Error loading operation system

[Gene Shen]

I got a problem with my Dell Dimension 8100 PC that has a
Maxtor 6L020L1 ATA100 hard drive and runs Windows XP Home.

1. One day I powered on the PC, it says:"Error loading
operation system" on top of a black screen.

2. Then I used Window XP installation/restoration CD-ROM
from Dell to reboot. It gave me two choices: A. To setup
Window XP now; 2. To repair a Window XP installation
using Recovery Console.

I selected Repair, it brought me to DOS with C:\. I
typed "DIR" , it said: " An error occurred during
directory enumeration."

I used C:\chkdsk, and it said: "The volume appears to
contain one or more unrecoverable problems."

3. I used Seagate Disk Tool to check the physical
surface of the disk. It says Disk Surface is good, but
file structure failed.

4. I went to the Microsoft web site and it instructed me
to create a bootable floppy disk from another Windows XP
PC. So did I. The floppy diskette brought me to the
following:

*********************************************************
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.
*********************************************************

That is all I got so far. Please help me take a look and
let me know if there is any hope of getting back the
Data on the hard drive.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Guest]

Try this: install your xp cd and then go to a dos prompt and type this: sfc/scannow

 

[Gerrit]

Hi Gene,
Got the exact same problem today.
Did you find a solution to this problem?

I found a utility called NTFSDOS, which enables accessing a NTFS drive with dos.
This enabled me to atleast access the hal.dll file.
Not sure though just replacing it will work.

Have you gotten any further on the problem?
Thanks

Gerrit

 

[Justin Spanier]

When you boot up, does it give several options (eg: safe mode, safe
mode with networking, safe mode with command prompt, ect...)?

 

[Justin Spanier]

I had this problem at work about five months ago. We sent the
computer off to a hard drive file recovery company who told us that
the files were not recoverable. It happened again about a month ago.
I tried to use the startup floppies (6 disk set), but to no avail. I
tried to go into the recovery console and expand the folder that
included hal.dll, but still to no avail. Here is how I solved the
problem. Out of a last ditch effort, I plopped the windows xp cd in
the cd drive and started up the computer. When it came to the screen
that asked what mode to start up in, I chose safe mode, and it started
up. Easy as that! All files were still there and life went on as
usual. I have no idea why or how. I tried to go by the microsoft
knowledge base articles, but they didn't work. Try this and see if it
gets you anywhere. You never know....it may just work. If not, at
least you can say you tried.

Peace out