Device drivers. Generally, SYS errors are caused by missing or corrupt driver files. The release of atapi.sys introduced for Windows was on in Windows Vista. Windows 8.1: C: Windows System32 drivers.
Get the fix for the “Boot critical file is corrupt” error for Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
Contents
- 1 About “Boot critical file is corrupt”
- 2 Causes of this Error
- 3 Fixing “Boot critical file is corrupt” on Windows
- 4 More Information
About “Boot critical file is corrupt”
The following information on this error has been compiled by NeoSmart Technologies, based on the information gathered and reported by our global network of engineers, developers, and technicians or partner organizations.
Description and Symptoms
The error messages, alerts, warnings, and symptoms below are tied to this error.
Symptom 1: Startup repair fails with message “Boot critical file $file is corrupt”
The error “Boot critical file is corrupt” is displayed when Startup Repair fails to correct problems with a non-booting PC.
In particular, this message indicates that Startup Repair identified that the file in question was determined to be damaged, corrupted, or infected. If you are using Startup Repair from a recovery-only CD (typically 120 – 160 MiB), it will not have the file repair option needed.
Windows uses digital signatures to identify if system files have been damaged or modified by anyone since the date Microsoft digitally “signed” the files. Discrepancies in the file signature indicate that a file has been modified, infected, or tampered with by unauthorized persons or software.
When attempting to use the automated repair feature of Startup Repair, it attempts to repair your PC but fails. Clicking to view the contents of Startup Repair’s “Diagnosis and repair details” reveals the error to be “Boot critical file $file is corrupt” with one or more failed repair attempts, where $file is the name of a critical system file needed for Windows to start up. Depending on the file and the exact origins of the repair CD, you may then see one or more messages pertaining to recovery methods attempted.
Example message:
Known files affected
As mentioned above, the error “Boot critical file is corrupt” is not limited to a single system file. Our field technicians have identified that this error could present itself with any of the following files, amongst others:
- C:CI.dll
- C:Windowssystem32ntoskrnl.exe
- C:Windowssystem32ntkrnlpa.exe
- C:Windowssystem32kdcom.dll
- C:Windowssystem32driversfileinfo.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driversvmbus.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driversmegasr.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driversiastor.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driverssshrmd.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driversatapi.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driverscompbatt.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driversecache.sys
- C:Windowssystem32drivershal.dll
- C:Windowssystem32driversintelide.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driversaswvmm.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driversacpi.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driverstpm.sys
- C:Windowssystem32driverstcpip.sys
The list above is not exhaustive and this error may appear with files other than those mentioned above.
Causes of this Error
This error has been known to occur as a result of one or more of the following:
Cause 1: Corrupt Windows volume
Corruption of the system partition on a Windows PC can cause this error to present.
If the drive Windows is installed to suffers filesystem corruption for any reason (e.g. unsafe shutdown, sudden power loss, etc.) the data on the drive may no longer be read correctly and will trigger the above integrity alert.
Corruption of the boot partition is known to occur on both NTFS and FAT32 partitions.
Cause 2: Corruption of system files
The files named above (and other files in the Windowssystem32 directory) are critical components of Windows. If the files are inadvertently replaced or overwritten by other data due to bugs in recently installed computer software or due to user error (for example, during system backup), the “boot critical file is error” may present.
Cause 3: Virus infection
If a Windows computer has become infected by a virus, it may attempt to inject itself or other malicious code into one or more critical system files. Corruption of any of the digitally signed drivers or libraries (files with extensions .sys or .dll) can cause your PC to fail to boot and this error to be shown by Startup Repair. Of particular note is that viruses may infect/inject a file that is not a critical Windows system/boot file and then set up your PC to load this file on boot. For example, any “boot critical file is corrupt” errors indicating a corrupt C:CI.dll are guaranteed to be the result of system infection as this file is not normally part of the Windows startup process.
Cause 4: Rootkits
Viruses, spyware, or other malware on your PC as well as DRM software attempting to prevent copyright infringement and IP violation may patch or modify core system files in an attempt to cloak their existence from antivirus or encryption circumvention software on your PC. Changes to core system files for this or any other reason will trigger the “Critical boot file is corrupt” error.
Fixing “Boot critical file is corrupt” on Windows
Windows Setup CD/DVD Required!
Some of the solutions below require the use of the Microsoft Windows setup CD or DVD. If your PC did not come with a Windows installation disc or if you no longer have your Windows setup media, you can use Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows instead. EasyRE will automatically find and fix many problems, and can also be used to solve this problem with the directions below.
Some of the solutions below require the use of the Microsoft Windows setup CD or DVD. If your PC did not come with a Windows installation disc or if you no longer have your Windows setup media, you can use Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows instead. EasyRE will automatically find and fix many problems, and can also be used to solve this problem with the directions below.
Fix #1: Scan the Windows drive for corruption
The command line
chkdsk
tool ships with Windows and can be used to check (and sometimes repair) your drives for filesystem corruption. More information about how chkdsk operates and how it works can be found in our knowledgebase. The following steps will launch the command line option from Startup Repair on the Windows setup disc and use the chkdsk utility.Unable to boot into the Windows setup CD?
See our guide on setting up a PC to boot from the CD or DVD for troubleshooting and more detailed instructions.
See our guide on setting up a PC to boot from the CD or DVD for troubleshooting and more detailed instructions.
- Insert your Windows installation DVD into your PC’s CD-ROM drive,
- Fully power down your PC, and make sure it has fully shut off,
- Power up your PC,
- Press any key when you see “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD..”
- Click the link titled “Repair your computer” in the bottom-lefthand corner, after first selecting your language and keyboard options.
- Wait for Startup Repair to scan your PC for Windows installations, then select your install from the list it shows:
- Choose “Command Prompt” from the list of available recovery options to begin:
Once the command prompt is launched, enter the following to use the System File Checker to check your installation for corrupted, invalid, or deleted system files. If the previous page showed that your Windows installation has a drive letter other than C:, make sure to use that below!
chkdsk will begin scanning your drive for problems, fixing them if it is able to, and reporting its progress when done.
Fix #2: Scan for viruses with Easy Recovery Essentials
The Professional Edition of Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows features a powerful antivirus and rootkit scanner that can normally resolve this and similar errors caused by viruses, rootkits, trojans, or spyware. EasyRE is currently available for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 and can be downloaded and created on any PC.
- Download Easy Recovery Essentials. Make sure to note your Windows version (XP, Vista, 7 or 8) before you download EasyRE. This guide can help you identify what version of Windows you have installed. For the purposes of this guide, you will need to obtain the Professional Edition of EasyRE.
- Burn the image. Follow these instructions on how to burn the bootable ISO image very carefully, as making a bootable CD can be tricky! Alternatively, these instructions explain how to create a bootable EasyRE recovery USB stick/drive.
- Boot up your PC from the Easy Recovery Essentials CD or USB you created.
- Once EasyRE is running, choose the “Virus Scanner” option and click Continue.Choose “Virus Scanner” in Easy Recovery Essentials
- After EasyRE scans your computer’s drives, identify and select the drive letter for your Windows installation from the list, and then click on the Scan button to begin.Choose the drive associated with the Windows installation you’re trying to repair.
- EasyRE will begin scanning the drive for viruses, rootkits, trojans, spyware, and other unwanted malware on your machine. No intervention is required, and EasyRE will repair viruses as it finds them, reporting its progress as it goes along:Easy Recovery Essentials searches for viruses and cleans infections on the selected Windows installation.
- Once the process is complete, EasyRE will report its findings. Click on the Restart button to reboot your PC and test the changes.
You can download Easy Recovery Essentials from here.
Fix #3: Scan for corrupted files
Windows ships with a tool called sfc, which stands for the System File Checker. More information about how sfc operates and when to use it can be found in our knowledgebase. The following steps will launch the command line option from Startup Repair on the Windows setup disc and use the system file checker to attempt a repair of your PC.
- Insert your Windows installation DVD into your PC’s CD-ROM drive,
- Fully power down your PC, and make sure it has fully shut off,
- Power up your PC,
- Press any key when you see “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD..”
- Click the link titled “Repair your computer” in the bottom-lefthand corner, after first selecting your language and keyboard options.
- Wait for Startup Repair to scan your PC for Windows installations, then select your install from the list it shows:
- Choose “Command Prompt” from the list of available recovery options to begin:
Once the command prompt is launched, enter the following to use the System File Checker to check your installation for corrupted, invalid, or deleted system files. If the previous page showed that your Windows installation has a drive letter other than C:, make sure to use that below!
Once sfc has completed its scan, it will report its results like below:
More Information
Linked Entries
Support Links
- Easy Recovery Essentials for Windows – our repair and recovery disk.
It’s an easy-to-use and automated diagnostics disk. It’s available for Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista. It’s also available for Windows XP and Windows Server.Read more at Windows Recovery Disks. - The NeoSmart Support Forums, member-to-member technical support and troubleshooting.
- Get a discounted price on replacement setup and installation discs: Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.
Applicable Systems
This Windows-related knowledgebase article applies to the following operating systems:
- Windows Vista (all editions)
- Windows 7 (all editions)
- Windows 8 (all editions)
- Windows 8.1 (all editions)
- Windows Server 2008 (all editions)
- Windows Server 2012 (all editions)
'I note that there's a 'drivers cache' folder in Windows. Does this provide any help?'
C:WindowsDriver Cachei386
NO. pci.sys is not in it.
The ONLY place pci.sys is, is in C:WindowsSystem32drivers. or possibly
C:WindowsServicePackFilesi386
C:WindowsServicePackFilesi386
![Windows system32 drivers atapi sys missing corrupts Windows system32 drivers atapi sys missing corrupts](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125619321/284566741.png)
There is no pci.sy_ on my entire C drive either.
There are backup copies of some drivers in
C:WindowsSystem32dllcache
(the dllcache folder is normally hidden in Windows)
- *.dll files, some *.sys files, *.exe files, etc. - but not pci.sys .
C:WindowsSystem32dllcache
(the dllcache folder is normally hidden in Windows)
- *.dll files, some *.sys files, *.exe files, etc. - but not pci.sys .
If there is no (Drive letter):WindowsSystem32drivers folder (or if there was no drivers folder until you made it) your Windows installation is severely damaged.
(My drivers folder has 338 files total inc. in sub-folders and 4 sub-folers that have a small number of files in some folders, three whch it appears were made by Windows when I installed it, the other made by AVG later. )
Your hard drive may be in the process of failing.
.Test your hard drive with hard drive manufacturer's diagnostics.
E.g.
Seagate's SeaTools will test (almost) any brand of hard drive.
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...
Seagate's SeaTools will test (almost) any brand of hard drive.
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...
Do the long test.
The Dos bootable versions of SeaTools can test the hard drive when Windows will not load properly, or even when the drive has no data on it.
If the drive itself passes the test, any data problems on the drive can be fixed one way or another.
...............
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If the drive itself DOES NOT pass the test, you MAY still be able to get your personal data off of it - see the last paragraph in this post.
............
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It the drive itself passes the test,
'The recovery disk is a 'Reinstallation CD' that came with the system (Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop').'
In that case it can be used the same way as a regular XP CD with the same model to run a Repair installation of Windows procedure.
NOTE that you need the Product Key that's on the official Microsoft label on the outside of the case.
If you can still read that, that's good.
Use magnification to read it if you have difficulty reading tiny characters, otherwise some characters can be mis-read e.g. 8 and B .
If you can still read that, that's good.
Use magnification to read it if you have difficulty reading tiny characters, otherwise some characters can be mis-read e.g. 8 and B .
( If you can't read all of it because it's worn or someone was too vigorous cleaning the outside of the case, the Product Key the Windows installation was using can be found even if Windows isn't working if you remove the drive and connect it to another computer that has XP on it (don't boot from your drive on the other computer), if there's nothing wrong with certain data in Windows on the drive.
E.g. Search for: Keyfinder and see the 'hit' on the Jellybean....... web site, at the bottom of the page where you can download Keyfinder, click on the Keyfinder FAQS link.
E.g. Search for: Keyfinder and see the 'hit' on the Jellybean....... web site, at the bottom of the page where you can download Keyfinder, click on the Keyfinder FAQS link.
If the hard drive is SATA, the sockets for SATA data and SATA power are identical to those on a desktop (3.5') drive - you can connect to any desktop computer that has SATA drive controllers and a spare SATA data header.
- or- an external drive enclosure for a laptop (2.5') SATA drive - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current
- or - an inexpensive USB to laptop SATA drive adapter (it has circuitry between the connectors) - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current
- or- an external drive enclosure for a laptop (2.5') SATA drive - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current
- or - an inexpensive USB to laptop SATA drive adapter (it has circuitry between the connectors) - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current
If it's IDE, you need
- an inexpensive laptop drive (2.5') IDE to desktop IDE data / power adapter, you connect to an IDE cable on a desktop computer (the laptop drive is set to master by default)
- an inexpensive USB to laptop IDE drive adapter (it has circuitry between the connectors) - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current
- or - an external drive enclosure for a laptop (2.5') IDE (a.k,a PATA) drive - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current )
- an inexpensive laptop drive (2.5') IDE to desktop IDE data / power adapter, you connect to an IDE cable on a desktop computer (the laptop drive is set to master by default)
- an inexpensive USB to laptop IDE drive adapter (it has circuitry between the connectors) - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current
- or - an external drive enclosure for a laptop (2.5') IDE (a.k,a PATA) drive - it can be connected to any computer with a USB port, but the USB port MUST be able to supply the full 500ma USB spec current )
See response 10:
http://www.computing.net/answers/wi...
Scroll down to:
'- If that doesn't help, you can try running a Repair installation of Windows'
If it has a SATA hard drive....
Installing XP and SATA drive controllers, SATA drives; the SATA drive controller bios settings.
See response 2:
http://www.computing.net/answers/ha...
See response 2:
http://www.computing.net/answers/ha...
I stated in that....
'The detailed info about how you set the SATA controller mode or similar - it varies
depending on the bios version - is probably in the manual for your mboard model, in the descriptions of settings in the bios.
If you need help with that, you must provide us with the make and model of your mboard.'
depending on the bios version - is probably in the manual for your mboard model, in the descriptions of settings in the bios.
If you need help with that, you must provide us with the make and model of your mboard.'
That's assuming you have a generic desktop system with a retail mboard model in it.
If you have a brand name system, similar applies, but we usually cannot find what you see in a brand name system bios version regarding that to refer you to on the web.
Whatever the setting is, when the files intially loaded from the XP CD cannot find SATA drives, it's presently set to SATA or AHCI in the bios, it's changeable, and at least one other choice is an IDE compatible mode of some sort.
.....
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If the Repair installation of Windows procedure doesn't solve your problems, then you must install XP from scratch.
If you have any personal data on the partition Windows itself was installed on that you DO NOT want to lose, BEFORE you install XP from scratch, boot the computer from something that can read all the files on the drive, such as a Linux CD or the Ultimate Boot CD, and copy the data you don't want to lose to elsewhere. ALL of your personal data is at C:Documents and Settings(your user)( files and sub-folders of your user), unless you saved your data in a location elsewhere deliberately.