Invalid Boot.ini Windows could not start....

[Paullightbody]

Howard Hopkins was a great help with a problem trojan in another thread and I hope somebody can help me here.

Invalid Boot.ini on start up followed by '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.

Have checked the bios to ensure my vaio tries to boot from the CD before C drive but even with the Windows XP Professional CD in the drive the same thing happens.

Any ideas?

Rgds, Paul

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330184

 

[Rick]

If this happened out of the blue, you have yourself a serious problem (usually a corrupted registry).

If the microsoft KB link doesn't help you, your last resort in preserving your data may be a Windows system repair. https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic8356.html

 

[Rick]

Have checked the bios to ensure my vaio tries to boot from the CD before C drive but even with the Windows XP Professional CD in the drive the same thing happens.

When your computer attempts to boot from the CD, it should prompt you to press any key for a couple of seconds. If you don't press a key, it will continue to boot from the hard drive. If you don't see that message, there is something wrong with your boot order, your optical drive or your XP disc.

You may want to try invoking a boot menu instead of letting the BIOS try to autoboot... Just to be sure. Usually, you can bring up the boot menu by tapping F8, F10 or F12 key instead of the usual F1, F2 (usually, for Vaios), or F3 key you may be pressing to get into the BIOS. I'm unsure exactly what key will work on your Vaio, but one of those should do the trick.

Once the boot menu is displayed, you can manually select the drive you'd like to boot from. If it still doesn't work, suspect a hardware issue (Bad optical drive, bad CD)

 

[Paullightbody]

Thanks

Hi Guys,

Thanks for you ideas, all tried and as you said Rick it just happened out of the blue so pretty serious I guess. All data backed up so it's not so bad. VAIO Recovery here we go.....

Cheers, Paul