Memory write/read failure

[Guest]

Trying to help fix my parents Dell Dimension 8200. I'm getting multiple
different error messages depending on what I do when I boot up. The first
one is: Memory write/read failure at 0800700C, read 00EF80EF expecting
00EF00EF. Memory address line failure at 08010000, read 00000000 expecting
FEFEFEFE. Decreasing available memory.

I have not changed any memory or RAM or hardware on this computer so the
error message is very random.

The second message I've been getting is that I have a missing or corrupt
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll and to please reinstall this file. Can
anyone shed some light on either of these issues please?

 

[Dave B.]

Run a memory diagnostic program to test the RAM.
http://www.memtest86.com/

 

[Guest]

To test memory,go to:http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
For the other,you'd need to run the recovery console by booting to xp cd,
read kb307654

 

[Rock]

Trying to help fix my parents Dell Dimension 8200. I'm getting multiple
different error messages depending on what I do when I boot up. The first
one is: Memory write/read failure at 0800700C, read 00EF80EF expecting
00EF00EF. Memory address line failure at 08010000, read 00000000
expecting
FEFEFEFE. Decreasing available memory.

I have not changed any memory or RAM or hardware on this computer so the
error message is very random.

The second message I've been getting is that I have a missing or corrupt
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll and to please reinstall this file. Can
anyone shed some light on either of these issues please?

For the memory problem download and run at least two of these memory testing
programs. They need to be run from a bootable CD or floppy. Let each one
run for some time, not just a a single pass.

Memtest86+
http://www.memtest.org/

Windows Memory Diagnostic
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

DocMemory Memory Diagnostic
http://www.simmtester.com/page/products/doc/download.asp

For the hal.dll missing error message, that's deceptive. What it means is
that boot.ini file is either missing or corrupt. Here is a previous post
from the late Alex Nichol, MVP about it and how to fix it.

That message is rather misleading. It happens because the boot.ini file
that tells the boot where to look for 'Windows' is damaged, so it is
looking for files in the wrong place - hal.dll just happens to be the
first one it looks for.

Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead
of Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password
requested is blank, and TAB over.

Use
Attrib -H -R -S C:\boot,ini
DEL C:\boot.ini
to delete the bad one
BootCfg /Rebuild


to search for Windows installations and make a new one