[dba-Tech] Trying to revive a computer

Hi Guys,

Maybe you can help me bring a computer back to life. It's a dual boot 
setup – Win 2000 Pro and Win XP Home. It began its life as a Win 2000 
Pro, and was updated with the second operating system added on a couple 
of years later. The Win 2000 Pro was kept because of a game that 
wouldn't play on Win XP.

This computer belongs to our kids, Cheryl Lynn and Brad, and their 
family. It's sitting here in my office until they finish putting 
together their library and study area in their house. The girls often 
use it to do homework and to visit online with their friends. Three days 
ago, I saw it had the awful blue screen of almost death – the one that 
says if this is the first time you've seen this screen, reboot, 
otherwise go get professional help or call the undertaker because your 
computer is dead – or something to that effect.

I rebooted. It reached the point where Win XP should start and stopped. 
It displayed this message:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or 
corrupt: system32\DRIVERS\pci.sys
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the 
original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."

I thought I'd try the other operating system. When Win 2000 tried to 
start, it displayed this message:

"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."

I had to find my way into the BIOS to switch the boot sequence – by 
guess and by golly to find which function key it needed (I think it 
ended up being F2, but I'm not sure), because it was A:, C:, D: - and I 
needed D: to come before C: Got that done, and put in the Setup CD-ROM 
and booted.

Setup went through a process of loading lots of files, then came to the 
first screen. I selected the 'r' choice. It brought me to what looked 
like a DOS screen with the following message:

"Microsoft Windows XP(TM) Recovery Console.
The Recovery Console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
Type EXIT to quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.
C:>" and a blinking cursor

There were no other instructions on the screen and I am not familiar 
with this Recovery Console. First, I thought that perhaps some recovery 
and repair functions had happened in the background and it was time to 
EXIT. So, I typed EXIT and pressed ENTER and the machine began trying to 
restart – of course, I still had the CD in, so we went back around. I 
removed the CD and rebooted, with precisely the same results as before.

I have run Spin-Rite on this computer at three different levels, 2, 4, 
and 5. There is a consistent uncorrectable error reported in the same 
section of the partition. In the technical report screen, it is at the 
far right of the screen, and it says "01."

When the computer goes through the boot sequence, the POST sound is 
fine, but when the operating system selection is made, there is a sort 
of "squishy" sound that reminds me of the noise made by that failing 
hard drive I worked on last year – a sort of high-pitched little squishy 
peep. I think maybe the drive has a really bad spot right where some 
critical operating system files are.

I don't know what commands to use in the Recovery Console. If I did, I 
would certainly give that a GO. Does anybody on this list have any good 
advice – in addition to getting a new hard drive, or new computer 
altogether?

I did try to let Windows install itself, but it came back with the 
message that the partition was too full or sick or something and would 
have to be formatted before installation could proceed. And, no, my kids 
do not have their stuff backed up from this computer, so I did not move 
ahead.

Thanks for any ideas,

T