Thread: You cannot start your computer after you modify the permissions in Windows 2000

SUMMARY

This explains error messages that you may get after you change some security permissions on your PC that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000. Here explains how to solve problems on every operating system. It discusses how to solve a paging file problem that may occur when you solve the security permissions problem.

SYMPTOMS

After you change the security permissions for system boot partition, you may experience any one of the following problems:

• When you start the PC, you get the following Stop error message on a blue screen: STOP: 0xC000021A {Fatal System Error}
The session manager initialization system process finished surprisingly with a status of 0xxxxxxxxx. The system has been shut down.
• When you try to do repair operation, an in-place upgrade, or a equivalent installation of Microsoft Windows, you get the error message: NTLDR is MISSING

CAUSE

These problems may happen if the SYSTEM account does not have required authorizations to supply access to the system files and to the system folders.

Microsoft Windows Server 2003

1. Start the PC by using a Windows Server 2003 Automated System Recovery (ASR) set. If you cannot access Windows after you start the PC this way, execute a new installation of Windows Server 2003 onto a separate partition or drive.
During the equivalent installation of Windows, you may get following message:
NTLDR, ARCLDR, and NTDETECT.COM could not be copied to drive C. You can safely ignore this message.

If you receive a "Missing NTLDR" error message or a "Missing operating system" error message, update the Boot.ini file of the ASR set to point to new Windows installation. For example, update the Boot.ini file to the following:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt2 = "Microsoft Windows Server 2003" /fastdetect



2. After you log on to the new installation of Windows Server 2003, take rights of system root folder, and then allocate the proper permissions. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Start; click Run, type Explorer.exe, and then click OK.
b. Explore My Computer, explore drive that have original system files, right-click the folder that have original system files, and click Properties.
c. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
d. On the Owner tab under Change owner to, click the account that you want to grant rights to, and then click OK two times.
e. Right-click the folders that have original system files, and then click Properties.
f. Click Add, type Everyone, click Check Names, and then click OK.
g. On the Security tab, click Everyone, click Full Control, and then click OK.

3. Restart your PC, log on to original installation of Windows Server 2003, and then reset the Windows rights. To reset the Windows rigths, follow steps given below:
Click Start, click Run, type Explorer.exe, and then click OK.
a. Explore My Computer, expand the drive that have original system files, right-click the folder that have original system files, and then click Properties.
b. On the Security tab, click Administrators, click Full Control under Allow, and then click Apply.
c. On the Security tab, click System, click Full Control under Allow, and then click Apply.
d. On the Security tab, click Everyone, click Remove, and then click OK.

1. Start the PC by using a Windows XP ASR set. If you cannot access Windows after you start the PC this way, perform a new installation of Windows XP onto a separate partition or drive. During the equivalent installation of Windows, you may get following message: NTLDR, ARCLDR, and NTDETECT.COM could not be copied to drive C.

You can safely ignore this message.

If you receive a "Missing NTLDR" error message or a "Missing operating system" error message, update the Boot.ini file of the ASR set to point to the new installation of Windows XP. For example, update the Boot.ini file to the following:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt2 = "Microsoft XP Professional" /fastdetect
When the installation process has completed, use the ASR set to log on to the new installation of Windows XP.

2. After you log on to the new installation of Windows XP, take rights of the original system root folder, and then allocate the proper permissions. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, click Run, type Explorer.exe, and then click OK.
b. Explore My Computer, explore the drive that have original system files, right-click the drive that have original system files, and then click Properties.
c. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
d. On the Owner tab under Change owner to, click the account that you want to grant ownership to, and then click OK two times.
e. Expand My Computer, expand the drive that contains the original system files, right-click the drive that contains the original system files, and then click Properties.
f. On the Security tab, click Add, type Everyone, click Check Names, and then click OK.
g. On the Security tab, click Everyone, click Full Control, and then click OK.

3. Restart your PC, log on to the original installation of Windows XP, and then reset the Windows permissions. To reset the Windows permissions, follow these steps:
Click Start, click Run, type Explorer.exe, and then click OK.
a. Expand My Computer, explore the drive that has original system files, right-click the folder that have original system files, and then click Properties.
b. On the Security tab, click Administrators, click Full Control under Allow, and then click Apply.
c. On the Security tab, click System, click Full Control under Allow, and then click Apply.
d. On the Security tab, click Everyone, click Remove, and then click OK.

1. Start the PC by using a Windows 2000 boot disk. If you cannot access Windows after you start the PC this way, perform a new installation of Windows 2000 onto a separate partition or drive.

During the equivalent installation of Windows, you may get following message:
NTLDR, ARCLDR, and NTDETECT.COM could not be copied to drive C.

You can safely ignore this message.

If you receive a "Missing NTLDR" error message or a "Missing operating system" error message, update the Boot.ini file on the Windows 2000 boot disk to point to the new installation of Windows 2000.

For example, update the Boot.ini file to the following:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt2 = "Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect
When the installation process has completed, use the boot disk to log on to the new installation of Windows 2000.

2. After you log on to the new installation of Windows 2000, take ownership of the original system root folder, and then assign the appropriate permissions. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, click Run, type Explorer.exe, and then click OK.
b. Expand My Computer, expand the drive that contains the original system files, right-click the folder that contains the original system files, and then click Properties.
c. On the Security tab, click Advanced.
d. On the Owner tab under Change owner to, click the account you want to grant ownership to, and then click OK two times.
e. Right-click the folder that contains the original system files, and then click Properties.
f. On the Security tab, click Add, type system;administrators, click Check Names, and then click OK.
g. On the Security tab, click Everyone, click Full Control, and then click OK.

3. Restart your PC, log on to the original installation of Windows 2000, reset the Windows permissions, and then remove the Everyone group. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type Explorer.exe, and then click OK.

a. Expand My Computer, expand the drive that have original system files, right-click the folder that contains the original system files, and then click Properties.
b. On the Security tab, click Administrators, click Full Control, click SYSTEM, click Full Control, and then click Apply.
c. On the Security tab, click Everyone, and then click to clear the following check boxes:
 Full Control
 Modify
 Read & Execute
 List Folder Contents
 Read
 Write
d. Click OK.

MORE INFORMATION

When Windows starts, you may get an error message that is similar to the following: Limited Virtual Memory Your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small. To solve this problem, follow the steps for your operating system.

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. The System Properties dialog box appears.

2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.

3. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance. The Performance Options dialog box appears.

4. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.

5. On the Advanced tab, click Change. The Virtual Memory dialog box appears.

6. Under Drive [Volume Label] in the Virtual Memory dialog box, click the drive where you want to form a new paging file or where you want to change an existing paging file.

7. Use one of the following methods:

* To create a new paging file, click Custom size, type a paging file size in the Initial size (MB) box, and then type a larger paging file size in the Maximum size (MB) box.
* To increase the paging file size, type a larger paging file size in the Maximum size (MB) box.

8. Click Set, and then click OK three times to close all the dialog boxes.

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. The System Properties dialog box appears.

2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.

3. Under Performance, click Settings. The Performance Options dialog box appears.

4. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.

5. Under Virtual memory, click Change. The Virtual Memory dialog box appears.

6. Under Drive [Volume Label] in the Virtual Memory dialog box, click the drive where you want to make a new paging file or where you want to change an existing paging file.

7. Use one of the following methods:
* To create a new paging file, click Custom size, type a paging file size in the Initial Size (MB) box, and then type a larger paging file size in the Maximum size (MB) box.
* To increase the paging file size, type a larger paging file size in the Maximum size (MB) box.

8. Click Set, and then click OK three times to close all the dialog boxes.

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. The System Properties dialog box appears.

2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.

3. On the Advanced tab, click Performance Options.

4. In the Performance Options dialog box, click Change. The Virtual Memory dialog box appears.

5. Under Drive [Volume Label] in the Virtual Memory dialog box, click the drive where you want to create a new paging file or where you want to modify an existing paging file.

6. Use one of the following methods:
*To create a new paging file, type a paging file size in the Initial size (MB) box, and then type a larger paging file size in the Maximum size (MB) box.
*To increase the paging file size, type a larger paging file size in the Maximum size (MB) box.

7. Click Set, and then click OK three times to close all the dialog boxes.