid Boot Disk error when the BIOS finds a partition that
could be bootable but is missing the essential system files. You can correct this problem by
reinstalling the OS.
Operating System Not Found This error means exactly what it says. Essentially, the system
could not find an OS, or even a valid boot partition, on any of the boot devices (floppy, hard
disk, or CD-ROM). You will get this error on a brand-new computer that you have just built,
until you install the OS.
Inaccessible Boot Device If, on bootup, you receive an error that states STOP: 0x0000007B
Inaccessible Boot Device, you may have one of several problems. The most common is that
Windows could not load the driver for the disk controller on the boot device. This could be
because it is the wrong driver or because the disk controller is conflicting with some other
hardware in the system.
Missing NTLDR As you’ve learned, NTLDR is relied on heavily during the boot process. If it
is missing or corrupted, Windows NT will not be able to boot, and you’ll get an error similar
to Can’t find NTLDR.
On the other hand, if you get an error such as NTOSKRNL.EXE missing or corrupt on
bootup, it may be an error in the BOOT.INI file. This is a common occurrence if you have
improperly used the multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft
Windows XP Professional" syntax for partition entries or had the partition table modified
in a multidisk setup. If these entries are correct, the NTOSKRNL.EXE file may be corrupt or missing.
Boot from a startup disk and replace the file from the setup disks or CD-ROM.
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