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[Sledn]

I just tried to restart my computer from a months uptime and what do I get? ERRORS, annoying errors.

The first time I got an error that something like, msdos subsystem 16 bit error: cannot run dl.exe due to illegal operation (don't remember the exact words). Other problems included not being able to open msconfig. System proccess not closing properly. I also had serveral of the same processes running at the same time.

Then I tried to restart again and I couldn't boot up at all. I got this annoying error:

Windopws could not start becuase the folowing file is missing or corrupt:
|System32\hal.dll
Please reinstall a copy of the above file


I went into the recovery console and tried both "fixboot" and "fixmbr" both of which did nothing. I still get the same hal.dll error.

Right now I'm runing scan disk to see if it is a hard drive problem. A quick google search said it maybe a ram problem but I don't think so seeing as how it was just running last night.

What caused all of this? I was downloading microsoft security updates!!!

System specs are as follows:
Athlon 2500+
512 DDR Kingston
Windows XP Prof.
DFI mobo
Maxtor 120 & 80GB HD

Please help.

 

[HokieJoe]

Have you tried the "Repair" option Sledn?

Do this:

Put your XP install disk in, and reboot.

Let XP go through it's initial install gyrations

You will be presented with an option to install SCSI or RAID drivers, if you have them, press F6 and install. Otherwise, just continue on with the process.

You will reach a screen that says, "To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER"- choose that, not the Recovery Console.

Press F8 to continue

As long as your partition isn't too corrupted, the install process will find your old XP installation and give you the options to "Install a fresh copy" or "Repair an existing XP installation". Choose the Repair option.

I believe this method should allow you to retain all of your files and settings without losing anything.

 

[Sinatar]

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

 

[Sledn]

HokieJoe: I did try that, and it didn't seem to do much

Schafer: Thanks for the link, that site should help a lot!

We'll see how it goes. I'll report my findings.

 

[Sledn]

Hmmm.. well the problem with one of the solutions is that as I stated above, I can't even run msconfig, muchless boot up now D: