"Missing or corrupt Ntfs.sys" error message when you restart Windows XP after you convert your hard disk to the NTFS file system (822800)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

SYMPTOMS

You can use the following command to convert your hard disk from the FAT 32 file system to the NTFS file system:

convert drive: /fs:ntfs

When you use the command, after the computer completes the conversion and you restart Windows XP, you may receive an error message similar to the following error message:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys

CAUSE

This problem may occur if the Ntfs.sys file is missing or becomes corrupted when you convert your hard disk to NTFS.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, replace the missing or corrupted Ntfs.sys file:
  1. Use the Windows XP startup disks or the Windows XP CD to restart your computer.
  2. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to select the To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R option.
  3. Type the number of the Windows installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console, and then press ENTER.
  4. Type the administrator password when you are prompted, and then press ENTER. If no administrator password exists, just press ENTER.
  5. At the command prompt, type the following commands (press ENTER after each command):

    cd \windows\system32\drivers

    ren ntfs.sys ntfs.old

    Note This step renames the corrupted Ntfs.sys file to Ntfs.old. If the Ntfs.sys file is not found, the file is missing.
  6. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    copy cd:\i386\ntfs.sys drive:\windows\system32\drivers

    Where cd is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive that contains the Windows XP CD, and drive is the drive where you installed Windows XP.
  7. Remove the Windows XP CD from your CD-ROM drive, type quit at a command prompt, and then press ENTER to quit the Recovery Console.
  8. Restart the computer.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to use the Convert.exe utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

314097 How to Use Convert.exe to convert a partition to the NTFS file system

For additional information about the Windows Recovery Console, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

314058 Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/16/2004
Keywords:kbprb KB822800 kbAudEndUser
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.