I have been using a 60GB hard disk drive (HDD) as my primary with Windows XP operating system on the NTFS file system.

I also installed Windows XP on my 25GB HDD on the FAT32 file system. Ever since I got my 25GB drive to run, now I can't load my 60GB HDD with the NTFS file system. My error message when I try to run my HDD is 'Missing or corrupt system32\drivers\ntfs.sys'. Any advice or ideas on how to get my 60GB drive would be appreciated! Thanks.

You could try repairing the Windows files using the Windows XP installation CD-ROM.

I have the same problem.

So I formatted (it was the occasion of cleaning up a little bit) my HDD partition with Windows on it, and the next day, I got the same message error at the boot up:

Missing or corrupted system32\drivers\ntfs.sys

So the re installation of Windows XP didn't fix the problem.

My HDD is a MAXTOR D740X 40GB with 4 partitions (NTFS) of 10GB each.

Could it be my HDD the problem?

Anyway, Impulse, if you know now how to fix it, please tell me!

On the Windows XP setup, did you delete the partition and then create it again? After this, did you do a full NTFS format rather than the quick one?

This might sound a little drastic, but it definitely works.

Yes I did a full format...

I don't know what's going on because before I format, I got the message "Missing or corrupted system32\drivers\ntfs.sys" 2/3 times when I booted.

Since I formatted my HDD, I got it only one time (I restarted my computer about 4-5 since I formatted). Since the last time I got the message (after formatting), I did a "Chkdsk /f /r", and it didn't report any error.

I also updated my BIOS. Maybe it's OK now, or maybe the next time I'll restart my computer I'll get this message again, who knows?

Anyway, next step: I'll use the PowerMax utility by Maxtor to perform a diagnostic of my hard drive.

What do you think of Maxtor HDDs? I know some friends who got problem with it and needed to change their HDDs. Not as stable as the Western Digital HDDs.

Yeah, I had this problem too. (corrupted or missing ntfs.sys file)
Originally, I was able to get my Windows XP Pro installed successfully. Then I updated the BIOS, updated the chipset drivers, rebooted, everything was still fine. Then I loaded the nVIDIA 5600 graphics card drivers and when I rebooted, it would flash a blue screen too fast to read then reboot in an infinite loop.

I did full formats, quick formats, tried replacing ntfs files through the recovery console, and tried to have Windows CD repair it for me. I also have ran chkfiles /r, fixboot, and fixmbr.

I even tried swapping an already working Windows 2000 hard drive that works fine on the computer it was on but when I start it up on my new machine, it gives me the same error. (corrupted or missing ntfs.sys) This is without any other hard drives attached so it couldn't have been talking about the same drive.

Where in the world does this file come from? Do boot viruses actually rewrite or corrupt the ntfs.sys file?

Is there a problem with my RAM? I have 1 GB Dual-channel ULTRA PC3200 400 MHz (two 512 MB sticks).

It is not anything to do with your RAM for sure. I had the exact same errors you are having. Don't panic, but do stop trying repair utilities etc. My PC messed up after a failed service pack upgrade then it progressively got worse as I attempted restore utilities, this only made it worse and corrupted my HDD!

In the end some how it partitioned it, not that I asked it to! So after multiple reformats and still the same error message I tried another HDD - with a working Windows 2k installation on it, to no avail... I must admit I think my Windows 2000 version was not 100% legit, so I took it to shop and paid them 20 quid so they would install Windows 2k for me, they had no problems - just typical! I would advise you to stop messing it up any more. Let me no how it goes ...

HOOD

Unlike most people who have this problem, I was not updating my system from FAT to NTFS when this error happened. I have always had WINDOWS XP on my system and I was playing a game (Call of Duty) when all of a sudden it froze, and my PC re-booted to give me the same error........ "System32/drivers/NTFS.SYS missing or corrupt".

I tried everything, re-installing WINDOWS XP, formatting and re-installing, repairing to no avail.

I took out the HDD (I also have a Maxtor) and put it into another PC, formatted it and re-installed Windows XP and lo and behold it worked like a charm..... as soon as I put it back into my PC the same error came up. This leads me to believe that the problem might not be with my HDD but with something else (RAM perhaps? Video Card?)

I have yet to be able to fix this problem......anyone else out there have any ideas? I'm getting desperate.

Let me assure you there is nothing else wrong with your PC.

I thought the same but took it to shop and said I was having problems, somehow - unknown to me they just installed Windows wrong. Don't replace any PC parts, they are all fine! I should know - my PC hasn't had a piece replaced and it's running perfect next to me now.... maybe its just a flaw in Maxtor?

Take your PC to shop - tell them, and they should be able to fix it OK, if you find out how they do it / did it, please tell me!

__________________
HOOD

I have the same System32/Drivers/Ntfs.sys file missing so I tried the method suggested by the PC to repair it with the Windows XP disc. And when it is loading up the kernel files, it says setupdd.sys missing error code 7.

Any suggestion as to what I should do? Could it be a hardware problem?