Windows XP HE corrupt isapnp.sys file

This subject may have been covered before, but I wonder if anyone has any solution to the problem of replacing a missing or corrupt isapnp.sys file.
An acquaintance asked me for help when his Dell Dominion 5100 pc failed to load Windows XP. In fact he had left it on went out and when he returned the screen displayed missing or corrupt c:\windows\system32\drivers\isapnp.sys to insert Windows XP disk and press �r� at the Welcome screen to start the Recovery Console, but as we all know pcs� no longer come with an OS disk!
A Windows cannot not be shut down properly the usual screen with choices to start Windows in Safe Mode etc. is the only available screen!
I have searched on the web and the only solution I have found is to insert a Windows XP disk and start the Recovery Console and
1. When prompted for the Administrator password, type the password, and then press ENTER.
Note if the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
2. At the C:\Windows prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
ren c:\windows\system32\drivers\isapnp.sys isapnp.old
Note The steps in this article assume that you installed Windows XP to the C: drive. The actual location of your Windows installation may vary.
3. At the C:\Windows prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
expand cd-romdrive:\i386\isapnp.sy_ c:\windows\system32\drivers\isapnp.sys
For example, type:
expand d:\i386\isapnp.sy_ c:\windows\system32\drivers
4. After the file is successfully expanded, type exit, and then press ENTER to exit Recovery Console.
5. Restart the computer.
Can anyone throw any light on how to solve this without a Windows XP disk being available?

Just get any old XP disk... shove the file on a bootable USB drive or something which can get you write filesystem access, and plonk there file onto the drive... All that article seems to be suggesting is to copy said missing file.

You might find though once you do that there is loads of other files or problems with the OS installation.

Edited by Pipexer (Tue 14-May-13 17:47:28)

Can you get into Safe Mode? If so, you might find copies of this file elsewhere.

My XP has 3 instances of that file in:

C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ReinstallBackups\0002\DriverFiles\i386
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers

Or
EXPAND C:\WINDOWS\I386/ISAPNP.SY_ c:\windows\system32\drivers\isapnp.sys
or maybe it's to be found in C:\I386 or on D: Recovery Partition.

No cannot get into any Safe Modes not possible to get into the OS whatsoever!

I've passed the problem onto so called Computer Repair man as I cannot get hold of a XP disk!

In reply to a post by scopio:

the usual screen with choices to start Windows in Safe Mode etc. is the only available screen!

Does it have "Return to OS Choices Menu" This screen?

If so, this leads to this screen. If that has the "Recovery Console" you can then follow those instructions w/out a Win CD.

EDIT: Just sussed what HE stands for, Home Edition. It won't have a Recovery Console; only XP Pro does.

EDIT: It will cheaper to buy a Hiren's Boot CD from eBay for a coupla pounds or free from Hiren than use a so-called Repair Man as that is all he'll do.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Tue 14-May-13 23:52:14)

The issue may not be to do with this file at all.

In reply to a post by scopio:

I've passed the problem onto so called Computer Repair man

To illustrate this point, I'll tell you a story about a Computer Repair man.

My XP PC suddenly would not boot with a message that some hardware monitoring .SYS file was missing or corrupt. At the time I had no Repair CDs and Recovery Console would not work from CD or XP Pro built-in. So I went round to my local Computer Repair man to see if he had a Repair CD to sell. He hadn't but when I told him what .SYS file it was objecting to he said that there was something wrong with my hardware and no amount of software fixing will help.

I didn't believe him and went and bought a Hiren's Boot CD off eBay. I immediately found that BOOT.INI (a simple system text file) was corrupt (me bad!) and was directing Windows Boot to the wrong location for loading Windows or the Recovery Console. I fixed BOOT.INI and all was hunky-dory . It turned that the .SYS file it was objecting to was the 1st file, possibly random, that Windows Boot could not find when misdirected.

My acquaintance has the same problem, no Repair CDs and Recovery Console is not installed which is why I told him he had to contact a Computer Repair man. Fortunately there is a computer repair shop in our High Street which advertises that they can do all sorts of repairs to software, installations, virus removals, data recovery etc. and hardware repairs and installations, so they should have Hiren's Boot CD and the such to be able to solve the problem. I shall contact my acquaintance in due course to see how he got on and post the result here.

Check your PM's. There are links to a couple of ISO's that will solve your problems.