[bradym1]

Hello all,
Thank you in advance for taking the time to help. My laptop has been having problems of late so I decided to reformat it today. I pulled out my XP Pro cd (legitimate copy) and did a "quick" format on the drive and then attempted to install XP. The setup copied files, said it needed to reboot, and then rebooted with the following error:

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.

I tried entering the recovery console and typing: expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_ c:\windows\system32. I saw this as a possible solution on elsewhere on this forum. I restarted with the boot order set to boot to the Laptop HD first, but I receive the same error as before.

So I entered recovery again and ran "chkdsk /p" on the C drive. It came up with nothing. I am attempting to format again (not a quick format) right at this instant, but the XP setup is stuck at 0%.

My system, as far as I remember, is running with:
AMD Athlon 2.6ghz dual core
2gb ram
Originally supposed to be vista, but I rolled back to XP

Thoughts?

[TekTime]

Problems can be encountered after formatting using "quick format". I would advice that you do a FULL format. Secondly, if that doesn't work, inspect your disk for scratches etc. That can be preventing the necessary file from being copied to the hard drive. I had an XP installation take forever; many error messages during setup until I finally switched the DVD Rom for a new one...problem solved.