First time user, lost with the HAL.DLL problem

It will certainly remove all the patches. Not so sure about SP2, but I think it likely.

At least you aren't getting the HAL error any more, so you are one step forward.

Might be worth trying just one more fixboot at the console before trying the repair option.

You've definitely got the last six system files that show up in red in the image above, as well as the system volume one?

Colin

 

I agree with Colin. Try again to repair things with the recovery console first. If the CD you have is XPPro with SP2 the repair install will still have SP2. If not you have to start over with patches etc. If you have to put on all the patches download the latest full version of Autopatcher http://www.autopatcher.com/. It will analyze your system and let you apply all the patches that are currently included in the download plus other goodies. Autopatcher is faster then using windows update.

 

I have the six files in the root of C:, and I tried the fixboot to no avail. I can see that all of the data is where it used to be, so, with BartPE, at least I can recover all of my data if I have to rebuild.

When booting from the XP install disk, I didn't see the option for repair install. Is it part of the R option that takes me to a C prompt? The main menu has only 2 options, one is R and the other is to install XP. Do I choose install XP to attempt a repair?

 

Choose install. After that you should be given an opportunity to to a complete install or repair an existing installation. You want to repair.

 

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_install.htm

Repair install.

 

All I could find is an XP Home Upgrade CD to use for the repair attempt. I'll try this evening to see if it is capable of doing a "repair install".

 

I have already made a floppy to boot Windows using Microsoft info at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314079

...and it starts Windows seamlessly. I imagine if the MRB should become contaminated I could copy these files from my floppy to the root in C:
on my HDD.

But then now I have Acronis TrueImage 10 Home and will do a full image of my HDD every week. Already tried a full restore and it works very well.

 

I just got around to trying the Windows repair install with an XP Home disk. It replaced a bunch of files then rebooted. The system was set through BIOS to boot from CD, so I had to reset the BIOS to boot from HD. Upon attempt to boot from HD, I got the same result as before, Verifying DMI Pool Data... and then it reboots itself. I went back to booting from CD and tried to run the repair console which is now asking me for the administrator password. I never set one, so I hit the Enter key. That didn't work. Does XP set some default administrator password? I didn't need one prior to trying the repaid install of XP. I am still NOWHERE.... Nowhere with a headache. Is there an available Good Samaritan out there?

 

Hang on! It asking for an ADMIN password is correct, though that should be at the recovery console, is that what you meant?

Try entering just a space for the ADMIN password.

You shouldn't of had to change your BIOS boot up order - if the CD was in the drive and it was recognised, just not pressing a key on the keyboard, would have brought up the harddrive. Try it again but with the CD in the tray.

This error message can occur if the MBR is up the spout, or the BIOS settings have changed and XP hasn't updated itself. Check that no boards or cables have become loose inside the computer.

Are you able to try this hardrive in another computer?

Colin

 

Bodgy, this is an upgrade CD, and yes, I was prompted for the password after trying the R option. If I let the repair XP process take its course, it gets to the reboot point OK. But, when it reboots, and I don't reply to the option to boot from CD, it never boots from the HD. The attempt to boot from HD times out and the box reboots. Any time I try to boot from the HD, it just says Verifying DMI Pool Data... and eventually reboots. I am convinced there's a disconnect between the volume and the MBR or something like this, and no FIXBOOT ot FIXMBR or anything like these have helped. It is time to move the external USB drive into the box as a slave, boot from the Acronis CD, and attempt to restore all over again. This has been a horror show for sure.

 

I am most relieved to say that I was able to restore the complete image once the external drive was moved to the inside of the box. The image was not corrupted as True Image reported when it was looking at the external USB connected volume. The restore speed was remarkably faster as well, close to 80GB in just under 2 hours. A sincere thank you to all parties who gave me their best thinking and their time. I guess external drives are a bit of a minefield with this product. Watch out!

 

At least you're up and on your way.

It might be worth attaching your external hard drive to a rear USB port, but more likely the way to go is make a BartPE CD - as this uses Windows drivers, you probably won't get the restore problems that you had.

Colin

 

Glad to see you finally got it restored. External drives and the Linux rescue environment for Acronis TI have been problematic. I personally never use the rescue CD because of such issues. I use BartPE and one of Mustang's plugins.