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From: mmb on 5 Aug 2010 15:34
Thanks Paul. I did verify that the root directory was my c:\ rather than D:
as shown so that little issue is resolved. I also followed your link and
tried the fixmbr from the recovery console and this is the message I got:
"This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.
Fixmbr may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause
all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible. If you
are not having problems accessing your drive do not continue. Are you sure
you want a new MBR?"

Eeeek! Of course I exited for fear of really messing up. I can still get
to my desktop by F8 and selecting the alternate hard drive, but this doesn't
make sense to me how it's booting up. When I look at the drive properties,
the drive that currently works is disabled, and the one that doesn't boot as
it used to is the one that is enabled. Seems like the more I learn, the
more "confuseder" I get. Any more helpful advice? Thanks so much.

"Paul" wrote:

> mmb wrote:
> > Peter, thank you for the link, however, unless I'm missing something (quite
> > possible) most of the suggestions don't apply to my situation. For example,
> > in the first instance it refers to a situation in which two operating systems
> > are present. I have only Windows XP Home Edition. Another suggestion for
> > repair would entail removing the hard drive and putting into another computer
> > to attempt a repair. I have only a laptop so this wouldn't be possible.
> > Also, I believe my hard drives have only 1 partition so it wouldn't appear
> > that editing the boot.ini would solve anything.
> >
> > As I mentioned previously, after the repair console disk completes its
> > search, I have only the option of D:\windows. Why wouldn't it give me
> > c:\windows as an option, and can this be modified? In my computer, Drives D
> > and E are, respectively, CD Rom and DVD drives. Drive F is also a hard
> > drive used as backup. All were working as they should until a brief power
> > outage.
> >
> > Given my level of non-expertise it's beginnign to look like a trip to the
> > repair shop might be my only option but I appreciate any further advice from
> > you and others.
> >
> > Thanks for your response.
>
> But the drive letter shown in the Recovery Console, might not be the
> same as the drive letter of the "real" system. The order of letters,
> will be the order of enumeration in the Recovery Console OS, rather than
> the order of enumeration seen when the real OS is booting. At least,
> that's what I think I've seen here.
>
> As an example of what might happen, I have two disk drives, one with
> Win2K on it, one with WinXP. When I start the Recovery Console, it sees
> two partitions with OSes. They both can't be C: at this point. So at least
> one of them has a nonsensical "drive letter". It really depends which
> one was detected first, as to how they're lettered. (I also have a
> different password for Administrator on each OS, so I can tell from
> that, whether I'm in the right place.)
>
> You could start by logging into the partition, and then try and figure
> out whether you're in the right partition or not. For example, I'd
> use the "dir" command, and verify whether a few GIFs I have on
> the root level of C: are present or not. Even if the Recovery Console
> was calling it D:, I'd know I was logged to the correct partition.
>
> There is also this "map" command, that might help reassure you that
> you're working in the correct partition (based on size of partition
> perhaps).
>
> http://pcsupport.about.com/od/termsm/p/map.htm
>
> If you need to do maintenance on a computer, there are any number of
> other alternatives. I use Linux LiveCDs, as they don't install any
> software, and the CD gives me access to NTFS or FAT32 partitions.
> At least I can poke around the directories, and see whether there
> is major damage or not. There are other, Windows-centric methods
> of access. Of which, the Recovery Console is only one. The Recovery
> Console has some useful commands, which is why it can't be discounted
> entirely from your bag of tricks.
>
> Paul
>
> >
> > "Peter Foldes" wrote:
> >
> >> http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm
> >>
> >> --
> >> Peter
> >>
> >> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
> >> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
> >> http://www.microsoft.com/protect
> >>
> >> "mmb" <mmb(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:94CECF8F-A838-4FC2-B450-3FA438CCD32A(a)microsoft.com...
> >>> This problem happened after a short power-outage while my computer was on so
> >>> I'm guessing files were corrupted. First I used my original CD repair disk
> >>> to copy two files that the error message resported as required. (i386\ntldr
> >>> and i386\ntdetect) Then when I rebooted I got the missing or corrupted
> >>> Hal.dll error. I've carefully tried everything in Article 314477 - "Windows
> >>> could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem"
> >>> and have encountered several problems doing so.
> >>> Using Method 2, when I entered <bootcfg /rebuild> it started, then I got
> >>> the following error message: "Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows
> >>> installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which would
> >>> prevent bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any disk
> >>> errors. I did run chkdsk /f and after a long while it said errors were found
> >>> and, presumably, repaired. I then used the recovery disk again with the same
> >>> results.
> >>> Next I tried Method 3 (expand d:\i386\ntkrnlmp.ex_
> >>> c:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe)and got the error message "Access is denied"
> >>> Then, I used the method recommended by Malke to Enid. i.e. attrib -h-r-s
> >>> c:\boot.ini. When I got down to the command to del c:\boot.ini I got a
> >>> message saying "The system can't find the file or directory specified." I
> >>> checked drive c: and the file is definitely there.
> >>> Here's how my boot.ini appears when I type msconfig:
> >>> [boot loader]
> >>> timeout=30
> >>> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
> >>> [OPERATING SYSTEMS]
> >>> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
> >>> Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
> >>>
> >>> I haven't tried to edit the boot.ini because I hae no idea how it should
> >>> look if the above is incorrect.
> >>> My OS is XP service pack 3. Computer has dual processors. I also have
> >>> two hard drives. When I use the F8 key to choose different boot options, one
> >>> of the two hard drives allows me to successfully boot.
> >>> I apologize for the lengthy message but seems like I've run into walls
> >>> with everything I've tried. I'd be very grateful for any and all suggestions.
> >>>
> >> .
> >>
> .
>
From: Paul on 5 Aug 2010 23:37
mmb wrote:
> Thanks Paul. I did verify that the root directory was my c:\ rather than D:
> as shown so that little issue is resolved. I also followed your link and
> tried the fixmbr from the recovery console and this is the message I got:
> "This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.
> Fixmbr may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause
> all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible. If you
> are not having problems accessing your drive do not continue. Are you sure
> you want a new MBR?"
>
> Eeeek! Of course I exited for fear of really messing up. I can still get
> to my desktop by F8 and selecting the alternate hard drive, but this doesn't
> make sense to me how it's booting up. When I look at the drive properties,
> the drive that currently works is disabled, and the one that doesn't boot as
> it used to is the one that is enabled. Seems like the more I learn, the
> more "confuseder" I get. Any more helpful advice? Thanks so much.
>

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/266745

"When you attempt to run the fixmbr command in the Microsoft Windows 2000
recovery console, your computer system may display the following error message:

This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.
FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause
all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible. If
you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue. Are
you sure you want to write a new MBR?"

"Ignore the error message described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.
The fixmbr command can safely rewrite the MBR."

I have two disks here, and I get that "helpful warning" for both of them.
It hasn't stopped me from "pushing the button".

I've also noticed, that not all utilities, have identical habits and criterion
when it comes to MBR. Partition Magic complains about my MBRs too. But if
I were to let Partition Magic "fix" the MBR, then I'd end up with some
other utility, complaining in return.

Paul
From: mmb on 7 Aug 2010 14:41
Okay, so I panicked for nothing, huh? I have one more question before
proceeding with fixmbr. The referenced article indicates that it applies to
Microsoft 2000. I have XP, sp3. Is it safe to proceed with fixmbr? Thank
you so much.

"Paul" wrote:

> mmb wrote:
> > Thanks Paul. I did verify that the root directory was my c:\ rather than D:
> > as shown so that little issue is resolved. I also followed your link and
> > tried the fixmbr from the recovery console and this is the message I got:
> > "This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.
> > Fixmbr may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause
> > all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible. If you
> > are not having problems accessing your drive do not continue. Are you sure
> > you want a new MBR?"
> >
> > Eeeek! Of course I exited for fear of really messing up. I can still get
> > to my desktop by F8 and selecting the alternate hard drive, but this doesn't
> > make sense to me how it's booting up. When I look at the drive properties,
> > the drive that currently works is disabled, and the one that doesn't boot as
> > it used to is the one that is enabled. Seems like the more I learn, the
> > more "confuseder" I get. Any more helpful advice? Thanks so much.
> >
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/266745
>
> "When you attempt to run the fixmbr command in the Microsoft Windows 2000
> recovery console, your computer system may display the following error message:
>
> This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.
> FIXMBR may damage your partition tables if you proceed. This could cause
> all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible. If
> you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue. Are
> you sure you want to write a new MBR?"
>
> "Ignore the error message described in the "Symptoms" section of this article.
> The fixmbr command can safely rewrite the MBR."
>
> I have two disks here, and I get that "helpful warning" for both of them.
> It hasn't stopped me from "pushing the button".
>
> I've also noticed, that not all utilities, have identical habits and criterion
> when it comes to MBR. Partition Magic complains about my MBRs too. But if
> I were to let Partition Magic "fix" the MBR, then I'd end up with some
> other utility, complaining in return.
>
> Paul
> .
>
From: John Wunderlich on 7 Aug 2010 19:25
=?Utf-8?B?bW1i?= <mmb(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
news:C02C3B7C-B613-4357-AFE4-0B9F22563F9C(a)microsoft.com:

> Okay, so I panicked for nothing, huh? I have one more question
> before proceeding with fixmbr. The referenced article indicates
> that it applies to Microsoft 2000. I have XP, sp3. Is it safe to
> proceed with fixmbr? Thank you so much.
>

If you're worried about that, check out the KB article:

"Computer stops responding with a black screen when you start Windows XP"
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314503>

.... which applies specifically to Windows XP.
Method 1, Step 3, tells you to use the FIXMBR command and refers
you back to the KB266745 article if you are concerned with the error message.
Therefore, I conclude that KB266745 applies equally well to Windows XP.
It's just that nobody has updated that article in a while.

-- John
From: mmb on 8 Aug 2010 00:56
Thanks John. I used the repair console CD and used the fixmbr command,
ignoring the warning. I then got the message"writing new master boot record
on physical drive\device\harddisk0\partition0" and then very quickly "The new
master boot record has been successfully written."

I removed the repair disk and rebooted and then got the same *&@# message
about a corrupted hal.dll. Any further thoughts from anyone?

Apparently all this started with a power outage while my computer was on.
The first thing I'm gonna do when (if) I get this problem solved is to buy a
battery backup. The laptop has the advantage of having a built-in battery
backup but I really prefer working on a desktop. I really, really hope I
don't have to reinstall Windows. It's SUCH a hassle to reinstall all the
programs.

Thanks for any further advice.

"John Wunderlich" wrote:

> =?Utf-8?B?bW1i?= <mmb(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> news:C02C3B7C-B613-4357-AFE4-0B9F22563F9C(a)microsoft.com:
>
> > Okay, so I panicked for nothing, huh? I have one more question
> > before proceeding with fixmbr. The referenced article indicates
> > that it applies to Microsoft 2000. I have XP, sp3. Is it safe to
> > proceed with fixmbr? Thank you so much.
> >
>
> If you're worried about that, check out the KB article:
>
> "Computer stops responding with a black screen when you start Windows XP"
> <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314503>
>
> .... which applies specifically to Windows XP.
> Method 1, Step 3, tells you to use the FIXMBR command and refers
> you back to the KB266745 article if you are concerned with the error message.
> Therefore, I conclude that KB266745 applies equally well to Windows XP.
> It's just that nobody has updated that article in a while.
>
> -- John
> .
>
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