what causes corrupt or missing files on booting?WindowsXP-SP1 or bad memory?

[kennl66]

I upgraded my CPU and Memory recently to a Barton 2500XP & 1GB Mushkin PC3200(dual channel mode on my ASUS A7N8X Dlx rev 1.4/BIOS1007)

I always(for years) turn off the computer when I'm done & turn it on again the next day. Now i get a message in DOS/bootup that some files are corrup or missing like ntoskrnl.exe or C:\Windows\System32 is corrupt. I just restart the computer again and it won't show up anymore and loads WindowsXP fine. The problem is that the corrupt message and scandisk is coming on everytime now. I don't know if it's the new memory that i installed or the update to Windows XP Home OS that caused it. I didn't install SP1, just the critical ones and the update for WinXP programs. I don't know what to do to fix the problem.

 

[Mem]

I don't know if it's the new memory that i installed or the update to Windows XP Home OS that caused it. I didn't install SP1, just the critical ones and the update for WinXP programs. I don't know what to do to fix the problem.

You should install SP1,as to ram,you can test it with Memtest86 from here .

 

[Sianath]

Most common cause is mismatch in system files (windows\system32 directory). Easiest solution to that is to install SP1. If you have the SP installed already and get this (for future reference), you can refresh the system32 files via the recovery console from the ServicePackFiles folder.

Second most common cause is corrupt MBR/Boot Sector. Those you can confirm/deny by just using a boot disk (formatted floppy with boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com on it).