Thank you very much for the prompt reply. It appears to be the instructions I was looking for. However, a little complication prevents me from rebooting from the original Windows XP CD. I have two CD/DVD drives, the top one (desktop configuration) has not worked in a long time, it's jammed and won't open. I put the CD in the lower one, when I try to reboot, it defaults back to my hard drive, can you tell me how I can bypass the top CD drive and boot from the disk instead of hard drive?
By the way, my original Windows XP CD has Service Pack 1, does it matter?
You will have to open the PC and swap the data (IDE) cables on the 2 optical drives, then use the lower drive to boot from, or replace the upper drive that is inoperative with a good one.
"By the way, my original Windows XP CD has Service Pack 1, does it matter?"
It should not matter for repairing the Hal.dll problem.
I did what you suggested. I swapped the drives, I was able to start from the CD but unable to complete the process. Here is what my screen is showing:
Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console.
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
C:\>
(at this point, I typed: bootcfg /rebuild)
Scanning all disks for Windows installations.
Please wait, since this may take a while...
Error: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This error maybe caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect andy disk errors.
Note: This operation must complete successfully in order for the /add or /rebuild commands to be utilized.
I had to type and ran the chkdsk at C:\>, end result is CHKDSK found one or more errors on the volume
117137944 kilobytes total disk space.
73834952 kilobytes are available
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
29284486 total allocation units on disk.
18458738 allocation units available on disk
at the end, I try to do bootcfg /rebuild, the computer gave me the same message as it did before and back to C:\>.
What can I do next? Timing of my computer problem is aweful, I am starting a new job tomorrow.
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
Best Regards,
ciwawa
@mombodog wrote:
"tell me how I can bypass the top CD drive "
You will have to open the PC and swap the data (IDE) cables on the 2 optical drives, then use the lower drive to boot from, or replace the upper drive that is inoperative with a good one.
"By the way, my original Windows XP CD has Service Pack 1, does it matter?"
It should not matter for repairing the Hal.dll problem.
Thank you very much for your helpful tips. My Windows XP OS came back to life, but it was unable to log into my user profile, so it reset itself. The computer is acting as if I am a brand new user going through the initial setup. For instance, all my Favorites saved in IE were gone. Is this normal? Do I still have my profile buried somewhere in my computer? I just hope I haven't lost any data. Thank you again.
"If the user profile becomes damaged, Windows XP will display one of two error messages when you to log on to the system:Windows cannot load your profile because it may be corrupted. You may be logged in using a temporary User Profile.OR:The system has recovered from a serious error.The operating system will then automatically create a new user profile and log you into this new profile. When this occurs, you’ll immediately discover that all of your personalized settings such as color scheme, wallpaper, and icons are gone. Even more disturbing is that the My Documents folder doesn’t show any of your documents. You’ll also discover that Outlook Express and Internet Explorer will be void of any of your personal settings and data."
There is a way to recover your old profile possibly, read this article carefully.
I am in the process of copying all the files to another drive. It is tideous at best.
I do have another concern, as I scroll through my "My Documents", I noticed that my "Local Settings" are no longer there. That is where I usually find my Outlook .pst file. Now, I don't know where to find my precious .pst file. Can you help me further? I am most grateful for your help.
"Dell's Disk Monitoring System has detected that drive 0 on the primary EIDE controller is operating outside of normal specifications"
Looks like the hard drive is failing
If it were me, I would remove that hard drive from the PC, install the hard drive in another PC as a secondary drive, then run this data recovery software on that drive to see if it can recover the missing data.
Do not install and run this software while the drive is in the current system, is must be run with the drive mounted as a secondary drive. Doing so will greatly reduce the chances of recovering the data.
1) I did the file search but came up empty. The only thing showing is:
Files named otlook.pst in folder: C:\Documents and Settings\User's name\My Documents\User's Folder\Computer\Outlook Notes 1KB
Does this mean my .pst is gone? When I go into Windows Explorer under C:\Documents and Settings, under user name, I would find local settings. But all the local settings for all users are gone, do you know how to find them?
2) The other thing is whenever I hard boot the computer up, I get this message on the screen:
WARNING: Dell's Disk Monitoring System has detected that drive 0 on the primary EIDE controller is operating outside of normal specifications. It is advisable to immediately back up your data and replace your hard disk drive by calling your support desk or Dell Computer Corporation.
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
Can you tell me if Zone Alarm and/or AVG anti-virus could be cause this problem? Both of my desktop computers appearing to be ailing from similar problems. They both are older computers, though. Is it safe to continue to use the computer if I could restore Windows XP?
Lots of questions, hoping for answers. Thanks a million for helping
Thank you very much for your technical help. I am not sure I can commit to do this at this point. It is getting very technical. I have no idea how to hook the internal hard drive to another computer as a secondary drive. Even if I knew how, not knowing enough technical stuff, I would be afraid that it will corrupt my second computer which I am not ready to risk. But, I thank you just the same for sticking with me this long.
mombodog
2 Intern
•
12.7K Posts
0
August 25th, 2008 20:00
See if this helps
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&dl=false&l=en&s=gen&docid=D41BC1D2DB324FFF85D095E5F4244358&doclang=en
ciwawa
68 Posts
0
August 25th, 2008 21:00
Thank you very much for the prompt reply. It appears to be the instructions I was looking for. However, a little complication prevents me from rebooting from the original Windows XP CD. I have two CD/DVD drives, the top one (desktop configuration) has not worked in a long time, it's jammed and won't open. I put the CD in the lower one, when I try to reboot, it defaults back to my hard drive, can you tell me how I can bypass the top CD drive and boot from the disk instead of hard drive?
By the way, my original Windows XP CD has Service Pack 1, does it matter?
Thanks again.
ciwawa
Computer:Dell Dimension 8250
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.4pGHz
2.39 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
Microsfot Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
mombodog
2 Intern
•
12.7K Posts
0
August 25th, 2008 21:00
"tell me how I can bypass the top CD drive "
You will have to open the PC and swap the data (IDE) cables on the 2 optical drives, then use the lower drive to boot from, or replace the upper drive that is inoperative with a good one.
"By the way, my original Windows XP CD has Service Pack 1, does it matter?"
It should not matter for repairing the Hal.dll problem.
ciwawa
68 Posts
0
August 26th, 2008 01:00
I did what you suggested. I swapped the drives, I was able to start from the CD but unable to complete the process. Here is what my screen is showing:
Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console.
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
C:\>
(at this point, I typed: bootcfg /rebuild)
Scanning all disks for Windows installations.
Please wait, since this may take a while...
Error: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This error maybe caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect andy disk errors.
Note: This operation must complete successfully in order for the /add or /rebuild commands to be utilized.
I had to type and ran the chkdsk at C:\>, end result is CHKDSK found one or more errors on the volume
117137944 kilobytes total disk space.
73834952 kilobytes are available
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
29284486 total allocation units on disk.
18458738 allocation units available on disk
at the end, I try to do bootcfg /rebuild, the computer gave me the same message as it did before and back to C:\>.
What can I do next? Timing of my computer problem is aweful, I am starting a new job tomorrow.
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
Best Regards,
ciwawa
Computer:
Dell Dimension 8250
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.4pGHz
2.39 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
Microsfot Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
mombodog
2 Intern
•
12.7K Posts
0
August 26th, 2008 02:00
follow this guide to run chkdsk
http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=5097
ciwawa
68 Posts
0
August 26th, 2008 23:00
Thank you very much for your helpful tips. My Windows XP OS came back to life, but it was unable to log into my user profile, so it reset itself. The computer is acting as if I am a brand new user going through the initial setup. For instance, all my Favorites saved in IE were gone. Is this normal? Do I still have my profile buried somewhere in my computer? I just hope I haven't lost any data. Thank you again.
Best Regards,
ciwawa
Computer:
Dell Dimension 8250
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.4pGHz
2.39 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
Microsfot Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
mombodog
2 Intern
•
12.7K Posts
0
August 27th, 2008 00:00
"If the user profile becomes damaged, Windows XP will display one of two error messages when you to log on to the system:Windows cannot load your profile because it may be corrupted. You may be logged in using a temporary User Profile.OR:The system has recovered from a serious error.The operating system will then automatically create a new user profile and log you into this new profile. When this occurs, you’ll immediately discover that all of your personalized settings such as color scheme, wallpaper, and icons are gone. Even more disturbing is that the My Documents folder doesn’t show any of your documents. You’ll also discover that Outlook Express and Internet Explorer will be void of any of your personal settings and data."
There is a way to recover your old profile possibly, read this article carefully.
http://www.lockergnome.com/it/2004/12/15/get-it-done-recover-a-damaged-windows-xp-user-profile/
ciwawa
68 Posts
0
August 28th, 2008 04:00
Thank you.
I am in the process of copying all the files to another drive. It is tideous at best.
I do have another concern, as I scroll through my "My Documents", I noticed that my "Local Settings" are no longer there. That is where I usually find my Outlook .pst file. Now, I don't know where to find my precious .pst file. Can you help me further? I am most grateful for your help.
Best Regards,
ciwawa
Computer:
Dell Dimension 8250
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.4pGHz
2.39 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
Microsfot Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
mombodog
2 Intern
•
12.7K Posts
0
August 28th, 2008 12:00
mombodog
2 Intern
•
12.7K Posts
0
September 3rd, 2008 00:00
"Dell's Disk Monitoring System has detected that drive 0 on the primary EIDE controller is operating outside of normal specifications"
Looks like the hard drive is failing
If it were me, I would remove that hard drive from the PC, install the hard drive in another PC as a secondary drive, then run this data recovery software on that drive to see if it can recover the missing data.
http://www.runtime.org/data-recovery-software.htm
Do not install and run this software while the drive is in the current system, is must be run with the drive mounted as a secondary drive. Doing so will greatly reduce the chances of recovering the data.
ciwawa
68 Posts
0
September 3rd, 2008 00:00
1) I did the file search but came up empty. The only thing showing is:
Files named otlook.pst in folder: C:\Documents and Settings\User's name\My Documents\User's Folder\Computer\Outlook Notes 1KB
Does this mean my .pst is gone? When I go into Windows Explorer under C:\Documents and Settings, under user name, I would find local settings. But all the local settings for all users are gone, do you know how to find them?
2) The other thing is whenever I hard boot the computer up, I get this message on the screen:
WARNING: Dell's Disk Monitoring System has detected that drive 0 on the primary EIDE controller is operating outside of normal specifications. It is advisable to immediately back up your data and replace your hard disk drive by calling your support desk or Dell Computer Corporation.
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
Can you tell me if Zone Alarm and/or AVG anti-virus could be cause this problem? Both of my desktop computers appearing to be ailing from similar problems. They both are older computers, though. Is it safe to continue to use the computer if I could restore Windows XP?
Lots of questions, hoping for answers. Thanks a million for helping
Best Regards,
ciwawa
Shih-Min's Computer:
Dell Dimension 8250
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.4pGHz
2.39 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
Microsfot Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 2
ciwawa
68 Posts
0
September 3rd, 2008 02:00
Thank you very much for your technical help. I am not sure I can commit to do this at this point. It is getting very technical. I have no idea how to hook the internal hard drive to another computer as a secondary drive. Even if I knew how, not knowing enough technical stuff, I would be afraid that it will corrupt my second computer which I am not ready to risk. But, I thank you just the same for sticking with me this long.
Have a great evening.
Best Regards,
ciwawa