Startup Error... need guidance.. am i doing the right thing?

[Sam Dol]

Couple of days back, my home PC (running on WindowsXP Home) crashed.
Had a blue screen error but i wasn't able to read it as it restarted
repeatedly and gave me the options page, safe mode, most recent,
normally, etc. Tried all the options but nothing could get me into
windows.

Yesterday managed to get a glimpse of the error and it was unmountable
boot volume. I then inserted my windowsxp setup cd and did a chkdsk /r
in the Recovery Console, but it did not work. So i did a fixboot
instead, and after exiting and restarting, got this "NTLDR is missing,
press any key to restart" error.

I then created a startup disk from another pc with windowsxp
installed. Copied the necessary files (boot.ini,netdetect.com, ntldr)
and tried restarting. Saw this error next: "Windows could not start
because the following file is missing or corrupt:
Windows\System32\Hal.dll"

I haven't done anything yet coz I'm now at work. Need somebody to
help..

1. Have I been doing the right thing? If not, what should I do next?
2. If yes, should i do a bootcfg as recommended in
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;330184 ?

I don't care if i have to re-install windows. I just need to retrieve
the data stored in the hard disk.. my children's life history is in
there, in the form of digital photos..

Thanks in advance.
Sam

 

[WildRiver1]

Yes, try it.

 

[Andrew Davidson]

Couple of days back, my home PC (running on WindowsXP Home) crashed.
Had a blue screen error but i wasn't able to read it as it restarted
repeatedly and gave me the options page, safe mode, most recent,
normally, etc. Tried all the options but nothing could get me into
windows.

Try doing a "Repair installation". This will re-install XP from scratch but will
leave your data and applications in place. For full instructions, see:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/tips/dougknox/doug92.asp

You will need to set your PC to boot from CD, then follow the instructions in
the URL.

Good luck.

 

[Andrew Davidson]

Couple of days back, my home PC (running on WindowsXP Home) crashed.
Had a blue screen error but i wasn't able to read it as it restarted
repeatedly and gave me the options page, safe mode, most recent,
normally, etc. Tried all the options but nothing could get me into
windows.

Try doing a "Repair installation". This will re-install XP from scratch but will
leave your data and applications in place. For full instructions, see:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/tips/dougknox/doug92.asp

You will need to set your PC to boot from CD, then follow the instructions in
the URL.

Good luck.

 

[Sam Dol]

Yes, try it.

Tried it but didn't work.. instead, I got this error msg:
"Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This
error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent
Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any errors."

When i followed up with a chkdsk command, i got "The volume appears to
contain one or more unrecoverable problems."

What should I do next? Help please...