Question

Dell Inspiron 6000

Asked by: swaff

I have had a few issues with this system and decided, after speaking with Dell product support to rebuild windows. It started about a week ago, when i booted the computer and it came back with a Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:Windows\System32\Hal.dll. Upon closer inspection, it was an invalid boot.ini file. I went to the location to look up the error http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330184, and followed the instructions there. The system did not have any boot INI file so, I did a CHKDSK /R and after the repair, I was able to rebuild the INI file. The system worked, for 1 day and the error came back. The system shutdown and the message was present again. I was not so lucky the 2nd time with the rebuild. It did rebuild, but was short lived. When it first happened, I suspected Hardware, but after speaking with Dell Technical support, I was told it is a Windows XP problem and that it needed to be reloaded!

I decided to rebuild windows from scratch, but do not have the DELL o/s rebuild disk. I do have a copy of MS Windows XP home edition. I purchased a new disk, 320gb, installed it and booted windows XP. It gets me to the point where it says, examining system devices and then the screen goes blank and does not get me to the LOAD windows XP screen. I am at a loss to understand why I cannot rebuild from my CD. I had downloaded a Release candidate from MS for windows 7, and I was able to boot that, so I am not experiencing a problem with XP. Also, I was able to LOAD windows 7 on this system as well. Problem with that is the Release Candidate expires on June 1st of next year and I want something a little more permanent.  So, XP is the way to go. I also borrowed a friends XP pro boot disk, but have had the same issues.

So, can anyone here explain why I cannot load Windows XP onto this machine on a fresh disk, or can they possibly fix the invalid Boot.ini error that I continuously get?

thanks

Swaff -)

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Asked On
2009-09-13 at 20:26:28ID24728577
Tags

dell

,

Windows XP

,

rebuild

Topics

Windows XP Operating System

,

PC Laptops

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: anil_kumar137Posted on 2009-09-13 at 21:29:58ID: 25322937

Hi you can try repair the boot ini file

The boot.ini file is a hidden file that is used to identify in what folder on which partition and on which hard drive Windows XP is located. Boot.ini can become damaged, corrupted or deleted for a number of reasons and is usually brought to your attention by an error message.

Follow these easy steps to repair the damaged/corrupted boot.ini file or replace it if it has been deleted.

Enter Windows XP Recovery Console. The Recovery Console is an advanced diagnostic mode of Windows XP with special tools that will allow you to restore the boot.ini file.

When you reach the command line , type the following command and then press Enter.

bootcfg /rebuild
The bootcfg utility will scan your hard drives for any Windows XP installations and then display the results. Follow the remaining steps to add your Windows XP installation to the boot.ini file.

The first prompt asks Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All).

Type Y in response to this question and press Enter.

The next prompt asks you to Enter Load Identifier:.

This is the name of the operating system. For example, type Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition and press Enter.

The final prompt asks you to Enter OS Load options:.

Type /Fastdetect here and press Enter.

Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC.

Assuming that a missing or corrupt boot.ini file was your only issue, Windows XP should now start normally.

 

by: raiden69Posted on 2009-09-13 at 23:58:24ID: 25323285

Hi

When you did the clean build did you delete all the existing partitions on the machine?

 

by: nobusPosted on 2009-09-14 at 00:06:26ID: 25323308

you may have bad hardware (mobo)
you can test this, by running from a live Knoppix cd (different OS and drivers) if that runs OK, your hardware is ok :    ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/dist/knoppix/KNOPPIX_V6.0.1CD-2009-02-08-EN.iso

otherwise, you can run diags :

http://www.pc-doctor.com/                                    PC doctor
http://micro2000.com/                                    Micro 2000
www.tufftest.com/tt01-lite.htm                              free      TuffTest lite

 

by: swaffPosted on 2009-09-14 at 05:31:04ID: 25324712

Nobus,

thanks for the information. I was able to boot the Knoppix linux disk and got to a Menu like screen.  Dell has built in diags so, there has been no issue from a diagnostic run. I find it strange that I cannot boot the Windows XP disks at all. I have tried them in this P.C. and others in my house and it boots on all of them. It just seems that this one is troublesome.

If anyone else has suggestions as to why I cannot load a Windowx XP (HOME/PRO) CD on this system I am all for trying anything at this point! I did not suspect it would be an issue, but obviously it is!

thanks

 

by: nobusPosted on 2009-09-14 at 08:47:15ID: 25326628

maybe the drive is on it's last legs...can you test with another drive ?

 

by: swaffPosted on 2009-09-14 at 09:22:38ID: 25326994

The old drive is causing the Invalid boot.ini problem. I have put a new drive in. Old was 100GB new is 320GB.
The issue is with the new drive.  When it is in and I try to boot Windows XP, it starts to configure but never moves beyond that. (NO blue screen that tells me if I need to load a 3rd party driver etc) Old drive still has data, don't wanna destroy it till I have moved data to new drive.


 

by: nobusPosted on 2009-09-14 at 09:25:29ID: 25327015

i did not mean the disk, but the CD drive which you cannot boot from  !!!

 

by: swaffPosted on 2009-09-18 at 11:23:12ID: 25368547

Sorry for the late response.

The actual resolution was I partitioned the disk 320GB Disk into 2 partitions, one at 200, and one at about 100Gb. , i was successful at installing Windows XP Home edition after I did that. Really Strange as I had tried windows XP Home SP2 and Windows XP PRO, SP2.

Still not sure why.

thanks for the help

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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