"Ntldr Is Corrupt" Error Message When Starting a PXE-Enabled Client (262243)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q262243

SYMPTOMS

When you start a PXE-enabled client, you may receive the following error message:
NTLDR is corrupt. The system cannot boot.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when the driveletter\RemoteInstall\OSChooser\I386\NTLDR file is corrupted or is replaced with an incorrect version (such as the Ntldr file from the Windows 2000 source media).

Any file operation can cause the error message to occur (for example, if you copy the wrong file, if the file becomes corrupted because of the file system driver, or because of backup and restore problems.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, on the Remote Installation Service (RIS) server, rename the %SystemRoot%\System32\RemInst\Oschoice.exe file to Ntldr and put the file in the driveletter\RemoteInstall\OSChooser\I386 folder.

MORE INFORMATION

When a PXE client successfully contacts a RIS server, the client is given the Startrom.com file that it uses to boot. The Startrom.com file requests the Ntldr file so that an operating system can be loaded. If the loader is not available, the imaging process is unsuccessful.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/5/2003
Keywords:kberrmsg kbprb KB262243
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