Dell Inspiron 5150

Windows XP Home Edition

I am getting the following message: "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: Isapnp.sys" error message at startup.

Microsoft addressed this problem in Article 315311 but I can not get the two instructions in the article to execute. Following the direction in this article I get to the Setup Recovery mode. Everything follows the directions in the article until I try to execute the two instructions.

The "ren c:\windows\system32\drivers\isapnp.sys isapnp.old" instruction results in a "The name specified is not a directory" error message. However. when I execute a dir C:\windows\system32\drivers\isapnp.sys command, the file is present.

The "expand d:\i386\isapnp.sy_ c:\windows\system32\drivers\isapnp.sys" instruction results in "Unable to create file isapnp.sys. Again, when I execute a dir:d\i386\isapnp.sy_" the file is on the CD in the d: drive.

I think you may need to specify the full path of the renamed file. Try changing the directory before you rename the file. Like this:

cd \windows\system32\drivers
ren isapnp.sys isapnp.old

After you have succesfully renamed the file, you should be able to expand the compressed file to the correct location.