EDITED post:

You didn't use the right command. Your command told the system to put the expanded file in a folder called "c:\pci.sys" which doesn't exist on the hard drive. :emotion-5:

The correct command is:

Expand f:\i386\pci.sy_ c:\windows\system32\drivers

Notes:

f: is drive letter for the CD drive - your drive letter may be different (maybe d: ??).

DO NOT put the destination file name (eg pci.sys) in the command.

And a word of caution. If the version of XP on the CD isn't exaclty the same as the version on the hard drive, this may not work. So, if the CD is XP or SP1 and the hard drive has SP2 or SP3, it's not going to work. So before you do anything else, reboot and press F8 before XP starts to load. Select "Last Known Good". See if that gets you back to where you were before the failed chipset update.  If that doesn't help, there should be a backup copy of the file in the c:\i386 folder on the hard drive so I'd try that one before using anything off that CD. 

You can order a replacement XP Reinstallation CD for free from Dell here, if you're in the US.

Ron

EDIT:

OOPS -  my bad! The backup copy  of pci.sys in c:\i386 is already expanded. So in this case, boot from the XP CD and at the C: prompt type in:

copy c:\i386\pci.sys c:\windows\system32\drivers\pci.sys /v

(/v tells the system to verify that the copy is correct)

Press Enter

Ron

Glad you got the system running again, but now I'm confused! 

Are you talking about the chipset update or a BIOS update. The chipset is an ordinary Windows file that stored on the hard drive. There is no such thing as a flash update for the chipset.  On the other hand, a BIOS update requires a flash of NVRAM (non-volatile RAM) to update  info stored on a chip on the motherboard.

And when the system fails to reboot after a flash update to BIOS, you can some times recover by simply removing the battery from the motherboard for a few minutes.

Ron

Hi,

 Yes, it was a chipset update that failed, described as "chipset software utility update." No idea why it failed and not brave enough to try again :emotion-10:

Thanks again for the advice.

Thanks so much Ron for the info about system failure after a flash update to BIOS!!!  Mine failed and all I got during reboot was a high-speed fan that blew the dust out of my CPU tower. Removed the power cord and battery, shorted the battery terminals briefly, rebooted to a working computer. THANKS AGAIN! 

John

And you won’t need to vacuum tower internals for a while  :emotion-11:

jeflyer- Glad you got it sorted, but I really hope you didn't do what you said: "shorted the battery terminals briefly"!!  :emotion-3:

Guess you like asking for trouble. If there's a next time, after you remove the battery, just press/hold the power button on the tower for ~30 sec to discharge the residual current. Of course if you do like living dangerously, feel free to short the battery terminals again, but don't say you weren't warned. :emotion-4:

bell boy - you are just tooo funny!

Ron

you can also re do your computer without the cd disk if you have a dell2400 not sure if yours will work but mine did you turn off

computer and as soon as it starts to re-boot keep hitting F-11 and ctrl alt and you should see a screen that ask's if you want

to reinstall your system or not. if it doent work the first time try again   like I said it may not work on your system but it did mine

because i didnt have the CD so try it  good luck.mine is a dimension 2400 windows home edititon.