Hi folks...
I'm praying somone can assist me as I've been waiting to hear back from
Microsoft on this as it started (when I noticed - my daughter's computer)
when trying to run updates from Microsoft.
Her system is older, running XP Pro and there isn't much on it believe it or
not. AVG is the anti-virus and I've also tried running some registry scans.
No avail, but cleaned a few things up. Mostly having to run in Safe Mode and
Safe Mode w/Networking, yet will still eventually end up getting that blue
screen and many times re-looping and getting stuck & F8 doesn't always work
either.

Again, this is my daughter’s computer, and I believe this started about a
week or so ago. She finally told me a few days ago and when I started taking
a look at her system, this is all new, not past issues I’ve experienced.

1. The first thing I tried to do was to run a scan on her system to see if
there were virus, etc.

2. Then I tried to run a windows update and that’s when I personally
encountered the first blue screen of many…

3. I had already attempted many times to Use the “Last Known Good
Configuration� to no avail, a few times the system couldn’t even get to
running Windows without having returned directly to the blue screen.

4. Then I was able to use the Safe Mode with Networking, tried running
Windows Update that way, didn’t work. Multiple attempts each ending in Blue
Screen

5. I noticed that a message finally gave me something about a Driver issue,
so went to Device Manager, and updated/reinstalled drivers a display screen
and a multimedia device (neither of which I am familiar), but then the Device
Mgr was clear.

6. Then attempted to run Windows update and it did actually download the
Visualization Tool & Installed, thought I was actually getting somewhere…
But then after it asked me to continue on with scanning for updates, I was
back to the blue screen and it proceeded to no longer be able to start
Windows again, just re-routing back to Blue Screen.

7. Last Known Good Configuration again, didn’t work.

I do have screen shots of the blue screens it gives, but the error codes are
of no help as the four it gives me, always change.

I've finally turned the damn thing off as it was just re-looping to blue
screen and couldn't load windows, so after 3 days of tyring to figure it out,
I've given up....

Lastly, apparently my daughter turned the computer on, and now all it shows
is a black screen with the "missing system32\hal.dll" file.
Now I've seen this when I got a brand new system running both Mac & OS
systems, when I loaded windows. I figured out a work around for it on the
Mac, but this system only runs Windows, so not sure what to do from here with
it...

She has some things on her system that she's hoping I don't have to do a
fresh install so any suggestions are tremendously appreciated.

Please let me know what further info I can provide to be of assistance.

Thanks so much,

Sunny

kittikatt60 wrote:
As a hardware guy, I start with hardware testing.

1) memtest86+ from memtest.org (CD or floppy version). This
will test your memory. A couple passes or a couple hours of testing,
if no errors are shown, is enough of a test.

2) Download the hard drive test, from the hard drive manufacturer web site.
Should load on a floppy. Boot with the test floppy and test the hard drive.

3) Boot an alternate OS. You can either use Knoppix (knopper.net - pick a CD version)
or Ubuntu.com . These are LiveCD's, meaning you boot with the CD and do not
have to install any hardware. If a LiveCD boots and you can do simple things
like web surf with Firefox, that tells you a lot of the hardware is working.
And then, your problem is likely with the Windows install.

If, on the other hand, Linux crashes, applications quit without being touched,
then you'd suspect some hardware instability. No reason to go back to Windows,
until you fix it.

4) While in Linux, you can visit Mersenne.org and download a Linux copy of
Prime95. That is another tool that can be used for CPU and memory testing.
Use the "torture test" option - no need to "Join GIMPS".

In terms of possible hardware problems that affect stability -

1) Power supply failures are a frequent occurrence.
2) The capacitors on the motherboard (aluminum cylinders with plastic sleeves)
have been known to fail. The tops bulge, and liquid leaks from the bottom,
leaving a brown stain. This will cause a reduction in the quality of power
fed to the CPU. After a short period of time, there will be complete failure
(no longer booting).
3) Hard drives fail after some years of usage, so a backup plan is a good idea.
Hard drives are so cheap, you should buy two at a time. Use one to hold a
recent backup of the other etc.

Adding a bunch of updates from Windows, to a machine that is already broken,
is the wrong thing to do. First, consider why has the machine started to fail
now. What changed up to this point ? I mean, kneeling in front of the machine,
and saying a prayer, would be as effective as visiting Windows Update :-)

HTH,
Paul

If you have the windows installation disks, insert cd and boot from the disk.
IE. hit F12 during first post. Select windows repair option
3) Insert Windows XP Installation Disk
4) Select Windows repair option
5) Repair will launch Emergency Recovery Console
6) The prompt will indicate the drives to be repaired (most cases there is
only one option 1 C:/Windows)
7) Select the drive option
8) Enter Administrator password
9) C:/Windows prompt should appear
10) Enter chkdsk /p to run check disk on your hard drive
11) After completion Enter chkdsk /r
12) This will locate and repair bad sectors and recover readable information
13) Reboot into safe mode and back up files (if back up was not available
before)
14) Reboot and PC should be good using correct sectors
15) If error occurs again, 90% of the time it’s a corrupt hard drive


hope this helps




"Paul" wrote:

"kittikatt60" <kittikatt60@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:528A4C61-DA3F-41B8-931B-C314B904975E@microsoft.com...

"Jason Cravens" <JasonCravens@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A6D7193F-733A-47E3-9F10-C2943D65EE50@microsoft.com...

Sunny:
First of all, at least for the time being, hold off on the recommendations
you received from Paul. While there may be a hardware problem involved here,
the likelihood is it's a corrupt operating system (OS) that's causing the
problem as Jason indicates.

I'm assuming from your general description of the data on the HDD that
there's no crucial data (files, photos, etc.) that you (or your daughter)
must have. Am I correct about that? Because if there *is* such data that you
*absolutely* must have, it would be best to hold off on running the chkdsk
command as Jason recommends. Under those circumstances, before running the
chkdsk command, it would be best if you were able to connect the problem HDD
as a secondary HDD in another machine, access its contents (if possible),
and copy off any such data. (While the chkdsk /r process is generally benign
re losing/corrupting data it *can* and *does* happen, so it's best whenever
possible to *first* try to copy whatever user-created data you can from the
problem drive before invoking that command). In any event I have the feeling
that's probably impractical in your situation, so we'll go on...

Jason's recommendation about accessing the XP Recovery Console and invoking
the chkdsk /r command is, all things considered, a good one. But first
you've got to tell us whether you have available an XP OS installation CD
that was used to install the OS on your daughter's machine. Was it a retail
version of the XP installation CD? A non-branded OEM version? Or is this an
OEM machine (Dell, Gateway, HP, etc.) that came with only a so-called
"recovery" disk? What I'm trying to get at is whether you have such an XP
installation CD that will allow you to access the Recovery Console through a
boot to that CD. Are you following me on this? And then possibly go on from
there if chkdsk doesn't resolve the problem. (I'm not optimistic that chkdsk
/r will resolve the problem but it's certainly worth a first try if at all
possible).
Anna

Kitti

Can you post a copy of the complete report.

Disable automatic restart on system failure. This should help by
allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties, Advanced,
Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure until you have
resolved the problem. Check for variants of the Stop Error message.

An alternative is to keep pressing the F8 key during Start-Up and select
option - Disable automatic restart on system failure.

If you are using a wireless keyboard and the F8 key does not work
substitute a wired keyboard and mouse for this exercise only.

Are you still able to access in Safe mode?

There's a lot of advice here but you may find it difficult to work
through:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

Before you try these measures you need to recover your daughter's data.
You can remove the drive from the problem computer and put it into
another computer as a second slave drive. This normally enables you to
read and backup data from the drive before you put the drive back it the
first computer to fix the problem.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

kittikatt60 wrote:

Hi Everyone,

And thank you so much for all of your suggestions...
I've been working on issues on my own computer and have had to set hers
aside for the last few days, as the income comes from mine being able to
opperate correctly ;-)

I do not have the original disk that was used to install my daughter's
operating system. I do have 2 other copies, 1 from my previous laptop and one
that is for my current system as well.

Here is what they are...
Old One is XP Professional SP1 (dist. for new PC only)
For my new OS is XP Professional SP2 - Volume License

Could I possibly work with my new one with the Volume License?

I've not yet had an opportunity to write down her report on the blue screen,
I do have snapshots of it though, unfortunately, can't attach here...

Thanks again for everyone's input, I've not yet attempted to do anything to
her system as of last post...

Sunny


"Gerry" wrote: