NTFS.SYS Missing/Corrupt, Inaccessible C: Drive, & "Unknown" Partition

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by BigSonny, Dec 19, 2007.

  1. BigSonny

    BigSonny Private E-2

    Today, my notebook crashed (BSoD) while playing an online game - Team Fortress 2. It happened a few times before and, with a little research, found that other users with my video card had the same problem, so I thought nothing of it. After the most recent crash, on reboot, I get the message that "NTFS.sys is missing or corrupt," and I can't access Windows at all. I can get into BIOS fine.

    I tried using the Recovery Console to copy NTFS.sys to my Windows\System32\Drivers folder, but Recovery Console isn't recognizing any files or folders on my C: drive. When I enter the DIR command, I get the message "An error occurred during directory enumeration." If I access the D: drive, my extra partition shows up just fine, and I can access all the files I've stored on there.

    When I boot with my Windows CD and look at the partition information, I see the following:

    -: Partition1 (EISA Utilities) 4997 MB ( 355 MB free )
    C: Partition2 [Unknown] 54486 MB ( 54486 MB free )
    D: Partition3 (Storage) [NTFS] 54988 MB ( 1141 MB free )

    Although the count and free space for drive D: is accurate, drive C: isn't even close. The total is correct, but the actual free space is around 8-10 GB.

    Here's my setup:

    Acer Aspire 5050
    AMD Turion64 x2 (1600 MHz)
    1 GB DDR2 RAM
    ATI Radeon Xpress 1100
    Windows XP Media Center Edition
    All latest drivers, Windows updates, etc.

    BIOS: PhoenixBIOS
    IDE1 Model Name: WDC WD1200UE-22KVT0
    System BIOS Version: v1.3103
    VGA BIOS Version: AT i 008.050I.038.000
    KBC Version: V0.017

    I've tried different boot options, such as NTFS4DOS (didn't boot), Ultimate Boot CD (didn't work), and HP Drive Boot Key (couldn't figure it out). I don't have a floppy, so I'm limited to what I can fit on my 6-year old USB drive (128 MB), or a DVD (no blank CDs). I'd prefer the former, since my desktop's DVD writer is finicky.

    Ran chkdsk. Froze halfway through at 53%, didn't progress after waiting for hours.

    I need a fix ASAP! I use this notebook for school and it's got ALL my work on it. If I have to restore without backing it all up, I will lose everything I need for my courses. PLEASE help!
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2007
  2. BigSonny

    BigSonny Private E-2

    Just restarted it again, this time got "l_intl.nls" error instead of "ntfs.sys". Same error message, same results.
     
  3. BigSonny

    BigSonny Private E-2

    Repair install won't work because it recognizes my partition as "Unknown" and doesn't realize there is a Windows installation.

    DOS commands:
    FIXBOOT
    "The file system on the startup partition is unknown.
    FIXBOOT is attempting to detect the file system type.
    The bootsector is corrupt.
    FIXBOOT is checking the filesystem type...
    The partition is using the NTFS file system.
    FIXBOOT is writing a new boot sector.
    The new bootsector was successfully written."
    After reboot, got the same NTFS error.

    BOOTCFG
    Could BOOTCFG help at all? If so, could someone explain the rebuild questions (Load Identifier, OS Load Options)?

    FIXMBR came up with the message "This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record." I'm afraid to continue past this point because of the warning "FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed," and I can't lose my data. Should I try this or should I use it as a last resort?
     
  4. robinwood

    robinwood Private E-2

    I seem to have the same problem on my HP mediacenter pc
    just happened two days ago during a restart- similiar problems with data
    really do not want to do a restore !

    tried anothe win xp pro sp 2 disk to start boot -

    when it checked partitions it listed the partition as free space, however
    when trying to fix - it came up with this partition is full or damaged

    windows cannot continue

    any help would be appreciated

    thanks
     
  5. robinwood

    robinwood Private E-2

     
  6. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    Start a new thread - don't add to a thread from 2007 which another poster started.
     

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