Corrupted NTFS.sys After Official XP SP2 Install

[DDRRE]

Here's a strange one.

After "successfully" installing SP2 from the 200MB+ network inst., I rebooted the system and got the annoying message:

"[..........] missing or corrupted [.........]

\System32\Drivers\ntfs.sys

[.........]"

It offered me to boot from CD and repair, but I HATE repairing. I usually end up with un-installing and re-re-installing drivers, and then I'd have to re-install SP2, probably getting that message again.

Anyway, I'd like to know if anyone else had this problem, and how did he fix it.

I'm now in my Windows Server 2003 installation.

I also tried replacing the new and "corrupted" ntfs.sys with 2003's, but I still got the same error.

Please help, I want to use SP2 BADLY!

[oioldman]

I've not had this problem so can't answer, but this thread found from a search may have something that could help =>

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=20706

[DDRRE]

This dude didn't use the official release. He used a release candidate

[DDRRE]

I guess I found the solution myself

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /KERNEL=kernel1.exe /NoExecute=OptIn

^^

This was the entry in the boot.ini file. I knew what "/KERNEL=kernel1.exe" meant --> it was used by the LogonUIBootRandomizer. I guess the SP2 installation added "/NoExecute=OptIn".

So I changed the entry to:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

And my XP works just FINE!

(My internet connection seemed to disappear; I found it in \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Connections as rasphone.pbk).

Users who still have the problem: Try re-downloading the Network Installation of SP2 and changing its extension to ZIP. Inside, navigate to the directory called I386 and copy Ntfs.sys to %YourWindowsDirectory%\System32\Drivers.

Why did this happen?

This is caused because Windows tries to boot from a pre-SP2 kernel (ntoskrnl.exe) and that kernel seeks for pre-SP2 files that got updated by the SP2 installation, such as Ntfs.sys. And when it tries to load it, it sees the file is newer than it expected. This could also be caused by a missing/corrupt Ntfs.sys file , though this is rare, because the installation would not start if the files were corrupted.

Why did this happen to many slipstreamers?

Many slipstreamers combined a custom/old/original ntoskrnl.exe file, that caused the system to not start (see Why did this happen?)

Hope this helped,

DDRRE (Snir Hassidim)