Recovery Problems

[Tanya]

PC wont boot into windows. Missing system32\hal.dll. Did
a search in MS KB which said I should do a system
recovery from the Windows XP disk. When I boot into the
XP disk I don't get the option to do any recovery
whatsoever. It just says starting windows and then
freezes. the KB says

"Start your computer by using the Windows Setup floppy
disks or the Windows CD-ROM. At the "Welcome to Setup"
screen, press F10 or press R to repair, and start the
Windows Recovery Console"

But I don't get any Welcome to Setup message. HELP!

 

[Malke]

PC wont boot into windows. Missing system32\hal.dll. Did
a search in MS KB which said I should do a system
recovery from the Windows XP disk. When I boot into the
XP disk I don't get the option to do any recovery
whatsoever. It just says starting windows and then
freezes. the KB says

"Start your computer by using the Windows Setup floppy
disks or the Windows CD-ROM. At the "Welcome to Setup"
screen, press F10 or press R to repair, and start the
Windows Recovery Console"

But I don't get any Welcome to Setup message. HELP!

It sounds to me like your computer is *not* booting from the cd-rom, but
is booting from the hard drive. You will need to go into the BIOS and
set the boot order. The keystroke command to get into the BIOS depends
on your motherboard, but usually you'll see some message at the bottom
of your screen when you first start the computer like "Press DEL to
start SETUP". Other common keystrokes are "F2", "ESC", "F10", but it
does depend. Once in the BIOS, you'll set the boot order so the cd-rom
is first.

If this sounds daunting (and although I think it is easy, you should not
feel bad if you don't), then take the machine to a good local computer
repair shop (not a BestBuy or CompUSA type of store) and have them fix
it.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks- I have already changed the boot order prior to
putting the CD in. Do you think it could be a hard drive
error if even the CD doesn't want to boot properly?

 

[Malke]

Thanks- I have already changed the boot order prior to
putting the CD in. Do you think it could be a hard drive
error if even the CD doesn't want to boot properly?

It wouldn't be a hard drive error necessarily, but rather a motherboard
problem. You can test the hard drive easily with a diagnostic utility
from the drive mftr. to be sure.

Malke