HAL.DLL Missing or Corrupt

HAL.DLL Missing or Corrupt 

If you get an error regarding a missing or corrupt hal.dll file, it might simply be the BOOT.INI file on the root of the C: drive that is misconfigured

Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.

At the first R=Repair option, press the R key

Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.

Typically this will be #1

Type bootcfg /list to show the current entries in the BOOT.INI file

Type bootcfg /rebuild to repair it

Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Corrupted or Missing \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG

Corrupted or Missing \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG

If you get the error:

Windows could not start because the following files is missing or corrupt

\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM or \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE

Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.

At the first R=Repair option, press the R key

Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.

Typically this will be #1

Enter in the administrator password when requested

cd \windows\system32\config

Depending on which section was corrupted:

ren software software.bad or ren system system.bad
Depending on which section was corrupted
copy \windows\repair\system
copy \windows\repair\software
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM Not Found

NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM Not Found

If you get an error that NTLDR is not found during bootup,

If you have FAT32 partitions, it is much simpler than with NTFS. 
Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files 
from the i386 directory to the root of the C:\ drive.

For NTFS:

Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.

At the first R=Repair option, press the R key

Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.

Typically this will be #1

Enter in the administrator password when requested

Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive.
COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\: 
COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\

Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Increasing the Folder Cache

Increasing the Folder Cache

The default setting for WindowsXP is to cache the Explorer settings for 400 folders.
To increase it:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam

Change the vaule of BagMRU to whatever size you want (hex)

1000 - 3e8
2000 - 7d0
3000 - bb8
4000 - fa0
5000 - 1388

Hiding the Last User Logged On

Hiding the Last User Logged On

If you use the standard NT style of login and want to hide the last user:

Start the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) 

Go to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options 

Scroll down to Interactive logon: Do not display last user name 

Set it to Enable

Poweroff at Shutdown

Poweroff at Shutdown

If your computer does not turn off the power when doing a shutdown,
you may need to edit the registry. I have all the correct BIOS and Power settings and still needed to do this.

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Edit the key PowerOffActive and give it a value of 1

You can do the same in HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop

Stop Password Expiration

Stop Password Expiration

If you want to do this for all users, enter:

Start / Run / net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited

If you are getting an error message that your password is about to expire:

Right click on the My Computer icon

Select Manage

Go to Local Users and Groups / Users

Right-click on the user you want to change

Select Properties

On the General tab, check Password never expires 

Click OK

Disable Explorer Thumbnail View

Disable Explorer Thumbnail View

If you want disable the Explorer's ability to show the Thumbnail View ,

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced \ 

Change ClassicViewState to 1

Adding Environment Variables

Adding Environment Variables

Since any version of NT does not use an autoexec.bat file,
to add environment variables to WindowsXP:

Right click on My Computer

Select Properties

Click on the Advanced tab

Click on the Environment Variables button

From here you can change it for the system or just the current user.

Enable / Disable the Task Manager

Enable / Disable the Task Manager

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Create the Dword value DisableTaskMgr

Give it a value of 0 to enable it

Give it a vaule of 1 to disable it

Clearing the Page File on Shutdown

Clearing the Page File on Shutdown

Another way to set the computer to clear the pagefile without directly editing the registry is:

Click on the Start button

Go to the Control Panel 

Administrative Tools 

Local Security Policy 

Local Policies 

Click on Security Options 

Right hand menu - right click on "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile" 

Select "Enable" 

Reboot

If you want to clear the page file on each shutdown:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown

Set the value to 1

Adding SafeBoot to the Boot Menu

Adding SafeBoot to the Boot Menu

You can add Safeboot as an option to the normal XP boot screen

Open a command prompt

Copy the current c:\boot.ini to another name (just in case)

With your favorite text editor, edit c:\boot.ini

Copy then edit the current boot line to another line. For example:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect 

might copy and then change to:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Safeboot" /fastdetect 

Start MSCONFIG

Click on the BOOT.INI tab

Highlight the second line with the additional name of Safeboot

Check the /SAFEBOOT box with option you want

Minimal - Minimal set of drivers

Network - With Network Support

Dsrepair - Directory Services Repair

Minimal (Alternate Shell) - Standard Explorer Desktop

You will now have this option every time you start XP

Speeding the Startup of Some CD Burner Programs

Speeding the Startup of Some CD Burner Programs

If you use program other than the native WindowsXP CD Burner software, 
you might be able to increase the speed that it loads.

Go to Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services

Double-click on IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service

For the Startup Type, select Disabled

Click on the OK button and then close the Services window

If you dontYou should notice

Getting Rid of Unread Email Messages

Getting Rid of Unread Email Messages

To remove the Unread Email message by user's login names:

Start Regedit 

For a single user: Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UnreadMail 

For all users: Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\UnreadMail

Create a DWORD key called MessageExpiryDays 

Give it a value of 0

Search Companion Error

Search Companion Error

When doing a file search, if you get the error A File That Is Required to Run Search Companion Cannot Be Found

Log on as an Administrator

Click Start

Select Run

Enter in the command - %systemroot%\inf 

Right-click the Srchasst.inf file

Click Install