# Can't start XP, continuous chkdsk loop



## provobis (Jul 28, 2004)

This has to be a unique problem since nothing on the web I could find has a solution although some threads apply for PART of my problem. 

At the moment I'm booted on a spare drive I keep for emergencies but can't clone this to my main drive to fix the problem because this spare drive does not have all data, mail, and upgrade updates.

Had a hard shutdown because of power failure a few days ago which I suspect may have caused the problem, which problem however did not show up until now for some reason. Otherwise I don't know what else could have caused this. 

The problem drive will not start XP (media center edition) without automatically going into chkdsk. chkdsk won't stop by hitting any key. I can't get to Safe Mode since the menu options do not work without error messages. I can't use the OS CD for the repair option because the result is the hal.dll file which is supposedly missing won't load from the CD. 
Further, checking the actual file where it's supposed to be missing by booting on a good HDD with the problem HDD as slave, it's not missing and it's where it's supposed to be. I even tried copying the supposedly missing file to the system folder from the good HDD, but no cigar. 

So in summary my HDD which I've worked on for over two weeks is in a continuous chkdsk loop, and nothing I've tried will get me to the desktop or a windows or DOS fix menu that works. 

Am I condemned to reinstall the OS which will obviously lose all my work, or can I fix the partition that contains the OS and the dirty bit which causes a continuous dskchk loop?

:upset:


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

*Windows could not start because the hal.dll file is missing or corrupt*

To resolve this issue, start the computer from the Windows XP CD, start the Recovery Console, and then use the Bootcfg.exe tool to rebuild the Boot.ini file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. (This is a BIOS setting.) 
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer. 
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM. 
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press *R *to start the Recovery Console. 
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console. 
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER. 
7. At the command prompt, type *bootcfg /list*, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen. 
8. At the command prompt, type *bootcfg /rebuild*, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file.

a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message, just press *Y*:

```
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1

[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
```
b. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message:

```
Enter Load Identifier
```
This is the name of the operating system. When you receive this message, type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

c. When you receive a message that is similar to the following, type */fastdetect*, and then press ENTER: 

```
Enter OS Load options
```
(NB: The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.) 

9. Type *exit*, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console. Your computer restarts, and the updated boot list appears when you receive the "Please select the operating system to start" message.


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## provobis (Jul 28, 2004)

Zazula, thanks for your comeback. However, as good as your advice surely is for the error message "Windows could not start because the hal.dll file is missing or corrupt" (when that message appears during the boot attempt), I should tell you the missing hal.dll message does NOT appear during my boot. I only saw it when trying to use various software utilities to try to fix the problem I have. I suspect the message is corrupted software and therefore false. And...I have tried your advice several times before, as it is posted on several other message boards.

However I tried it once more for good measure after your response here, and what happens is this:
After your step #9, the computer restarts as you say, but no updated boot list appears, nor any message to "please select the operating system to start". Instead, a repeat chkdsk screen appears which always says that a chkdsk has been scheduled, and of course the long chkdsk process repeats. So I suppose it's correct to assume that somwhere there is an eternally embeded chkdsk entry that never gets deleted. Consequently the repeating chkdsk process no matter what I use to try to reboot (or fix) the OS. If this is the case I would think (at least part of) the solution is to delete that chkdsk entry, wherever it is. However, if I can do that I would not want to permanently disable the chkdsk utility of course, in case I want to use it in normal circumstances.


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## chauffeur2 (Feb 7, 2006)

Hello provobis,

Further to what Zazula suggested, I noticed one important thing....



> Instead, a repeat chkdsk screen appears which always says that a chkdsk has been scheduled,


This has occurred because Windows was dramatically interrupted [in its eyes] by the power failure...what its trying to do is to determine that everything on the disk is ok, so why not let it do the chkdsk?

Try it and see what happens.

Regards,

Dave T.


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

Your C volume has been marked dirty, and chkdsk keeps being called into action.

So, at the command prompt type the following:

1. To determine whether volume C is dirty: *fsutil dirty query c:*

2. To exclude the C volume from Chkdsk: *chkntfs /x c:*


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## provobis (Jul 28, 2004)

I have been preoccupied with various chores but have investigated all suggestions in responses to my post and following are the results.

If I let chkdsk complete (no matter how many times, it checks and closes very fast...not possible to see the resulting report). In any case it merely repeats the cycle as I said, and the only way I can get back to a bootable system is let it complete, at which time the computer tries to boot back up and I then get a blue screen saying a problem was detected..computer shut down to prevent damage. Other lists in this screen say: 

hardware/software may be improperly installed
if problem continues disable any new hardware/software

Also:

tech info=stop:0x00000071
Then the only way to get out of blue screen is to turn off computer, turn back on...Then a black screen saying windows did not start successfully, a recent hardware/software change might have caused this. 
Choices are SAFE MODE, SAFE MODE W/NETWORKING,SAFE MODE W/COMMAND PROMPT, LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIGURATION, START WINDOWS NORMALLY.

If I start normally the chkdsk cycle repeats. If I choose sfae mode in any way windows starts itself normally, cycle repeats. Only way I can get back to system boot is to choose last known good configuration. 

Furthermore, Zazula I tried fsutil dirty query c: from command prompt and the report is c is not dirty. Don't want to exclude c volume form chkdsk (yet) if that is going to prevent me from using chkdsk normally after I solve this problem.

Thinking there might be a hardware problem I checked in device manager and see that my processor is listed twice, don't know why but MS says only way it should be listed twice (hyper memory support) is if processor is way above 3 mhz but my intel is about 2.8. Tried to uninstall extra listing but it self detects on reboot and reinstalls again. Also in Device mgr I have two display adapters listed but have only one monitor so don't need two adapters. Tried to uninstall also but it also self detects and reinstalls. However I don't know if any of the two latter conditions are relevant to this chkdsk problem. Any other comments or observations?


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

1. If you see two CPUs and your processor is indeed hyperthreading, it's ok; my cpu is P4HT2.60 and listed twice in the Device Manager.

2. If you see two VGAs and you cannot uninstall either of them then one must be the onboard video that can only be disabled thru Bios.

3. If I were you, I'd rig a bare-bones h/w configuration (mobo, cpu, ram, vga, floppy, 1 X hdd, 1 X cd, fans, psu) and start running it (if there's vga onboard, even better - you can skip the vga at the most basic setup). The first thing would be to run the Windows Memory Diagnostic utility and the HDD diagnostic utility (downloadable from the hdd manufacturer's site). These are bootable and run under DOS (what a blessing...). It is important that you get into your Bios and confirm all settings are correct and correspond to your current setup every time (you can reset CMOS before starting this endeavor). Also, make sure you have a system floppy handy, along with sata drivers for your hdd (if it's plugged on the sata controller). After having run all the tests (push the envelope a bit; check the memory for some time), and having verified that everything is OK, then I'd start building up, one device at a time. If at some point Windows stop booting normally, then the culprit is revealed. If Windows cannot boot normally even at bare-bones, then a repair installation can be carried out (and this will leave the documents intact).

Hope these help, post back!


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

if you mean you have 2 monitors listed this is normal
did you try 
last known good configuration
run 
chkdsk /r


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## provobis (Jul 28, 2004)

dai, I have only one monitor installed (that I know of) and only one (PnP) monitor listed in device manager. But there are two display adapters listed in DM, both Radeon but obviously with different drivers (I may have previously downloaded several drivers from the ATI website, don't know if that should cause a problem).

Yes, I have run chkdsk /r on last known good configuration several times previously and recently. Result is chkdsk runs all five verifying processes, shuts down, reboots and the next screen says volume is clean, then it reboots and I get the blue screen again when I have to turn off (not shut down) the computer, turn it back on where I get the black screen and have to choose "last known good configuration" in order to boot the system without the chkdsk cycle repeat. 

Zazula, various tech messages on the web say that hyperthreading cannot be enabled with a CPU below about 3mhz, and mine is 2.7. I see no indication anywhere that I am hyperthreading. So why would I have (or could I use) a "Radeon 128mb hypermemory secondary" adapter driver? Would that cause a problem???

Further, I'm not certain that hardware/software is actually causing the problem, it's only a possibility suggested in the blue screen that I get. 

I think I understand your advice to "build up" (reinstall?) one device at a time to determin if any one hardware/software is causing a start up chkdsk problem. But when you list the way to do that you're talking above my head. Not sure how to proceed technically since I'm not a greenhorn but not an expert either, if that's the best way to go.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

do you have sp2 installed


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

do you have zone alarm installed


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

This is only a quick reply to set a couple of things straight for the record:

1. The "Radeon 128mb hypermemory secondary" adapter driver relates to your Video Adapter card.

2. Hyperthreading can be enabled from as low as 2.40MHz. The prerequisites are:
a. A processor that supports HT Technology 
b. A HT Technology enabled chipset 
c. A HT Technology enabled system BIOS (and the relevant setting enabled)
d. A HT Technology enabled/optimized operating system 
Here are Intel's Hyperthreading Technology System Requirements & Supporting Processors/Chipsets.


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## provobis (Jul 28, 2004)

dai, yes to sp2 and ZA.

Zazula, the video card I have installed has been approved by Dell for my XPS400 (after the fact as initially Dell did not supply the card with Media Center, and when I complained they sent the card [ATI ehome wonder TV] which I then installed myself and proceeded to download ATI drivers for it). However I did not have the dskchk problem issue upon doing so at first although I can't say for sure that it is not a contributing factor. 

BTW I have to correct my OS profile as I had posted at an earlier time when my OS was 98SE. It is now XP (professional) Media Center Edition.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

disable zone alarm and see if it fixes,if it does check for an update
if noupdate try the previous verson


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## provobis (Jul 28, 2004)

dai, disabling ZA has no effect, but previous experience with ZA indicates that as long as ZA is properly configured for local or internet access (firewall blocking) it does not introduce problems such as I have. Also, I disable ZA and anti-virus programs when installing or cloning HDD's, so those applications would not intefere with clean installations.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

there are dozens of different causes listed on a search,those 2 seemed the most easily checked
have you run the h/d manufacturers diognostic utility on the drive


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## provobis (Jul 28, 2004)

dai, yes I have. In fact ran all diagnostic tools available in or outside MS, Dell, as well as third party software utilities for hardware and software. All come up with nothing. It seems like I'm going to have to reinstall the OS and all data and applications on another HDD from scratch. A fix for this mysterious bug does not seem reasonable. 

Thanks to you and Zazula for your responses.


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## Zazula (Apr 27, 2006)

I believe that you can get away with a repair installation rather than a fresh one.
Please have a look at How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP.


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