[rglim63]

I have a major problem. Spybot Search and Destroy had finished scanning my computer (Dell Dimension e520 running Windows XP service pack 2). I then clicked on it to fix the problems it found, and started doing something else on Tradestation. A short time later, a message popped up on my screen that I had never seen before. It basically said there was a system fault, that my computer was going to reboot in 60 seconds, and that I should save all my work. The only thing I remember about the message was that it said something about "NT" system fault or error fault or something like that and a timer counted down from 60 seconds. There was no way for me to cancel it. A separate message from Spybot also popped up. I don't recall what it said other than it asking me if I wanted it to start automatically before everything loaded up the next time I started my computer because of something it had found or that had occurred. But I wasn't able to click OK before the time ran out because I was too busy trying to figure out why I was getting these messages and save my work at the same time.

My computer then rebooted. However, while Windows was loading, it stopped and gave an error message stating that a particular file (hal.dll) was missing or corrupt. On my computer I have the hard drive partitioned into two drives, C: and E:. Both have Windows on them, but the E: drive is the main drive. When I reboot my computer, it asks me from which drive I want to start Windows. If I don't choose one, it automatically selects the C: drive, which is the one I always choose anyway. When I got the error message above, I inserted my XP CD, rebooted the computer, and booted Windows from the CD so I could try to repair it. I chose the repair option instead of the clean install option because I wanted to replace what I thought was just one missing or corrupt file. The software went through the process of what looked like a clean install, but I didn't think anything of it because I've used the repair option before and I seemed to recall this being the case and everything working out okay after it was done. I'm absolutely positive that I pressed R for Repair when I booted from the Windows XP CD and not ESC to do a clean install.

However, when my system rebooted automatically after the "repair" was done, and I chose to boot Windows from the C: drive, Windows loaded up as if it was a brand new install. Everything from my normal start up configuration was gone: all of my icons were gone, none of the programs that normally run on start up were executed, only one monitor of my multimonitor set up my four monitor setup was being displayed, etc. In addition, almost all of my devices were labeled as unknown devices in Device Manager. My cable modem wasn't recognized so I had no Internet connection (I'm writing this from my laptop, which has a wireless connection to the modem). When I tried to start a couple of my programs, it started me off with trial versions and asked for my registration key in order to access the full version, which I did successfully. When I looked at my directories, they all appeared to be intact along with the files they contained. However, when I clicked on My Documents, none of my documents showed up as they did before. But when I went to the Documents and Settings directory on my E: drive, they were all there. When I compared the Windows directories of the C: drive where the "repaired" install occurred and the E: drive, with which I had done nothing, I realized that I wasn't missing just one file, but several hundred files across multiple directories in the Windows directory on the E: drive. Also When I rebooted again and tried to start Windows from the E: drive, I got the same error message while Windows was loading that I got before I "repaired" Windows on the C: drive.

I called Dell tech support, but the person I got said he couldn't help me because Windows XP wasn't installed on the computer when I bought it. He seemed to imply that he knew the solution to my problem, but wasn't willing to help me at all because it was coporate policy, even after I pleaded with him that I was desperate. Oh, he was more than willing to help me if I had a problem with DOS, since that's the OS that came with the computer. After I begged him to help me, he actually had the nerve to snicker while he repeated like a corporate bot that he was very willing to help me with any DOS problems, as if this was a laughing matter. After that, I tried calling Microsoft, but they were closed.

Is there any way I can restore my system to the way it was before all this happened? Should I try to do an XP repair on the E: drive like I did with the C: drive? Will this restore my normal configuration? Is this the reason why my normal start up settings are not being recognized and programs aren't running because it's looking at the start up from the C: drive and almost everything I do such as installing and running software is done on the E: drive? It will take me forever to figure out how to reestablish my Internet connection, reinstall all of my hardware (I didn't even get any "found new hardware" messages when Windows booted after my "repair") and software and then reinstall any upgrades to those. I am in dire straits here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Update:
I tried to do an XP repair on the E: drive like I did with the C: drive, but the reinstallation CD only gives me the option of repairing the already repaired Windows XP that resides on C. I doesn't recognize the one on E, although booting the computer without the CD gives me the option of booting to XP on the E: drive. Should I copy the files located in the system32/config directory on E, which were last updated when I got the system fault reboot, into the same directory on C: to try to restore my configuration or the ones located in my System Mechanic directory when I did a registry back up several months ago into that same C: directory, or would this lead to further problems?

[rglim63]

Update:
I tried to do an XP repair on the E: drive like I did with the C: drive, but the reinstallation CD only gives me the option of repairing the already repaired Windows XP that resides on C. I doesn't recognize the one on E, although booting the computer without the CD gives me the option of booting to XP on the E: drive. Should I copy the files located in the system32/config directory on E, which were last updated when I got the system fault reboot, into the same directory on C: to try to restore my configuration or the ones located in my System Mechanic directory when I did a registry back up several months ago into that same C: directory, or would this lead to further problems?

[jt1990]

I have run into this problem before, and I'm pretty sure it happens after a botched repair install. Did you install Windows over the old C:\Windows directory or in a new one (C:\Windows.001?)

[The Skeptic]

I don't think that there is anything that you can do at this point of time, after you ran XP repair.

1: hal.dll is one of the worst system errors. Very often it ends up with formatting the computer. There are few things that can be done, including an awful registry hives repair offered by windows. The tool that you used (XP repair) covers all the other options and more. If it failed there is nothing left but to backup the data, reformat and complete reinstall.

2: XP repair is a process that very often ends with serious problems. I am not surprised to hear your story. As a matter of fact I never use it. If I recommend to do it in this forum it's always with great reservations and as a last resort before format. It failed me badly a number of times so I don't run it on customers' computers, nor on mine. I go to clean format.

3: My advise is to backup the data on partition C and run clean format because the present state of the operating system, and it's stability, are not clear.

4: It could be that you have serious malware in your computer. I think that what you saw with Spybot was a message that tells you that Spybot could not fix some problems and it asks permission to start again automatically upon next boot and run at an early stage of the bootup, before most system files and drivers are being loaded. That's where the computer failed. I think that you must run some antimalware scans to make sure that there are no bugs, otherwise you may reinfect your computer.