Vista configures update and gets ntoskrnl.exe error

A

Asryal

New Member
I currently run Vista Home Premium 32 bit on my Dell Inspiron 530s and in the past 2-3 weeks Windows auto updater keeps telling me I have important updates needing to be installed. I run the install and when my computer starts up it goes right to configuring updates and tries to boot. I get a window that pops up and says that my computer failed to boot and it will now try to repair the problem. It repairs for a few minutes and then gives me the option to boot up. I checked the diagnostic report from the repair and it gives me "error 0xa" and "Boot Critical C:\ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt" message as the only failed test result. Around this time I had updated my iTunes program as well and now whenever the computer boots up after the failed updates, my iTunes won't work and gives me an error as well but is fine if I reinstall it. My McAfee does the same thing. It starts giving me a "not protected" message as well and works fine after updating it as well. I am not sure what is causing the updates to fail and I have tried to use a link to manually download the update and run it but it did the same thing. It's just getting irritating because if I choose to ignore the update available message, sometimes it updates it anyway by itself and cuts me off in the middle of projects I am working on if I don't notice the message right away. Please help :( I just want my computer to stop updating me with an update that won't work or I just want the update to work. Thanks in advance
 

My Computer

System One

Hi Asryal,

Have you used a boot-theme editing program and have you also tried using the builtin system-resore feature to resote back before the error started?

Steven
 

My Computer

System One

I honestly have no idea what would be a boot-theme editing program. I can't recall adding any program in that time or doing anything out of the ordinary computer usage before then. It was fine up until the computer decided to install and configure the updates on its own one day and then I was in a panic and tried to manually force the computer off. As soon as I turned it on, it was still went right to configure the update and it hasn't stopped trying since. I wasn't sure how to go about using the system restore option because I was frankly worried about losing some data I might have saved since the problem began.
 

My Computer

System One

Hi, Asryal, and welcome to the forums.

You can also run Windows Update *manually* and see which updates are pending - it might be a driver update that is not getting installed correctly, or that is trying to revert a more current driver that you have installed to a previous older version, or something else....
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro X64 Insider Preview (Skip Ahead) latest build
    Manufacturer/Model
    The Beast Model V (homebrew)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 965 EE @ 3.6 GHz
    Motherboard
    eVGA X58 Classified 3 (141-GT-E770-A1)
    Memory
    3 * Mushkin 998981 Redline Enhanced triple channel DDR3 4 GB CL7 DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA GeForce GTX 970 SSC ACX 2.0 (04G-P4-3979-KB)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio (onboard)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 * Lenovo LT2323pwA Widescreeen
    Screen Resolution
    2 * 1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SanDisk Ultra SDSSDHII-960G-G25 960 GB SATA III SSD (System)
    Crucial MX100 CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SATA III SSD (User Tree)
    2 * Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II Mech. HD
    Seagate ST1500DL001-9VT15L Barracuda 7200.12 1.5 TB S
    PSU
    Thermaltake Black Widow TX TR2 850W 80+ Bronze Semi-Mod ATX
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT (Black)
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 (CPU, dual 140 mm fans on radiator) + Air (2 *
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 (gen 2)
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared)
    Internet Speed
    AT&T Lightspeed Gigabit duplex
  • Operating System
    Sabayon Linux (current, weekly updates, 5.1.x kernel)
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkPad E545
    CPU
    AMD A6-5350M APU
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Radeon HD (Embedded)
    Sound Card
    Conextant 20671 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Lenovo 15" Matte
    Screen Resolution
    1680 * 1050
    Hard Drives
    INTEL Cherryvill 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SSD
    PSU
    Lenovo
    Case
    Lenovo
    Cooling
    Lenovo
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master (shared) | Synaptics TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Lenovo
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex
Hi, thanks for all the help. So far I've turned off the automatic updates and I checked the updates that are listed and it's Security update (KB950582), update for Windows Vista (KB955020), and Windows Malicious Software Removal tool July 2008(KB890830). I tried to do each one separately but everytime the computer restarts, it's the same. It fails to boot up and goes to startup repair with the same corrupt message for ntoskrnl.exe. Same with any updates from other software programs like Apple iTunes. Anytime the system tries to reboot after updates, it fails to boot up and goes to repair mode. I tried to use the system's restore function and the earliest restore isn't far back enough so I don't know how to restore it to any point before my updates started failing other than a full reformatting.
 

My Computer

System One

Asryal said:
It was fine up until the computer decided to install and configure the updates on its own one day and then I was in a panic and tried to manually force the computer off. As soon as I turned it on, it was still went right to configure the update and it hasn't stopped trying since.
Click to expand...


Thats the reason why it says "Do Not Turn Computer Off" While configuring updates, just let it do its job next time :sarc:

Try http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html
This will allow you to repair your Vista installation and keep all of your personal user account files, settings, and programs. You will be performing a Upgrade Install from within your currently running Vista.

Steven
 

My Computer

System One

Hey, smarty-pants, I'm having the same problem & I DID let the computer run through the updates properly without interrupting. I've been working with Vista for a couple years now & I've never seen the ntoskrnl error before now. Never had a problem letting updates install as needed. Now every time this particular system tries to go through the install process, I see it go through "Installing 1 of 3 updates" or the very cute "Installing 40 of 49 updates", then when it goes to restart, I see the startup error, it runs through repair process, and as far as I can tell, does a system rollback because the desktop has certain icons showing (network, control panel) that I keep changing to NOT show. I have turned off automatic updates entirely and we're getting normal boot-ups now, but I don't feel good ignoring updates FOREVER - it would be nice to know what update is screwing the pooch. Thank you.
 

My Computer

System One

hi. i am having the same problem. i have a sony vaio. intel pentium dual cpu. i was prompted to update the computer so i did. during the update the cpu restarted like it said it would but now when i try to turn on the computer i get errors messafe " windows cannot load" and "ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupted. i can't find a vista repair cd or and installation cd. so i tried to download it on my usb but couldnt find a program that would install the booter into my usb so i can boot from my flash drive. i've already changed the boot order to usb flash first. but to no avial. plz help. =(((((
 

My Computer

System One

You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top