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

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

"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.

 

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.

 

Message Edited by mombodog on 08-25-2008 05:58 PM

---

 

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

 

follow this guide to run chkdsk

 

http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=5097

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

"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/

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

Use search to find your pst file, search for .pst

"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.