I dont know how or why this has happened, but it just has. I restarted my primary PC not so long ago and I had this error message before Windows (XP Pro) loaded: "Error Loading Operating System" or words to that effect and Windows doesnt load. I havent done anything out of the ordinary or installed any new programs at all today, it just happened. What should I do? Having quickly browsed on Google, I hear people still have the same problems if they format and reinstall Windows, though I dont know. How can I solve this? Thanks in advance!
Please tell me exactly what happens from the moment you press the power button on your PC Please list any missing/corrupt files
Ok, bare with me I dont know any technical terms for this but here goes: I power on the PC, it loads up on that first screen with the drives displayed (HDDs and CD/DVD drive) and etc. On the next screen it has all that data in the tables and usually has something at the bottom like setup is starting or insert boot disk. On that screen in this case, I get a message saying "Error loading operating system". No more, no less and I cant continue beyond that point. Having read about it via google search, it has something to do with updating bios (which I might add, I had done a few months before hand and had no problems at all). I have not installed or altered anything on my computer all day from when I first switched it on, so I honestly cant think what might have caused it.
Okay, I now exactly what you are talking about now! Bad news i'm afraid, it's a fatal error! Your hard drive has failed and the bootable partition has become corrupt. Hard drives don't last forever, in fact they are the most unreliable part of a computer. Do you have a Windows recovery boot floppy or a CD-ROM? I may be able to solve this but it depends how badly damaged the hard drive is. One last thing - Are you sure your hard drive is detected in the POST?
First off, the HDD with my OS on is fairly new (a month or two perhaps). Secondly, I dont have any Windows boot's on floppy (I have one downloaded on here). Unfortunately I dont have any floppy disks spare and its too late here for me to borrow one from a friend (I'll get one in the morning though and try the boot disk/s). Finally, if by POST you mean the first screen that appears when you turn on a PC, then yes it is detected. It is detected in the Standard CMOS Features menu also as usual.
Ok, I have found out the problem (yet still need a solution). The following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows Root>\System32\Hal.DLL How do I go about repairing this? I'd hate to format and lose all my work, but having read on the Internet, people have solved this without formating at all. I'll have another look, but if anyone has any solutions, please let me know. Thanks again!
HAL is Hardware Abstraction Layer, windows uses this to provide a layer of data hiding between programs and hardware. If this file has become corrupt/removed then the easiest way to fix it is to reinstall windows. This doesn't mean you will lose your files. You can use the option to do a repair install of windows which will preserve your files and most of your programs. To do this boot from your windows XP CD, and when it detects that windows is already installed use the "Repair current installation" option. It won't be perfect as some applications may need reinstalling but it will keep your files and you won't have to format.
Yeah, whatever Addis said Seriously though, he's right about your computer problem. Try the repair option on the Windows CD. You could also try the Windows recovery console. Enter the command 'fixboot'. See if you can get hold of an XP recovery floppy disk. Recover the hal.dll file from your CD-ROM or the internet. Copy it to the floppy disk. Boot your computer from the floppy and enter the command Code: Copy a:\hal.dll c:\Windows\System32\
Age has got nothing to do with it. The hard drive may have a few manufacturing defects. I would also be wary of viruses too. hal.dll is the kind of file that a boot virus would hijack. What anti-virus software are you using? That is what I was after. POST means Power On Self Test If you do choose to reinstall Windows, may I recommend that you partition (divide) your hard drive into 3 logical drives. Use the first partition for Windows. The second partition for your swap space. And the third partition for your personal files. By doing this, when you come to reinstall Windows, you will only lose the data on the Windows partition. Thus your personal files on the other partition will remain intact
Ok, I have been out for the day with friends and had a break from my problem. I've come back to discover something new: My backup computer now has the same problem!!!! I have reinstalled Windows just to get back on here and I might know what has caused it to happen. The last thing I downloaded on this computer (backup computer) was some windows updates (I had auto update activated). This is the only thing that I can think of that has caused all these problems however, why? Why would doing a Windows update f**k my pc/s up? I barely have anything on this backup computer (bare essentials and internet connection). A bit too coincidential if you ask me. Can anyone else offer any suggestions at all? Cheers for all the help so far!
The Windows update will not render your computer useless. I haven't read anything on the internet about dodgy updates One possible explaination comes to mind. I've seen viruses that mimic the Windows update process. They can even display the Windows update logo in the taskbar. What anti-virus software do you have?
Avira. I have always used it and kept it thoroughly updated. It never detected anything abnormal though. Is there hope that I can at least repair Windows just to recover my data/files back? I also had a second HDD that had some important data on (SATA RAID). If the worst happened that I had to reinstall Windows, would that drive still be intact or will I have to select a partition again upon installing RAID drivers and reformat?
I'm losing hope in this now. I insert my Windows Installation CD in my other computer and there are no options to actually repair Windows. All I have are the options to create a new partition or delete one. I can't reinstall Windows on the current partition on there and I can't create a new partition as it says that it is reserved for Windows or something like that. The only other option I have here is to delete. What should I do? Is fully reformatting the only option I have here?
I am receiving a completely different error message now: NTLDR is missing I'm all out of ideas. Is this beyond repairable?
the easyest way (i've found) is to reinstall windows over the top of it self, just boot from your XP CD and when prompted "don't repair" with recovery console, you may have to reinstall some drivers and software, otherwise your right a format and install from scratch would be my only option, but no doubt it is fixable in the recovery console but i don't know it
If you have xp sp2 installed it needs to be incorporated into your xp disk or it will not offer the repair option only the clean install. Slipstreaming Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Create Bootable CD ___________________________________________________________________ Lets check the integtrity of your hard drive so we can rule it out. Find the manufacturer of your hard drive and run their Hard Drive Diagnostics Utility.
Tried everything, no avail, reinstalled Windows. I've lost a lot of stuff but I have at least 10% still on my other HDD. It might have actually been some boot related virus though like Megamaced suggested. Its not like something like this can just happen without any causes. Nevertheless, I've created multiple partitions this time to prevent dissapointment in case something like this happens again. Once again, thanks for the help guys and if anyone on this forum has had this problem before and solved it, please let us know.
you could boot from an EBD and install XP from there, but slipstreaming the XP CD is more than a good idea
