Ntoskrnl error

[Stu_C]

Need some advice here guys.

I'm on vista 64, every time it does its updates it reboots to the message that ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt. I then have to get out the ERD and do a repair.
I've switched off the auto update cause it is starting to annoy me now but surly this can't be the answer!

Any bright ideas??

 

[Stu_C]

Ok here more detail:

I seem to be having some probs with the windows updates. I turned it off a while back cause every time windows did an update it corrupted the ntoskrnl.exe and my machine would not restart. I would have to insert the windows DVD and do a repair to fix this. Then it would work again.
Now yesterday I foolishly decided to allow the updates to install and guess what, the same thing happened again! Doh! But this time, when I tried the repair off the DVD, it sat there for over 3hrs and did nothing! Course I got fed up of it but then it wouldn't let me cancell it! "Reset"...
Up it comes and loads windows fine... BUT, some drivers are not installed! I noticed this when I had no sound.

Following errors noted in the device manager:

Generic PnP Monitor: "Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (Code 37)"
Processors : "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)" (both Cores)
Audio Controller: "Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (Code 37)"
UMBus Root Bus Enumerator: "Windows cannot initialize the device driver for this hardware. (Code 37)"

Any Suggestions anyone??

 

[SOAA]

Open Device Manager found in Control Panel.
Are there any devices listed with an exclamation point next to them or are there are any devices listed as an Unknown Device?
If there are can you right-click them and choose re-install driver or update driver?

 

[Stu_C]

I did try that on all of them. When I uninstall them, then look for new hardware, it just comes up with "can't install this device" pointing at the old driver and the error code...

 

[Stu_C]

Right, I tried a system restore... selected a restore point 3 days prior to my issues. All seemed to go fine, started it at around 4pm. checked back at around 9pm and the monitor was on the startup screen saying "System Restore is restoring your files and windows settings, System Restore is restoring the Registry".
Checked back this morning, PC had gone into sleep modus. Turned it back on and it just returned to the initial restore screen...
Checked back lunchtime, pc in sleep again... OK, turned it off via power switch, turned off PSU at the back. Turned it on again, back to initial restore screen...

What can I do??

 

[Fanum]

Copy all your info onto DVD or an external hard drive then re-instal windows.

It'll only take an hour, plus another two if you have to put office, adobe, various AV and spyware progs back on etc (do these first!)

The whole process will take you an awful lot less time than the faffing around you're currently going through and will also give you a cleaner, faster instal than you did have.

Unless you have a particular reason to stay with Vista, personally I'd switch to XP as well....far more stable and better supported too (in terms of odd hardware drivers)

 

[Stu_C]

I really would like to put XP on but I have some probs before I do that.

I can't get onto my system cause it is trying to do the restore so I can't rescue my data (unfortunatly I have over 300Gb on that drive so DVD won't do...)

If I do do a reinstall, I have to fight Microsoft to get it activated again.

I'd have to buy XP first to install it...

If it's still doing a restore when I get back, I'll kill it and try the repair from the DVD again. Other than that, there's nowt I can do...

 

[Fanum]

I really would like to put XP on but I have some probs before I do that.

I can't get onto my system cause it is trying to do the restore so I can't rescue my data (unfortunatly I have over 300Gb on that drive so DVD won't do...)

If I do do a reinstall, I have to fight Microsoft to get it activated again.

I'd have to buy XP first to install it...

If it's still doing a restore when I get back, I'll kill it and try the repair from the DVD again. Other than that, there's nowt I can do...

You know what I'd do, seriously, in your shoes right now?

Go to PC world or Staples or somewhere and get a 100GB FAST hard drive......that'll cost you less than 50 quid. (and get the fastest one you can)

Whack it in as the first drive (having just turned the power off....) and stick your Vista issue onto that as the boot drive (set jumpers accordingly and move to prime position on ribbon)

The re-activation thing is dead easy now.......in fact the last time I did it I didn't even have to speak to a person, it was all automated and just took a few mins to get the code (that was admittedly for XP, doubt that Vista is different though)

You'll still be done and finished way before you will otherwise.

PS Are you sure you don't have a pukka copy of an XP system disc lying around?

From there, you'll have a clean and fast OS in place and you can retrieve all your data.

If there is a problem with getting the data, you can use a disc-based Linux distro to get at it BTW.....sounds complicated but it's really not, and it's free

 

[POG]

I really would like to put XP on but I have some probs before I do that.

I can't get onto my system cause it is trying to do the restore so I can't rescue my data (unfortunatly I have over 300Gb on that drive so DVD won't do...)

If I do do a reinstall, I have to fight Microsoft to get it activated again.

I'd have to buy XP first to install it...

If it's still doing a restore when I get back, I'll kill it and try the repair from the DVD again. Other than that, there's nowt I can do...

Try unhooking your internet connection out of the back, do a restart and as soon as it goes BEEP! (power on self test) start tapping the F8 key.

This will get you into a start menu, one of which is the Safe Mode, select this using the arrows and hit enter.

Go to Control Panel> Security Center and turn off automatic Updates.

Now you have the chance to save all your data. If it's on the same drive as the OS, you'll have to find another computer to plug it into and save all your stuff. Now you can put your CD in the drive, restart, and it should boot from the CD with a prompt from you. You should be able to repair your installation of Windows from here without having to do a fresh install.

Worth trying first

 

[Stu_C]

Thanks for the advice guys!
As I suspected, it was still trying to do the restore when I got back in from work. HDD activity light was far too constant to be doing any real work. Soooo:

Killed the Restore, went with the F8 option, Safe mode -> ntoskrnl.exe error again....
ERD in, set to repair. Left it for a good 2 hrs... no activity light on HDD
Restart, system booted up but again no sound, monitor, processor drivers...

At least I am on the system now (I am writing this from it!)

Whats going to happen next:

1. Extraction of all important data onto external USB HDD's
2. Back up files like firefox settings, gamestats, etc
3. Format C:
4. Partition approx 2 x 250GB
5. One half Vista for me gaming habit, one half Linux for eveyday use.

Any one recommend a user friendly Linux version with a nice GUI where I don't have to mount/dismount stuff all the time??

 

[cookie]

if you do a reinstall on the same hardware, it will activate as normal. it's only if you change major components that you have to deal with M$

i've used Ubuntu linux, and that seems quite friendly. PITA compared with XP though

 

[Stu_C]

Good bit of reassurance there cookie! I was thinking of Ubuntu, the only reason I won't do the whole 500Gb linux is that I still need an OS for my games to work on. As far as I know, most game developers don't do drivers for linux

 

[Stu_C]

Reinstalled, updated, installed SP1... all seems to work again!