Article ID: 197295
Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q197295
SYMPTOMS
X86-based computers running Windows NT do not start if the "multi()"
syntax is used in the Boot.ini file and the first sector of the partition
to which Windows NT is installed is 4 GB or more into the
disk. That is, if the cumulative size of other partitions and unpartitioned
free space before the partition to which Windows NT is installed is greater
than or equal to 4 GB.
One of the following error messages is displayed in this situation:
Boot record signature AA55 not found (25EB found) Windows NT could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could
not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.
Please check the Windows NT documentation about hardware disk
configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional
information.
Windows NT could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
Windows NT Root\System32\Ntoskrnl.exe
CAUSE
This error is caused by a miscalculation that takes place during the boot
sequence where Windows NT is attempting to compute the starting location of
the partition to which Windows NT is installed.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack
To resolve this issue if you received an error message about a missing Ntoskrnl.exe file, extract a new copy of this file.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT version 4.0 Service Pack 5.
Additional query words: 4.00
Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbfix kbprb kbqfe KB197295