Windows XP fails to boot after Drive Image 7 restore

I have just restored one of the disks on my system using Drive Image
7. The disk contained 4 partitions (originally labelled C:, E:, F:
and G. I also have two other disks which were untouched by Drive
Image and were labelled H: and I:.

Partition C: was my Windows XP Professional system partition. I
restored partitions C:, E: and F: (G: would not fit on the disk
despite being the same reported size! Why is this?) and no errors were
reported.

When I try to start Windows I get the following error:

missing or corrupt windows root\system32\hal.ddl

Anyone know why this has happened and how I can repair it?

I thought that Drive Image restored an EXACT image of the backed up
drive. If this is so then why is this restored file causing a
problem? It didn't cause a problem when the system was running at the
time the backup was taken.

One thing I have noticed, which may or may not be contributing to the
problem, if I boot the machine with the Drive Image CD and run PQRE,
the drives labels have all changed i.e. Windows XP system is now drive
E: when it was originally drive C:. The two "untouched" drives are
now C: and D: when they were H: and I: before the restore.

Anyone know why the drives have been re-labelled by Drive Image? I
would have expected Drive Image to put them back EXACTLY as they were
backed up i.e. C: to C:, E: to E: etc. Is it possible that the boot
process is looking for Windows XP files on the C: drive but (thanks to
Drive Image) they are now on the E: drive and so can't be found?

Any help explaining the problems and recovering my system would be
appreciated.

Regards.
Paul.

"Milleniumaire" wrote in message
om...

[SNIP]

Did you actually search the PQ support site because this 'error' is
described there?

Drive letters and labels aren't the same. A drive letter is not a 'part' of
a partition (where a volume label is) no matter how exact the image is. It's
Windows that assigns drive letters. You can restore an image that is
identical to the source partition and still it may be assigned a different
drive letter. In other words, DriveImage did not re-label drives, first
because it's the wrong terminolgy and secondly it is Windows that assigns
the drive letters.

Possibly...
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000490.htm


Colin

or ...

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

or perhaps this....

http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3659.cfm

Quote:
PowerQuest also provides a utility called CHKBTINI.EXE that fixes the
Windows directory pointer in the BOOT.INI.


"CWatters" wrote in message
...
or ...

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

"CWatters" wrote in message
...
or perhaps this....

http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3659.cfm

Quote:
PowerQuest also provides a utility called CHKBTINI.EXE that fixes the
Windows directory pointer in the BOOT.INI.


Exactly! Now my point is: Why didn't OP look there himself? It's awfully
nice of you to look it up for him, however it would have been better if he
would have done some searching himself first. Basically you're spoiling him:
He's probably to lazy to look (I assume, because it is so easy to find so
it's either that or being stupid), and you spent time searching for him and
writing 3 messages!

--
Joep

Joep j o e p @ d i y d a t a r e c o v e r y . n l wrote in message
...
CWatters wrote

or perhaps this....

http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3659.cfm

Quote:
PowerQuest also provides a utility called CHKBTINI.EXE
that fixes the Windows directory pointer in the BOOT.INI.

Exactly! Now my point is: Why didn't OP look there himself?

Likely because he is out of his depth.

It's awfully nice of you to look it up for him, however it would have
been better if he would have done some searching himself first.

It would have been much better again if the powerquest
manual spelt that stuff out clearly in the first place.

The manual is basically a steaming turd which doesnt really do
much more than just list whats clearly visible in the user interface.

And the user interface should make it clear to the user
that that can be a problem when the software is used too.

Basically you're spoiling him:
He's probably to lazy to look (I assume, because it is so
easy to find so it's either that or being stupid), and you
spent time searching for him and writing 3 messages!

It cant be that easy to find if Colin had to write 3 posts on that.

Actually I was looking it up for myself. When someone points out an problem
that could prevent me restoring my own backups I like to find the answer
before my PC dies. It took me 15 mins. Big deal.





"Joep" j o e p @ d i y d a t a r e c o v e r y . n l wrote in message
...
"CWatters" wrote in message
...
or perhaps this....

http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id3659.cfm

Quote:
PowerQuest also provides a utility called CHKBTINI.EXE that fixes the
Windows directory pointer in the BOOT.INI.


Exactly! Now my point is: Why didn't OP look there himself? It's awfully
nice of you to look it up for him, however it would have been better if he
would have done some searching himself first. Basically you're spoiling
him:
He's probably to lazy to look (I assume, because it is so easy to find so
it's either that or being stupid), and you spent time searching for him
and
writing 3 messages!

--
Joep

(Milleniumaire) wrote in message . com...

Despite the ramblings of Joep I have spent a lot of time trying to
resolve this problem myself. however, I admit I have a limited
knowlege of how Windows XP works, but this is improving all the time
thanks to "helpful" people sharing information on Newsgroups like this
one. When I purchased Drive Image I don't recall reading the small
print that told me I need to be a Windows XP expert!

Colin, thanks for the pointers. I have already tried the suggested
Microsoft solution, but despite rebuilding boot.ini I get exactly the
same error when I reboot. I have also tried expanding the version of
hal.dll from the Windows XP cd but this also made no difference. I
get the feeling that the boot.ini and hal.dll files on the restored E:
Windows XP drive are not being used but I'm not sure how to prove
this.

Using one of the tools on the PQRE, I noticed that the "NEW" C:
partition (formally the H: BACKUP drive) is seen as a bootable
partition as is the E: partition (which I would expect as this is
where Windows has been restored to). Because the C: partition was
used purely for backup (contains my backup images) I don't know why it
should be bootable. Is it possible that when using bootcfg it has
created the boot.ini file on the C: partition? How does Windows XP
decide which drive and partition it will use to read the boot.ini
file? Is it possible it is reading the boot.ini from C: when it
should be using the one on E:?

Regarding the re-labelling of drives, I was aware that the PQRE would
display partitions with different labels (it warns this when
starting), but I expected the drives to be restored as they where
backed up. Obviously this is not the case. This is not the first
time I have had to restore this drive, but this is the first time the
drive labels have changed and the hal.dll error has been reported. I
can't say for sure but my last restore may have been done with Drive
Image 2001, not Drive Image 7, but I can say that the number of drives
and their structure were IDENTICAL so why am I having the problems
now?

I will try using the CHKBTINI.EXE utility tonight but I would
appreciate any help and advice you (even Joep - the expert Data
Recoverer) can supply. I have also emailed PowerQuest support but,
based on previous experience, it may be some time before I get a
response from them.

Paul.

"Milleniumaire" wrote in message
m...
(Milleniumaire) wrote in message
. com...

Despite the ramblings of Joep I have spent a lot of time trying to
resolve this problem myself.

Well, if that is the case then it may be helpfull to indicate that in the
future + a summary of what was tried and didn't work. I did by the way
explain the fact that drive letters and labels aren't the same thing. It's
pretty vital to understand that.

From nothing in your innitial post it became clear you did already put some
effort in this ... so that was what triggered me ...


however, I admit I have a limited
knowlege of how Windows XP works,

Having limited knowledge or not is not the point I addressed. As a matter of
fact, anyones knowledge is limited ...

but this is improving all the time
thanks to "helpful" people sharing information on Newsgroups like this
one. When I purchased Drive Image I don't recall reading the small
print that told me I need to be a Windows XP expert!


Read again, it says so in the microscopic print: Thy shall be a Windows and
partitionus tablus expertus

Colin, thanks for the pointers. I have already tried the suggested
Microsoft solution, but despite rebuilding boot.ini I get exactly the
same error when I reboot.

Post the boot.ini content, maybe we cab help. Also post a partinfo so we
have an overview of the partitions. Te boot.ini and the partition order are
related. Tell us on which partitions the various Windows installations can
be found.

I have also tried expanding the version of
hal.dll from the Windows XP cd but this also made no difference. I
get the feeling that the boot.ini and hal.dll files on the restored E:
Windows XP drive are not being used but I'm not sure how to prove
this.


How Windows NT based stuff boots (briefly):

The MBR part is mostly the same as for other operating systems: The bootcode
contained in the MBR looks for an active partition. It is this partition it
will boot from. In case of NT (including 2000/XP) the executable code in
this active partition will look for some files, ntdetect, nlldr and, there
you have it, the boot.ini. In this boot.ini it is described on which disk
and partition the WINNT or Windows folder can be found.

Most of the times it is in any of these areas where boot problems are
caused.

Possibly with the partinfo and the boot.ini we can pinpoint the problem. One
more thing about the MBR and Windows NT/2000/XP. In the MBR Windows stores a
signature, this signature can be found back in several registry keys and is
used to identify the disk. This is needed to determine for this particular
disk how drive letters are assigned, messed up drive letters are another
common cause for Windows boot problems.

Removing this signature will cause Windows to re-assign drive letters again
which sometimes resolves boot problems.


Regarding the re-labelling of drives, I was aware that the PQRE would
display partitions with different labels (it warns this when
starting), but I expected the drives to be restored as they where
backed up. Obviously this is not the case. This is not the first
time I have had to restore this drive, but this is the first time the
drive labels have changed and the hal.dll error has been reported. I
can't say for sure but my last restore may have been done with Drive
Image 2001, not Drive Image 7, but I can say that the number of drives
and their structure were IDENTICAL so why am I having the problems
now?

DriveImage, apart from making it's exact image tries to be smart and see if
changes to the boot.ini are required due to different partitioning.
Sometimes it messes up, and sometimes this is the cause for boot problems.


I will try using the CHKBTINI.EXE utility tonight but I would
appreciate any help and advice you (even Joep - the expert Data
Recoverer) can supply.
I have also emailed PowerQuest support but,
based on previous experience, it may be some time before I get a
response from them.


Yes, I have heard that the UTAH PQ support department no longer exists. The
new support people (Symantec) may need some time to adjust and get to know
'their' new products ... Of course this is no excuse for no answer at all
....

N.B. Even as former PowerQuest employee I must say I was pretty pleased with
TrueImage 6 (got a full version on CD of magazine) ... It wasn't really
fast, but worked hassle free, and I liked their rescue CD (Linux based I
guess) which is much faster then the PQRE (to boot from).

Paul.

Joep