PCI.SYS - corrupt file or something else

[JonHeyes]

About three weeks ago I did a reinstall of Windows XP Pro, loaded all the patches and updates. Now I'm getting about once a week a system crash, PC will suddenly reboot and come up with a message stating that "system32\drivers\pci.sys is missing or corrupt". It then advises to go to recovery console.
Having left the PC for a few minutes and rebooting the PC booted up OK and ran fine for a few days before the same problem occured.
Is pci.sys really corrupt or is there a possible hardware problem such as with the ram?

 

[bcastner]

It likely has nothing to do with corruption of pci.sys, but errors in the registry.

Use Recovery Console as the message suggested, after a little reading and some Group Policy edits:

http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...port/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp&NoWebContent=1

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=314058

http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/1289/ort/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp&NoWebContent=1

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310497

1. Check and repair any hard drive anomalies:
chkdsk /r

2. Now test. If no joy and it throws the error again, do the following registry repair:

http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot.htm

(based on:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307545

)

 

[linney]

XP cannot start. Windows\Drivers\PCI.SYS corrupt or cannot be found
thread779-206126

Sounds like corrupt or mismatched memory stick. See if there is any help here.


319136 - "Pci.sys Is Missing or Corrupt" Error Message When You Start Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;319136&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q307/6/54.asp

http://groups.google.com/groups?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=pci.sys+ram+windows+xp

A Stand-alone Memory Diagnostic to check faulty RAM.

http://www.memtest86.com/

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp