Corrupted Ntfs.sys

It is a very bad sign when you cannot even boot up Windows XP in Safe Mode. This is what happened to me last night. My Sony Vaio GRV series laptop is currently running Windows XP Home Edition with the newest Serice Pack 2 update. After turning off SP2's default security settings, everything appeared to run very smoothly. However, I did have to remove my custom boot screen to install SP2. After testing the new service pack from Microsoft for a while, I decided--I really cannot blame Mighty Microsoft this time--to restore my old customized boot screen back.

One of the ways to change your boot screen is by changing your boot.ini file. I did this previously with SP1. (Read Here) Logically, I thought I could do the same with boot.ini file using XP's Service Pack Two. WRONG! When I rebooted with the manipulated boot.ini, I immediately got an error message before even reaching the boot screen. It said "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys." I replied, "Okay, I will just reboot using Safe Mode and restore the original which I backed up in my partitioned drive." Bad news, I got the same message when I tried to boot using any of the Safe Modes.

The error message did suggest using my original XP setup CD to repair the corrupted Ntfs.sys file. (Read Here) The problem is I do not have AN original XP setup CD. Sony Vaio systems only include "RECOVERY" discs insted of Windows XP set up discs. The recovery discs will restore my drive to its factory state and at the same time erase any applications and files I have previously installed. This is not an option I prefer to consider even if it is absolutely the only one.

I need to access my harddrive using the command prompt somehow to overwrite boot.ini with the original backup. Finally, an idea came to me. I popped in my Windows 2000 Setup disc and gained access to the files via the command prompt. I carefully renamed my backup file to boot.ini, and copied it to the C: location using the old school text commands--I miss the days of MS-Dos. Then a Ctl-Alt-Delete later, boom, I was back in business. Phew, it was a huge relief!

Well, that's what I get for messing around. The result is a whole bunch of wasted time. Oh well... It is time for me go find a way to get that customized boot screen back under the all controversial Service Pack 2.