ThatDude

You know it! Anyway, I finally got the problem fixed yesterday night. I'm not even really 100% sure how I did it or why it worked. But, everything is back up and running smooth like velvet. I decided to be daring and used Acronis Disk Mangement to resize my partitions...and my computer still works! Since I getting the tablet (it will be here this Thursday - at least that's what FedEx says), I'm giving my laptop to my younger sister.

Update: I decided restore my Acronis image again. I edited my boot.ini file to boot into default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS. After that, I rebooted and the Windows logo came up . It took a smaller amount of time to get to the logon screen than it usually does. The logon screen was not the usual logon screen (Welcome screen), but instead was the screen that you type your username and password in. My username was already in the username field, so I typed my password in. I was then presented with a black screen and was automatically logged out after some time. The same thing happed with the Administrator account. I tried Safe Mode, but the same thing (black screen, auto logoff) happened . I did some research a found that a repair install might help. I used my Dad's XP Pro disk to boot, pressed R and got the message "Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer". I did some more research and found that I have a SATA harddrive and need a floppy drive and floppy disk with the driver for the SATA drivet o allow the XP disk to detect my hard disk. Problem: I don't have a floppy drive. I could purchase a USB floppy drive, but I decided to see if anyone knows of a work around that uses a flash drive or CD or something else, rather than a floppy. This is the link to the driver.

So, after finally fixing my laptop which was unable to boot for about two weeks due to hal.dll problems and PowerShadow problems, I decided to be an idiot and use Paragon HD Manager to make a partition on my laptop bigger and therefore another one (the system one) smaller. I am now unable to boot (again) due to the hal.dll error. I've tried to restore the image I made with Acronis (didn't fix the problem), I've tried booting into the XP Recovery Console (couldn't boot into it), and replacing the boot.ini file (didn't fix the problem). If you any ideas, please post them. Thanks, Joe P.S. On the bright side, I'm going to be getting a tablet PC (Gateway C-142XL) for college.

I sent an email to their support on Friday night, but so far I have not recieved a reply. Hopefully, I'll hear from them by Monday. I created an Acronis Image of my messed up computer, just in case I need it. I had resinstalled my OS for the second time (the first time I got the hal.dll not found message) and was about to image it when PowerShadow messed up my bootup. If anyone knows of any bootable programs that can delete files, replace files and/or uninstall programs, please let me know. Windows Recovery Console won't boot for me for some reason, so I can't use that, unless there's a way to make it boot. Maybe a bootable DOS program would work. A bootable piece of malware that destroys PowerShadow would work too .

Thanks for your reply, DennisD. I paid for the 2008 version a while back (about a year ago). I still don't have a solution for my problem, but I now have a much bigger problem. When I boot up the computer (XP Media Center 2005 SP3), I get a screen that flahes "Loading..." and "Please type in password to Normal Mode". I am unable to get past these screens. These screen are from PowerShadow. I am unable to boot into Safe Mode or into Normal Mode. Basically, I can't boot into Windows at all. I tried using an XP Pro w/ SP2 disk to boot into the recovery console, but was unable to do so. I think that if I could either bypass that screen that normally occurs before the Windows logo appears, or somehow uninstall PowerShadow without booting into Windows, my new problem would be solved. If anyone has any ways to do this or any other ideas, please post. Thanks, Joe

Hi- I installed PowerShadow 2008 (great virtualization software) on my laptop. I am now unable to boot into safe mode. I uninstalled PowerShadow and the problem went away. I reinstalled PowerShadow and the problem occured again. My boot.ini with PowerShadow installed is: [boot loader] timeout=3 default=C:\PSALDR [operating systems] C:\PSALDR="Normal Mode for Windows XP Media Center Edition" Adding C:\PSALDR="Safe Mode for Windows XP Media Center Edition" /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog /noguiboot to [operating systems] does not solve the issue. Any ideas?

So, I reinstalled my OS and got everything updated and put all my software on it. Then I rebooted and got the message that Windows could not start due to hal.dll being missing or corrupt. So, I did a nondestructive with the Gateway recovery disk which moved everything that was on the computer before to a folder called "My Backup -- 08-05-11 0208PM". Any idea on how I can restore this backup?

Thanks for the reply. I actually don't have to interchange licenses (if I could, that is). I found that my Gateway recovery CD has an option to install the OS without all the prepacked garbage. Also Acronis has a partition tool, so I am set.

Hi- I going to be reinstalling my OS soon. I have my laptop backed up in case something goes wrong. I have a couple questions I was hoping someone could help me out with. My OS is Windows XP Media Center. I don't have the Windows XP Media Center installation disks, but I do have Windows XP Pro. I know that I can locate my product key for Windows XP Media Center using Belarc Advisor. Would I be able to use that product key to install Windows XP Pro? Also, is it possible to load Media Center on the Windows XP Pro if I am able to install it? Would I be able to take the installation files off my laptop before I reinstall the OS? I want to create partions on my hard drive after I reinstall the OS. How do you create/delete them without software. Thanks for your help, Joe

I purchased Office 2007 Ultimate using Microsoft's Ultimate Steal Promotion. The license allows the user to install the program on two machines. I installed it on my laptop and my friend installed it on her laptop. Therefore, the two installs are used up. As of today, you can still purchase Office 2007 Ultimate using that promotion. In the summer, I will be getting a desktop computer and tablet PC. I don't want to spend $150+ for a lower MS Office 2007 if I can avoid it, so I figured that I would just purchase Office Ultimate 2007 again using the Ultimate Steal Promotion and just spend $60. However the terms state: "Limit one purchase per eligible student". I already purchased, but I am still able to place an order for Office 2007 Ultimate at the same price I had paid before (I haven't actually gone through with the purchase yet). Do you think that purchasing Office Ultimate 2007 again using the promotion will get me into any trouble with Microsoft?

AutoIt looks pretty cool! Thanks for the suggestion. I'll definitely look into it. Thanks again for all your help!

Thanks for your speedy reply! At first the code didn't restart Winamp, but then I added /F after line three of your code (to force Winamp to close) and everything is working now. Anyway, I have a few questions/thoughts: Would the advanced script version of this code with the automatic run on a sound device change be hard to code? What programming language would be used? I took a C++ course and a Java course in high school about a year or two ago. (Never wrote a batch file, though) I would like Winamp to resume playing the track at the time it left off at when the batch file runs when Winamp restarts. Winamp has a hotkey "Ctrl + J" that is used to jump to a time in the track. It brings up a window that shows the current time in a text box. Would I be able to create a variable that could save the time and then place that value in the time in the text box? I can also create a global hotkey in Winamp's preferences that does the same function so that Winamp would not have to be the active window for the hotkey (Ctrl + J) to work. When Winamp is forcefully restarted the current song playing is not the song that is active when Winamp starts again. I would also need to save the song title and artist to a variable. In order to do so, I would need to distinguish among different text boxes in a single window. Thank-you so much for all your help!

That is exactly what I needed! Thank-you very much! Just out of curiosity, would I be able to make this batch file run automatically whenever the Sound Playback device changes? Also, I tried modified it so that Winamp is restarted if it is running, but it doesn't work. Here's the code: taskkill /im ehtray.exe /Fstart C:\WINDOWS\ehome\ehtray.exetasklist | find "winamp.exe" > nul | (taskkill /im winamp.exe /Fstart "C:\Program Files\Winamp\winamp.exe")clsexit Any ideas? Thanks again!

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Maybe I did something stupid. This is my batch file: "C:\WINDOWS\ehome\ehtray.exe" cls exit I saved it as "Launch ehtray.bat", yet it doesn't work. It is a bat file, not a notepad document.

Hi- I'm trying to create a batch file to restart ehtray.exe (ehtray is a application in Windows XP Media Center that is used for the actual media center portion of the OS and as the on screen volume indicator - the green bars). I'm trying to create the batch file, because when I unplug my external speakers (I have a laptop), the volume indicator gets messed up. When I restart ehtray.exe in Process Explorer, the problem is fixed. It would be easier to press a hotkey and have the problem fixed with a batch file or have the batch file run automatically when the external speakers are unplugged or plugged in. Sadly, I do not know how to write a batch file that restarts a program or if I can have the batch file run when the external speakers are unplugged or plugged in. Can anyone help me out?