A few causes.
1) Your keyboard may be spoilt. This will result in Windows
reporting a corrupted ntoskrnl.exe file. Replace the keyboard and
see if it helps. If it doesn't, move on to the next step.
2) Windows boot.ini file is corrupted. If you are using Windows
2000 and above, try this. Restart your computer. When you see some
text shows on the monitor, keep on pressing F8. You will be shown
with a menu shortly. Using the up down arrows on your keyboard,
select Last Known Good Configuration. Windows will
boot. If you are using Windows XP, try System Restore. If this
doesn't work, move on to the next step.
3) Note: This is only for Windows XP users.
Restart your computer. Press the Del (or a similar key) to go into
BIOS. Change your first boot device to CD/DVD ROM drive and the
second boot device to hard disk. Save and exit. Put in the Windows
XP CD. Make sure that it is not the recovery CD, otherwise it will
not work. Windows will now load from the CD. If it doesn't, just
reboot with the CD still in the CD drive. Once Microsoft prompts,
don't press Enter. Press R to select Recovery Console. Select
Windows XP as the operating system.
When prompted for a password, just press Enter unless you have
changed the administrator password. It is usually blank. Follow the
on screen instructions to rebuild your boot.ini file. Once done,
type in exit to exit to reboot the computer.
Press Del (or a similar key) to get into BIOS again. Change the
first boot device to your hard disk. Change the second boot device
to your CD/DVD drive. Save and exit. Take out the Windows XP
CD.
If this still doesn't work, move on to the next step.
4) Your ntoskrnl.exe may be missing. Follow Step 3 to get into
Recovery Console. Type in this: expand d:\i386\ntoskrnl.ex_
c:\windows\system32
When prompted if you want to overwrite this file, type in Y and
press Enter.
Type in exit to exit Recovery Console and reboot
your computer. Change the first boot device back to hard disk
again.
If Step 4 doesn't work, read this article by
Microsoft.
Note: This article only applies to Windows NT 4.0
users.
6) The last step before I wave white flag.
Follow Step 3 to get into Recovery Console. Once you are at the
Recovery Console, type in this: chkdsk /r
When it is done, type in exit to exit from
Recovery Console. Reboot your computer and change the first boot
device back to hard disk.
And if this still doesn't work, you will have to reinstall
Windows.
