Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI) Practice Exam 2025 – The Complete All-in-One Guide to Exam Mastery!

The file responsible for loading Ntoskrnl.exe in Windows 7 is Ntldr. This file, known as the NT loader, plays a crucial role during the boot process of operating systems based on the NT architecture, such as Windows 7.

When a system starts up, Ntldr is initiated first, and it is tasked with loading the operating system kernel, which is Ntoskrnl.exe. Once Ntldr has successfully loaded this kernel, the Windows operating system can then take control of the system.

Other options such as Gdi32.dll and Kernel32.dll are essential Windows system files as well, but they are not involved in the boot process. Gdi32.dll is related to graphics rendering, and Kernel32.dll handles memory management and system calls during runtime, rather than during the initial boot phase. Boot.ini, on the other hand, was used primarily in earlier versions of Windows for boot configuration, but in Windows 7, this function is managed differently through the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store, making it irrelevant to the loading of the Ntoskrnl.exe file.