WinXP won't boot

[jorde30]

I'm currently getting this message when I try to boot my machine:

Windows could not start because the following file is corrupt or missing:
\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Any help would be appreciated.

[glc]

Boot with the CD and enter the repair console, log in with the administrator password. When you get to the C\windows or c:\winnt prompt, type:

Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini
DEL C:\Boot.ini
BootCfg /Rebuild
Fixboot

[jorde30]

how do i log into the repair console...is that the debugging mode?

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

Boot using the Windows XP CD, and select repair from the first option screen. Then follow glc's instructions.

[jorde30]

I booted from the CD, but I never get an option screen, it just goes straight into windows setup. Is there some key I should be pushing during boot?

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

You need to enter the BIOS and make sure the CD drive is above the Hard drive in the BIOS boot order, this should then boot to the blue screen with option 1.Install Windows,
2. Repair etc etc

You want number two I think.

[jorde30]

Ok...I booted with the CD, and then I got to the blue screen. It said push R to repair a previous installation. Upon pushing R, I got to Another screen that said "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer".

Any ideas what that could mean?

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

Is the drive recognised in the BIOS? Have you tried a different cable to connect the harddrive to the motherboard? Is the harddrive power connector in properly?

[jorde30]

how exactly would i be able to tell if its recognized in BIOS? The cables are plugged in correctly.

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

At the first screen it should say something like:

Detecting Ide Drives:
Primary Master... Maxtor......
Primary Slave... None
Secondary Master... Lite-on......
Secondary Slave... None

(Press the pause break button near the delete key to stop the screen so you can read it)

[jorde30]

that screen comes up, so i guess it is recognizing it

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

If it says the drive the only other thing I can think to do is reset the CMOS, although I don't know if it will help. If you do reset it you will have to set all the settings again, so it might be worth writing them all down. To reset it you remove a silver button battery on the mobo, and wait a couple of minutes (the power must be removed, the computer should be plugged into the wall) and then put it back in and enter the settings again and see if it helps.

[jorde30]

did you mean it shouldn't be plugged into the wall?

[jorde30]

From what I can tell my IDE 3 port has failed, so I switched my hard drive to IDE 2. I can now get to the repair screen, but when i type in "Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini" I get a message saying a parameter is wrong. I tried the other three commands, but when i did "Bootcfg /Rebuild" I was told that I needed to perform chkdsk to fix it.

[jorde30]

upon running chkdsk on D: (where my OS is), I was told that the drive has one or more unrecoverable problems. What does that mean?

[Marke522]

A friend of mine had similar problems after removing the drivers for his video card, couldn't get them reinstalled and the online didn't work anymore either. Just a black screen. Ended up doing a format and reinstalling windows. He was due for one anyway, been close to a year.

[glc]

Unrecoverable problems means that the hard drive is probably dying. You need to run Powermax diagnostics on it (free download from Maxtor as a bootdisk maker) to verify this. If the drive passes, you will probably have to reinstall XP over the top - instead of repair, choose Setup, and when it finds the existing install, repair it. If it doesn't find the existing install, you may have to remove the drive, slave it into another computer, and recover your files - and then wipe the drive completely and install fresh.

[scracker]

How does "boot to safe mode and use system recovery" sound?