Hi mepoole1,

I request you to run diagnostics on the system. To run diagnostics restart the system and at the Dell logo tap the F12 key every two seconds. This will start the One-time boot menu. Using arrow keys select ‘Boot to the Utility Partition’ and hit enter. If you receive a message stating no Diagnostics Utility has been found, use the resource CD which was shipped with the system to run diagnostics. Insert the Resource CD into the CD drive; restart the system and at the Dell logo tap the F12 key every two seconds.  When the Boot device list appears select CD-ROM and hit enter. Select Boot from CD-ROM option from the CD Boot menu. Select Run the 32 Bit Dell Diagnostics. If a problem is encountered during a test, a message will display with the error code and the description of the problem. Please revert if there any error message

I would like to know if there were any software or hardware changes made to the system. Please reply to this post for further assistance.

The drive is DYING Near Dead or RAM is DYING or Dead.

Error: Stop: 0xc0000218 Error Registry File Failure in Windows XP.

Stop 0xc0000218 (0xe11a30e8, 0x00000000) UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR -or- Stop: 0xc0000218 {Registry File Failure} The registry cannot load the hive (file): \\SystemRoot\\System32\\Config\\SYSTEM or its log or alternate. It is corrupt, absent, or not writable.

A necessary registry hive file cannot be loaded because the file is corrupted or missing. Registry files can be damaged because of hard disk corruption or some other hardware problem. This behavior can also occur if the driver has damaged the registry data while loading into memory, or if the memory where the registry is loading has a parity error.

The computer has been stuck on a black screen overnight (about 8 hours) with:

"Character Attributes Test (80X25)

 This line is in normal intensity

 This line is in reverse video

 This line is intensified

 This line is blinking"

Leaving it on will NOT Repair a Dying / Dead/ Damaged hard drive.

Leaving it on will NOT Repair corrupted Registry.

No number of reinstalls will repair PHYSICAL Damage to the hard drive platters.