[chuckgibson]

When I click "Start" there is no search box that appears on the page. I clicked on "run" and typed in "Msconfig" and the following screen opened. I opened each tab until I found one with the word "Partition" on it. Thanks to your teaching I was able to take a screen shot of it. Is this what you are looking for?

Edited by chuckgibson, 21 March 2013 - 10:15 PM.

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Yep I should have said Run shouldn`t I well done for spotting the slip

Click "Startup." not the BOOT .INI tab and if there is one remove the check mark next to the recovery partition.

Press "Enter." Reboot the computer to save the settings you have configured.

You are welcome and thanks BTW

[phillpower2]

Yep I should have said Run shouldn`t I well done for spotting the slip

Click "Startup." not the BOOT .INI tab and if there is one remove the check mark next to the recovery partition.

Press "Enter." Reboot the computer to save the settings you have configured.

You are welcome and thanks BTW

[chuckgibson]

In the Startup tab this is what I get:

[phillpower2]

Typical your settings are different, please check the other tabs for us.

As an asides you can uncheck entries two and three in the Start Up tab, one is for Java and the other for voice recognition programs and a couple of other things that I don`t believe you use such as a braille keyboard.

[chuckgibson]

When I unchecked the two boxes and rebooted, this screen popped up. It probley don't mean anything but it might tell you something.


Here is the General tab;


The Sys Ini tab;


The Win Ini tab;


The services tab was long. I could not enlarge it so I went through it and found the highlighted line that may be what you are looking for;


Last is the tools tab;


I know that this is massive, I just hope I gave you what you need...

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the comprehensive screenshots

If you do not want java to run on Start up or use voice commands etc tick the checkbox so that you do not get the on screen each time you boot up, you can always re-enable both services in the future should you need them.

The Secondary Logon is often an administrators account and is not what we are after.

Can you go into the BIOS for us and take a screenshot of the boot order;

To check or change the Boot Sequence in the BIOS;

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the appropriate button that allows you to access the BIOS (Del – F2 etc)
This will enter you into the BIOS/CMOS
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to DVD/ CD drive
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit.
Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.

[chuckgibson]

On the bios screen I do not know how to take a screenshot. I cannot go to "paint" without being able to access it. I changed the boot order and checked the box at startup that you suggested. The secondary options still comes up at reboot.

[phillpower2]

Can you make a note of what is listed in the boot order in the BIOS and then post the details in your next reply please.

[chuckgibson]

In Advanced BIOS Features the first line reads:
Hard Disk Boot Priority, I pressed Enter. It has two lines that read... 1. Ch0 M. : ST380011A; 2. Bootable Add-in Cards;

The Following lines read as follows:
Quick Power On Self Test [Enabled];
First Boot Device [CDROM];
Second Boot Device [Hard Disk];
Third Boot Device [Hard Disk];
Boot Other Device [Enabled];
Boot Up NumLock Status [On];
Typematic Rate Setting [Disabled];
x Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) 6; (This is shown in blue letters)
x Typematic Delay (Msec) 250; (This is shown in blue letters)
Security Option [Setup];
HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability [Disabled];

I hope I made this understandable...

[phillpower2]

Can you try and access the Recovery partition to see what is actually on it, if it is useless you may as well get rid of it.

The Following lines read as follows:
Quick Power On Self Test [Enabled];
First Boot Device [CDROM];
Second Boot Device [Hard Disk]; Try highlighting and then setting this to disabled.
Third Boot Device [Hard Disk];
Boot Other Device [Enabled];
Boot Up NumLock Status [On];
Typematic Rate Setting [Disabled];
x Typematic Rate (Chars/Sec) 6; (This is shown in blue letters)
x Typematic Delay (Msec) 250; (This is shown in blue letters)
Security Option [Setup];
HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability [Disabled]; Highlight this and enable it, this is for the future as the feature alerts you to HDD problems.

Once the changes are made press F10 to save the changes and then Y to confirm the changes.

[chuckgibson]

[quote name='phillpower2' timestamp='1364069984' post='2276773']
Can you try and access the Recovery partition to see what is actually on it, if it is useless you may as well get rid of it.

When you said "Try and access the recovery partition", did you mean to scroll down to the other "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" during the startup sequence? I tried that and a black screen popped up that said "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of the above file.

If this is it, how do I go about getting rid of it?

[phillpower2]

You have two OS installed on the same HDD albeit one is damaged.

System OS Install Date 8/22/2011 7:19:55 PM Windows XP Home SP3
Windows XP Service Pack 3(20080414.031525) Microsoft Corporation 3/17/13

System OS Install Date 8/22/2011 7:19:55 PM

This installation may be reparable.

Hal.dll is Missing or Corrupt Error
What is hal.dll?
Hal.dll is a hardware abstraction layer that links the physical (hardware) and software components of a computer.

How can I fix an error message saying that hal.dll is missing or corrupt?
The first method rebuilds the boot configuration on your hard drive. If this doesn’t work, the second method replaces the hal.dll file on your computer with the one that comes on the XP CD. Please note that this may be one symptom of a larger, more serious problem. If you have this error multiple times, or this and other errors, you may want to seek help.

It may help to print these instructions.

1. Enter the Recovery Console (instructions @ http://support.micro...7654#howtouserc )

2. Then, type the following (in bold), in order:
• bootcfg /rebuild
• You will probably see something like the following:
"Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)"
• Type Yes (or all) and press Enter
• When asked to " Enter Load Identifier," type Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or Microsoft
Windows XP Professional Edition depending on which edition you have and press Enter
• When asked "Enter OS Load options," type /fastdetect and press Enter
• When it is done, type exit
• Your computer will restart, so see if it worked.

If it does not work, enter the Recovery Console again, choose the installation, and type the password
1. This time, type:
expand D:\i386\hal.dl_ %systemroot%\System32\hal.dll and press Enter
*make sure to replace “D” with your CD and/or DVD drive’s letter that contains the XP CD

2. Again, type exit and see if it worked.

Acknowledgement to Pi rules for the tutorial.

[chuckgibson]

The link for the instructions to enter the recovery console is not working.

[phillpower2]

http://support.micro...7654#howtouserc

Retiring for the night now but will check back tomorrow morning UK time.

[chuckgibson]

I do not have a disk. Is there any way to just delete the non working OS since the other system seems to be working fine?