Recognizing and Resolving Common Operational

Fixing Boot Errors
If the files that are needed to boot the operating system aren’t present and accounted for, you
will get an error message at boot. But not all files are needed for every boot situation. For
example, if you don’t use a SCSI boot drive, you don’t need the NTBOOTDD.SYS file.
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
BIOS 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. Other causes are a corrupted boot sector or boot files.
There are a couple of solutions to the Invalid Boot Disk and Operating System Not Found 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 files first, and then replace them with new copies.
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 or Missing or Corrupt NTOSKRNL.EXE 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 to a startup disk and replace the file from the setup disks or CD-ROM.