I have an HP 8705i (CTO) computer (purchased Oct., 2000) with:
933MHz PIII
768 MB RAM
two hard drives: 1st: Western Digital 320G (C-drive is on here)
2nd: Maxtor 120G
Running XP Home--upgraded from WinMe in 2005 (approx.)
USB 1.1
What it's doing currently:
I can start it and it will go through the boot sequence, as well as the black WinXP loading screen (with the moving blue progress bar). It will then go to the next screen (light blue with WinXP logo)....and then stop.
What has happened in the past:
A few weeks ago, it worked fine in the AM, then later would not give us the Welcome screen with the listing of users, just a pop up box where one could put their username and password (if any). I also got the error: "Error loading C\Windows\system32\NvCPL.dll A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed."
(This is for the control panel for my nVidia video card.)
At this point, I could get into Windows with no problems except for the ones mentioned directly above. I tried running McCaffee Quick Scan, which came back clear. I tried a Registry Cleaner--there wasn't anything out of the normal there as I recall. I also ran 'Speed Up My PC'--with normal results there.
Another error I got around that time (going from my notes about it)-- was "Integrator.exe--Application Error. The application failed to initialize properly. (0x0000142). Click on OK to terminate the application."
At this point, I was just assuming that a setting here or there got mussed up (& thus the different login).
Along that same time period, I got a BSOD with the error:
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
I restarted the computer and it did a disk check 'because one of your disks needs to be checked for consistancy" It checked all disks and partitions.
I decided to do a System Restore back to the previous Tuesday, since it had been running fine then. After doing so, I got the nVidia error--and so updated that driver.
I also noted that the Add/Remove Programs and the Tweak UI for XP program would not load--not sure if that might point someone toward anything.
A day later, when I had a chance to get back to the desktop and start it, I got the following error message:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \Windows\system32\config\system"
In hindsight, I should have used my XP home upgrade disk to do a non-destructive repair (as described in the article 'Bringing back XP from the brink....'). But at that time, I wasn't sure if the disk would have the correct tools on it since it was an Upgrade disk. (I've since spoken with some people who have more experience with computers & they've set me straight--that it does have the tools/console to do it...)
I originally had another 120G drive and used Acronis True Image to copy everything over to the 'new' 320G drive in March, so found the 'system' file on that and copied/pasted it to the 320G (after renaming the old system file so it would still be there, 'just in case'). Doing this allowed the computer to get into Windows as described at the top of the post.
I used the XP upgrade disk to try and repair things--it started, but then not long after told me that set up could not continue because: "File \i386\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded. The error code is 32768. Set up cannot continue. Press any key to exit."
I found the file on the original 120G drive and put that on a CD a few days ago.
Today, I put the 320G drive in as a second drive on a loaner PC and looked at the files there again. After doing a search (to find exactly where the file was located), I discovered that there was a copy of the file in an XP upgrade file that was a few months newer than the one that I had(the 'newer' one was August 2004 while the copied one was earlier that same year).
I copied the newer one and pasted it into the i386 file (based on the error above that said it couldn't find the file in that folder). Based on the search, I found the i386 file at
Windows\Driver Cache\i386
After pasting it in (as mentioned--it had no biosinfo file in it previously), I restarted--Windows loaded to the same point as before, then stopped.
I've tried the XP Upgrade cd for Recovery/Repair/Rebuild and once was able to get it to show 'Set up is inspecting your computer's hardware...', but then it rebooted itself. Another time, it got to that point and just stopped and showed me a flashing cursor.
After that, it seems that it won't start from the cd--just attempt to and then give up and try starting Windows. I did get a CD Boot Memory Overflow error once.
Frustrating for sure!!
What else can I try?
Worse case scenario, I can always get a new hardrive--if that's the thing I need to do, then how do I get my files off the 320G drive? I don't have a back up to this drive, primarily because I'm on a limited budget and have no way (that I know of) to back things up, except for buying an external drive. Since I have USB 1.1, that would be painfully slow, I believe. (And, I honestly am not sure how to do it....)
I truly appreciate any/all suggestions that anyone might have.
Please let me know if there is any other info that you might need.
Thank you!
--Lori
933MHz PIII
768 MB RAM
two hard drives: 1st: Western Digital 320G (C-drive is on here)
2nd: Maxtor 120G
Running XP Home--upgraded from WinMe in 2005 (approx.)
USB 1.1
What it's doing currently:
I can start it and it will go through the boot sequence, as well as the black WinXP loading screen (with the moving blue progress bar). It will then go to the next screen (light blue with WinXP logo)....and then stop.
What has happened in the past:
A few weeks ago, it worked fine in the AM, then later would not give us the Welcome screen with the listing of users, just a pop up box where one could put their username and password (if any). I also got the error: "Error loading C\Windows\system32\NvCPL.dll A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed."
(This is for the control panel for my nVidia video card.)
At this point, I could get into Windows with no problems except for the ones mentioned directly above. I tried running McCaffee Quick Scan, which came back clear. I tried a Registry Cleaner--there wasn't anything out of the normal there as I recall. I also ran 'Speed Up My PC'--with normal results there.
Another error I got around that time (going from my notes about it)-- was "Integrator.exe--Application Error. The application failed to initialize properly. (0x0000142). Click on OK to terminate the application."
At this point, I was just assuming that a setting here or there got mussed up (& thus the different login).
Along that same time period, I got a BSOD with the error:
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
I restarted the computer and it did a disk check 'because one of your disks needs to be checked for consistancy" It checked all disks and partitions.
I decided to do a System Restore back to the previous Tuesday, since it had been running fine then. After doing so, I got the nVidia error--and so updated that driver.
I also noted that the Add/Remove Programs and the Tweak UI for XP program would not load--not sure if that might point someone toward anything.
A day later, when I had a chance to get back to the desktop and start it, I got the following error message:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \Windows\system32\config\system"
In hindsight, I should have used my XP home upgrade disk to do a non-destructive repair (as described in the article 'Bringing back XP from the brink....'). But at that time, I wasn't sure if the disk would have the correct tools on it since it was an Upgrade disk. (I've since spoken with some people who have more experience with computers & they've set me straight--that it does have the tools/console to do it...)
I originally had another 120G drive and used Acronis True Image to copy everything over to the 'new' 320G drive in March, so found the 'system' file on that and copied/pasted it to the 320G (after renaming the old system file so it would still be there, 'just in case'). Doing this allowed the computer to get into Windows as described at the top of the post.
I used the XP upgrade disk to try and repair things--it started, but then not long after told me that set up could not continue because: "File \i386\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded. The error code is 32768. Set up cannot continue. Press any key to exit."
I found the file on the original 120G drive and put that on a CD a few days ago.
Today, I put the 320G drive in as a second drive on a loaner PC and looked at the files there again. After doing a search (to find exactly where the file was located), I discovered that there was a copy of the file in an XP upgrade file that was a few months newer than the one that I had(the 'newer' one was August 2004 while the copied one was earlier that same year).
I copied the newer one and pasted it into the i386 file (based on the error above that said it couldn't find the file in that folder). Based on the search, I found the i386 file at
Windows\Driver Cache\i386
After pasting it in (as mentioned--it had no biosinfo file in it previously), I restarted--Windows loaded to the same point as before, then stopped.
I've tried the XP Upgrade cd for Recovery/Repair/Rebuild and once was able to get it to show 'Set up is inspecting your computer's hardware...', but then it rebooted itself. Another time, it got to that point and just stopped and showed me a flashing cursor.
After that, it seems that it won't start from the cd--just attempt to and then give up and try starting Windows. I did get a CD Boot Memory Overflow error once.
Frustrating for sure!!
What else can I try?
Worse case scenario, I can always get a new hardrive--if that's the thing I need to do, then how do I get my files off the 320G drive? I don't have a back up to this drive, primarily because I'm on a limited budget and have no way (that I know of) to back things up, except for buying an external drive. Since I have USB 1.1, that would be painfully slow, I believe. (And, I honestly am not sure how to do it....)
I truly appreciate any/all suggestions that anyone might have.
Please let me know if there is any other info that you might need.
Thank you!
--Lori