Error Loading Operating System - Windows XP SP2

[carboncopy]

My desktop computer suffered a crash after installing Norton GoBack 4.0. Per the software’s instructions, I turned off Norton GoBack before Windows XP started and received the following error message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
Windows root \system32\hal.dll

Please re-install a copy of the above file.

I have two (2) 74GB Digital Raptor drives set as RAID 0 (drive C) and one(1) 120GB Digital WD1200JB(drive E - used for data storage). Computer configuration is listed below. I disconnected the power cable from the 120GB Digital WD1200JB drive and successfully performed a clean install on the RAID 0 drives from the manufacturer’s restore CD. I then booted up the computer and Windows XP loaded without problems. I then shut down the operating system, reconnected the power cable to the 120GB Digital WD1200JB and turned the power switch on which generated the following error message during the power up process:

Error Loading Operating System.

I have to either disconnect the WD1200JB drive or ,with the WD1200JB drive still connected, press the F8 key and select the RAID drives for the computer to boot up and load Windows XP. If I boot up using the “F8 key” option, I’ll see all the connected drives under the “My Computer” panel. However, the WD1200JB drive does not show any “Total Size” nor “Free Space” numbers. Double clicking on the WD1200JB drive causes a popup window to open stating “The disk in drive E is not formatted …Do You Want To Format It Now….”. Now I am able to recover all the data from the WD1200JB drive using data recovery software. So my question then is how do I resolve the “Error loading Operating System”? Will formatting the drive under Windows XP resolve the problem or is there a better approach?

Regards

============== Configuration =============

Operating System:
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)

Processor:
2.40 gigahertz AMD Opteron
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache

Main Circuit Board :
Board: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. SK8V Rev 1.xx
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 1002.019 12/10/2003

Drives:
PLEXTOR DVDR PX-712A [CD-ROM drive] (drive D)
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive] (drive A)

Promise 2+0 Stripe/RAID0 SCSI Disk Device (148.70 GB) -- WD Raptor SATA [Hard Drive] (2 x 74GB)-- drive 1 (drive C)
WD Caviar SE EIDE [Hard drive] (120.03 GB) -- drive 0, (drive E) SMART Status: Healthy

Memory Modules:
2048 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 512 MB (serial number SerNum0)
Slot 'DIMM1' has 512 MB

Local Drive Volumes:
C: (NTFS on drive 1) 147.70GB 124.14GB free

Network Drives:
None

Controllers:
Standard floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
VIA Bus Master IDE Controller

Bus Adapters:
VIA Serial ATA RAID Controller
WinXP Promise FastTrak 378 (tm) Controller
WinXP Promise RAID Console SCSI Processor Device
Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller (4x)

[abc_punter]

i had win98 installed on the C: and win xp on the D: of my pc, then i chose to format and reinstall xp on drive D: i formatted the disk using a bootable disk and restart. the boot menu pops up and still shows win 98 and win xp. ofcourse the win xp option does not work if i select it gives the same message as yours missing file \hal.dll

i cud boot into 98 though and i successfully performed a new win xp installation which is working fine

the catch though is that another 20GB hard drive earlier connected as a secondary drive does not allow new win xp to boot ,it halts midway. i remove this drive and am able to boot into xp. 98 meanwhile has no issues, boots clean and reads secondary slave.

the secondary drive has a single active partition with win 98.

i know i haven't answered your query but maybe you cud think of something urself now!!

[jayb1234]

Sounds like there might be a bios setting that isn't right. Is that 120Gb drive in the boot order list before the raid drives?

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by jayb1234 Sounds like there might be a bios setting that isn't right. Is that 120Gb drive in the boot order list before the raid drives?

I think you nailed it -- I had the same problem with my Asus P4P800 Deluxe, 36 GB Raptors, and WD2500JB. You have to actually set the order the hard drives get checked in the boot order in the BIOS.

[glc]

GoBack can be very dangerous - I don't recommend it's use.