Windows could not start.....

All I Can tell you is how i fixed my hal.dll missing or corrupted problem..

1st insert the window xp bootable cd

then on the setup page press R For Repair

After That u may select Ur Window By Hitting 1

Then Type In Ur Admin Password

And Now U Try This 2 Method:

1st Method Expand D:\i386\hal.dl_C:\windows\system32\hal.dll

( "D" Is The Place Where Is Ur CD ROM DRIVE )

2nd Method is By Typing COPY C:\Windows\servicepackfiles\i386\hal.dll C:\Windows\System32\hal.dll

 

It Might Fixed Ur problem..

 

Aps @ sun,

 

It might be a good idea to run chkdsk /r from the Recovery Console.  You can basically do the same thing from within Windows by the following method:

 

Open My Computer.  Right click on the C: drive.  Left click on Properties.  Click on the Tools tab.  Click on the "Check Now" button.  Check both boxes.  Click Start.  Click Yes when you are notified that this action can be performed on your next restart.  Restart your computer.

 

It might not be a bad idea to run the Dell Diagnostics Utility and test the hard drive.

 

Hope this info helps.

 

Tony

tgsmith, Where do I find the Dell Diagnostics Utility?

Also when I boot now instead of the computer booting directly to the XP system I get two choices. The first choice is Windows XP and the second is Optin......something. Did not get the whole line.  How can I correct this so my computer booted as before-right to XP.

Unless you deleted the small Dell partition (not visible in Windows Explorer, but shown in Disk Manager (right click My computer, click Manage, under storage click disk management), you get to the dell Diagnostics by pressing F12 repeatedly immediately on starting your PC (before Windows starts to load). That should give you a screen with boot options. One of those is (as I recall for Dimension 8300) called 'utility' or something like that. That should open the Dell diagnostics screen.

 

As for the optin... choice on boot, not sure.

 

Could you copy/paste here what your boot.ini file shows (it is in C:\, open it in Notepad, do not change anything at this stage). That may help us to advise.

JRosenfeld, I found the Dell Diagnostics. Thanks for those instructions. I booted to the Utility Partition>Hardware Diagnostics>Express Test. I had two error codes:

Error Code 0F00:133D 

Msg: IDE device failed:Incompatible CD for testing

 

Error Code:0F00:131A

Msg:IDE device failed. Device cannot be accessed, Possibly medium not present.

 

I could not find the boot.ini file under the C drive in explorer.  Could you give me some more detailed instructions. I can find the boot.ini in msconfig but I could not figure out how to copy and paste it in a reply.

 

Here is what I get when I boot up:

Please select the operating system you want to start.

    Windows XP

    /No Execute = Optin /fastdetect

 

I select Windows XP and it boots up normally.

 

Is this the boot.ini?   

 

[boot loader]
timeout=20
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Home Edition" /NoExecute=Optin /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="/NoExecute=Optin /fastdetect" /NoExecute=Optin /fastdetect

Yes, that is your boot.ini.

I suggest you do the following:

1. save copy of boot,ini as bootini.old, as safety measure.

2. Delete the last line (it shows as 2 lines here, but it is one line in reality), i.e. delete

 

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="/NoExecute=Optin /fastdetect" /NoExecute=Optin /fastdetect

 

3.Save boot.ini; it should be in C:\ (root of your OS partition).

 

4.Restart your PC.

You should now no longer have the choice of two bootups.

 

As for the diagnostics errors: The first one: did you have a data CD (i.e. not an audio CD) in the drive before starting the test?

The second one: did you have a data CD in the drive?

If not try again with a data CD

Yes. The CD drive diagnostics tests whether the data can be read. So obviously it needs a CD with files on it to be able to test that (also test with data DVD if it is a DVD drive, because DVD and CD use separate laser system in the drive). BTW 'data' just means individual files and folders, not necessarily your data :-) so you could use any software CD you have.

 

Glad boot problem is solved.

 

I also liked my Dimension 8300 which I bought in 2003. But sadly it died earlier this year, so got the XPS 630 (just in time to be able to get it with XP without also having to buy Vista :-)

I still am worried that my hard drive may be going.  As soon as I get time I will run the diagnsotics again-the full version.  I am not too worried about the Cd/DVD drives. I know there has to be a reason why I lost the ability to boot.  My computer is virus and spyware free so I can rule those things out. But the Dimension 8300 does have some age.  I bought this computer in 2003 also. I guess 5 years is old for a computer. I just don't like to junk all this if I don't have to. The environment is just to littered as it is.

 

"I also liked my Dimension 8300 which I bought in 2003. But sadly it died earlier this year, so got the XPS 630 (just in time to be able to get it with XP without also having to buy Vista :-)"

 

Are you satisfied with your XPS 630 system? I do know that if I buy a new computer it will have some version of VISTA. Such is life. 

Have you run chkdsk, set to both check system files and scan your hard drive for bad sectors?

Easiest way to do this is in Windows Explorer or My compouter, right ckick on the C: drive, click properties, Tools tab, Error checking: click Check now. In the box that opens check both boxes. click start. You'll get a message that it can run chkdsk on next Restart. Accept, restart your PC. Chkdsk will run. If it finds a bad sector it will move and attempt to repair the data in it and mark it as bas so it does not get used again. It will also check/replace the system files as needed. It may take several hours to scan a large hard drive. When done it should boot into Windows. There will be a log in event viewer indicating what errors were found and whether successfully repaired.

 

The other symptom of a failing hard drive is when the noise it makes when writing/reading to the hard drive becomes significantly louder (like marbles rattling in a bag). If there are a lot of bad sectors or the drive is becoming loud, replacement is certainly advised.

 

I had the drive fail on my 8300, and based on that experience, quick action while the drive is still functional is strongly advised. Back up your data and the installation files of any downloaded software that you will want to reinstall (including, e.g. Dell chipset and other drivers). For that purpose, if you don't have one I recommend an external USB connected hard drive. Get a case for SATA HD (I assume that's what you use) and buy the bare drive(s) separately, then you can swap drives easily in the case. Faster, more reliable and convenient than burning to CD or DVD. I also found it very useful to get my data into the XPS 630. Also, make sure your XP installation CD is OK and that you can boot from it (very frustrating to find out it got scratched when you need to use it :-)). Also I note that you are still with XP SP2. I strongly recommend that on the new drive you install SP3. Download and save the full SP3 service pack (no need for SP1 and SP2 or all the other updates prior to SP3). You can get it from

 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5B33B5A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en

 

Of course there are many reasons why a pc fails to boot, files do get corrupted and new software or updates may generate new incompatibilities or cause incipient ones to surface. So if the hard drive is OK, you might review what changes have occurred, check the logs in event viewer for errors, etc. Often difficult to diagnose if the failure is intermittent and in such a situation, a fresh install of everything may be the most effective way forward.

 

I agree with your sentiments about forced obsolescence in PC world. In my case it was the motherboard that eventually failed and replacement was no longer available. Certainly I would have stuck with my 8300 but for that.

 

If you do need to replace the PC at some stage, consider giving it to a charity that reconditions PCs and makes them available to the poorer parts of the world. I'm sure there will be one in your locality. I think that in some countries Dell also offers to take back PCs for recycling.

 

Since you ask, yes I'm happy with the XPS 630. For my needs it does what I want. Mine is very quiet. I have not encountered the problems with controlling fan speeds and with overclocking, reported by some on the XPS desktop board. But then I'm not into gaming, don't overclock and leave the fan control on auto. The recent updates that Dell have made available appear to have gone some way to resolving the problems reported. The only mild irritation I have experienced is that the HD activity LED is very bright and blinks at about 1 second intervals for no good reason (on the 8300 it is hardly visible in a daylit room). The XPS 630 is easy to open up and addition/replacement of parts is easy, better layout than the 8300. With XP Dell did not offer a sound card and I did not like the onboard sound, or rather its control software. So I moved the Audigy 2 card from thye 8300 into the 630 and that works nicely.

 

You can still get it with XP Pro preinstalled, but you have to buy the Vista DVD for future uppgrade. I prefer XP as I'm familiar with its eccentricities, but there are happy Vista users out there too :-) 

JRosenfield, Thank you for such a detailed answer.  Yes I did run chkdsk and when I checked the log the only thing I noticed that may have been a problem was :

Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.

Cleaning up 467 unused indexed entries

Chkdsk discovered free space marked as allocated in the master file table(MFT) bitmap.

I am not sure how to interpret this.

 

I have a new Maxtor One Touch which does not hold its formatting so I am going to try and return this. I just bought a Western Digital My Book drive so I will be setting this up to back up my drive.

 

As far as donating used computers-such a good idea-I have done this multiple times in the past-donating older newly reformatted computers to needy students from grade school up through college.

 

I am glad you like your XPS 630. 

 

Again thanks for your comments. I am sure that your post benefited many others besides just me.  Annie

That chkdsk log is fine, no bad sectors. It just shows that references to files that have been deleted since the last time chkdsk was run (e.g. by uninstalling software or data) have been cleaned out of the NTFS index entries and the MFT. That's normal, just releases a (very) small amount of disk space (the NTFS index and MFT tell the system what files are on the drive and where they are located on the hard drive; when a file is deleted those entries don't get removed automatically).

http://icrontic.com/articles/repair_windows_xp gives an alternative solution which seems to be working for me, though I am still running chkdsk after following the clear instructions without incident. Each screen is set out as you should see it during the process. It might work for you and it is more understandable to the beginner like me.