Today I was scheduled to repair Toshiba Satellite Pro M10-S405 laptop with a “software problem”. The customer complained that he is getting the following error right after he turns on his laptop.
ERROR
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
System32\Drivers\ntfs.sys
I started the laptop and got the above mentioned error right away. Restarted it again and on startup a different file was missing:
System32\Drivers\pci.sys
If you search on the internet for these errors you will find a lot of tips how to fix it. Unfortunately, on most websites this error is mentioned only as a software problem. They say that you can fix it if you replace corrupted files from a Windows CD using a recovery console. I guess in some cases you can fix the problem by replacing corrupted files, but from my experience I know that these kinds of errors are very often caused by a faulty memory module.
I started testing the memory on the laptop with Memtest 86+ utility and the memory failed right away. The laptop had 2 memory sticks installed. I tried to eliminate a bad stick by removing and installing modules one by one into different slots on the system board. The same pattern occurred on startup:
- the laptop booted to Windows fine when only slot 1 was populated (tried both memory sticks)
- the laptop wouldn’t boot at all (there were no video) when only slot 2 was populated
- the laptop booted with a missing file error when both memory slots were populated
Unfortunately, it this case the error was caused by a defective memory slot on the system board, not just a bad memory stick. To fix the problem I had to replace the entire system board.
Conclusion: if you get a missing file error on startup and replacing the corrupted file doesn’t help, check the memory sticks on your laptop.
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December 26th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
my laptop works fine. until i turned it off directly because it froze. when i turned it back on it says “windows could not start because a file is missing or corrupt:
c:/windows/system32/config/system. (it happened on the first day i bought my laptop. dang!!!!!) then i rebooted in safe mode and it said it again! in safe mode!
please help
May 15th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
Kris,
I laughed at people who spilled a liquid on their laptop, until I did it myself.
1 tpsp of coffee and my keyboard is gone forever. Liquid spills are very unpredictable and liquid spill diagnostic is pretty expensive. If you are lucky, only the keyboard has to be replaced. If not, then you can face the system board replacement.
If after 2 weeks everything functions properly, except the keyboard, then most likely you are lucky and only the keyboard has to be replaced.
May 15th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
it is so nice to know that i am not the only one dumping liquids into a laptop! i spilled a bit of water (maybe more like a tbsp) onto my keyboard about 2 weeks ago. the only damage from what i can tell is the keyboard. what’s involved in repairing it or is it repairable?
May 10th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
Haresh,
Most likely you cannot use the HP optical drive because it’s configured differently. Most laptop optical drives work in cable select mode (CSEL). This mode is set at factory through firmware. Some Toshiba laptops require the optical drive to be set to master-slave mode (M/S). If your laptop requires a M/S drive and you install a CSEL drive, then it might be not detected by the BIOS or you can get IDE#1 error on startup.
“System file is corrupt or missing” error message can be caused by a failing hard drive or a bad memory stick. Test the hard drive and try to replace the memory.
May 10th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
Today I had this problem with my computer. At first I thought that it was HDD problem – tried to use several tools for HDD. But failed to do anything. Then I searched on the internet and the first thing that I found was this comment. So, I took away the first memory…. and computer booted!!!! Thanks a lot to author! you are the MAN!
May 10th, 2006 at 1:01 am
I have Toshiba Satellite A25. my combo box (dvd r, cd rw) does not work and i wanted to replace it. after fixing it with compatible HP dvdr , it gives IDE#1 error.
My problem started with error message as system file corrupt/missing on boot up. Got message to insert Original set up CD into the drive and press r for recovery on the first screen. unfortunately my dvd drive would not read the CD requiring it to be replaced. With this old-original Dvdr it is only problem of reading my CD, whereas after replacing it with new combo, it gives IDE#1 error.
Without functioning of DVD drive, my Original recovery Cd of Toshiba is not read and hence problem continues.
Help and suggestion welcome.
thx
May 3rd, 2006 at 6:59 pm
I was having similar weird problems after a booting a Toshiba Tecra A3 laptop. It would intermittently blue screen, freeze or restart. I suspected memory or a harddrive fault but these tested out fine. After a lot of poking about the ac adapter suddently died and refused to power the laptop. After replacing the AC adaptor all the problems dissapeared. Power is often enough the cause of the most obscure PC and laptop problems!
April 25th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
I recently have had the problem of turning on my Toshiba Satellite, and it goes compltely black, then eventually it says that it could not be started because the WIndows was corrupted or missing.
April 23rd, 2006 at 11:12 pm
Hi Rich,
Recently I spilled some coffee on my keyboard (half a tee spoon) and I had to replace it.
That is amazing! Your laptop still works after a cup of coffee!
Liquid spills are very unpredictable. Any part could be damaged after the spill, even the part not affected by liquid directly. Yes it is possible that your laptop will work properly after you replace the memory module, but most likely the system board was damaged and causing the problem.
If you take the laptop to a laptop repair shop for a liquid spill diagnostics, most likely they will offer to you at least replacing the system board and the keyboard. It might be more expensive to fix the laptop then to buy a new one. A cup of coffee – that’s a lot!
April 23rd, 2006 at 10:15 am
Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite L25 (S1216) and a full cup of coffee was spilled into the keyboard and after a week of drying out, I got it to boot up and now the HD runs really slow at times (not all the time) and everytime I shut it down it hangs after the saving your settings screen and apon rebooting the system it always says…
“Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
System32\Drivers\ntosknrl.exe”
But if I never shut it off, it will always work. Is this a memory problem or do I now own an expensive paperweight?
Thanks,
Rich