Member Avatar for ect76

Hi all! Having a bit of trouble with a Compaq Presario 700 Laptop. It's been working fine the whole time I've had it until tonight - I installed Flight Simulator 2004, launched it, found it ran badly, updated the graphics drivers, found flight sim played a lot better, played it for a while and then closed the lid on the laptop to go watch something on TV. (Set to do nothing when I close the lid). When I opened the lid again, it was sitting on a BSOD. It gives me BSODs all the time, which I had chalked up to overheating (a common problem on these things). Now, on booting it will not load windows. I get the Compaq BIOS splash screen, then blank. Nothing. If I hit F8, I can get the XP Boot menu. On selecting Most Recent Settings that Worked, I get the blank screen where it sits for ages then reboots itself. If I select Safe Mode, I get:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows Root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Before I attempt to reformat and reinstall XP, anyone got any ideas? I personally think hard drive failure, but I want some other opinions too. It's a 40gb Seagate Momentus that's in it.

Sorry for the rather long winded first post, but any help, comments, suggestions much appreciated!

Many thanks,
Ewan.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by mechbas

Dani AI

Generated

As confirmed by replacing the drive, these symptoms most commonly point to a failing hard disk rather than a pure Windows problem. Repeated BSODs followed by a boot-time “missing/corrupt system file” message and a Windows setup or format that stalls late in the process is a classic drive-failure pattern. ’s prompt toward diagnostics was on the right track — it’s worth doing a few quick checks before committing to a new drive or a full reinstall.

Useful diagnostic and recovery steps (practical order):

  • Confirm the BIOS sees the drive and that the drive model/size looks correct; reseat the drive and ribbon/cable if possible.

  • Run MemTest86+ from a bootable USB to rule out RAM-caused corruption (memory errors can mimic disk failure).

  • Boot a Linux live USB (or recovery/rescue disk) to see if the partition mounts and to copy important files off the disk. If files are flaky, image the disk to another drive using a tool that tolerates bad sectors (e.g., ddrescue).

  • Run the drive maker’s bootable diagnostics / SMART tests (short and long). If SMART or surface tests report reallocated sectors or read errors, plan to replace the drive.

  • If you want to try repair, use Windows Recovery Console / repair environment to run:

    chkdsk c: /r
fixboot c:
fixmbr
bootcfg /rebuild

    and, if a system file really is missing, expand the file from the installation media (drive letters may differ in recovery mode).

Practical notes and cautions:

  • If diagnostics show surface errors or SMART failures, replace the drive and recover data from the image rather than repeatedly trying repairs.
  • For older laptops, confirm replacement drive interface and physical height (PATA vs SATA, 7mm vs 9.5mm) before buying.
  • After recovery, set up regular backups and keep cooling vents cleaned — both reduce the chance of repeat failures.

Quick checklist: BIOS detect → memtest → boot live USB → image/salvage if needed → run vendor diagnostics → chkdsk/Recovery Console if diagnostics clean → replace drive if SMART/surface errors present.

Member Avatar for ect76

Hey. Thanks for the reply - i had actually seen that site on researching the problem but nothing seemed particularly relevant.
Just to let everyone know, in the end I tried a clean install of Windows, but on a full NTFS format it stalled at 91% and didn't get any further. I decided to go with my instincts and headed off the next day to buy a brand new Hitachi 80gb PATA drive for the laptop, which seems to have solved the problems. (Well, I'm successfully typing this on it now & all seems good for now!!).

Thanks for the help though.

Best wishes,
Ewan.

Member Avatar for mechbas

if 91% is as far as you got, you made the right decision, i.e. bad HD.

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