Windows XP / 2003 Boot Error NTOSKRNL.EXE Is Missing Or Corrupt

Windows Boot error NTOSKRNL.exe missing

Every once in while when you reboot a workstation or server you'll get the famous NTOSKRNL.EXE is Missing or Corrupt error Windows NT could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: 

C:\Windows\System32\Ntoskrnl.exe

1. It's fairly straight forward to resolve this problem. Start by booting your machine from the install media (CD/DVD or USB Drive) when prompted follow these steps :
2. Boot to the recovery console (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326215)
3. Select your Windows installation that you want to recover
4. When prompted provide the local administrator password
5. Once you are into the recovery console you will probably be sitting at a C:\WINDOWS prompt
6. Change the directory to the i386 folder on your CD / DVD drive (If you only have one partition it will most likely be D:\)

Copy the following files to the C:\ drive

copy ntldr C:

 copy ntdetect.com C:

Change your source directory back to C:\Windows

Next you will need to fix your boot record

fixboot C:

Most likely you will also have to fix the boot .ini using the bootcfg command

bootcfg /rebuild

1. Add the required Windows installation to your boot list
2. Add the Load Identifier (Custom description)
3. Add the OS Load Options (/fastdetect)
4. Type exit to reboot the machine