Cannot Boot

Hope anyone can kindly give me some advices.
My mbp2007 was working perfectly until ths morning. It crash suddenly.
When I restart the mbp again, it didn't show the apple icon, instead it shows a folder icon with "question mark" on it, then don't go any further.
It's a OSX 10.6 system, but I lost my OSX10.6 install CD... So I put my OSX 10.7 install disc in, the apple icon appear, after 10 mins of loading, the installation screen shown, followed by a OSX Utilities window.
I tried following steps from this window.
1. Use the disk utility but could find the main startup drive, it shows the installation CD and a 1.52G disk call Mac OSX Base System, but couldn't let me do the first aid.
2. Try to install OSX 10.7, but cannot because there is no drive(disk) to select for installation.
So, after this steps,
Seems like my startup hard drive(I only have one, never partition it) disappear for some reason....
I won't mind to reinstall everything, just want my startup hard drive appear again.
Please help. Thank you very much!

It appears that it is time to send your HDD to the funeral home. Install a new HDD and reinstall your system. I hope you have backups.
Ciao.
There is a possibility that the problem is in the cable connection, but that is less often the case.
Message was edited by: OGELTHORPE

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Macbook Pro4.1 Cannot Boot Up After Battery Allowed to Drain.

I’m hoping someone can help me troubleshoot some strange behaviour of my Macbook Pro4.1. It’s an early 2008 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo. I’ve had this running perfectly for the past 2 months with an Apple 65W Magsafe Adaptor, although I recently got an 85w version so I’ve started using that for a bit. I recently read somewhere that it’s good to allow the battery run completely flat once a month or so, so I unplugged the adaptor last week and ran it off the battery for the afternoon. When it was almost done (10% charge left) I went for a shower and came back to find the Macbook powered down. I plugged in the Adaptor back in but I couldn’t get it to start.
I have to say at this point, that my 85w adaptor sometimes needs a wiggle at the magsafe end to get it to work. Despite this though I couldn’t get the green power LED to light or the Macbook to boot up. I then tried my 65W adaptor, which is perfect, and although the LED lights up (first green and then amber) the macbook just doesn’t power up with it. I tried the 85w one again the following day after leaving the macbook disconnected and battery removed overnight, and was pleased to find that it finally booted. Amazingly, despite having no power at all for the whole night it came back with all my applications running, safari tabs and the documents open! Anyway, I noticed from the menu bar that the battery was not charging and I couldn’t seem to get it to charge. I ran it all day and the system profile showed that the Battery was about half full and had a ‘normal’ condition with about 187 charge cycles. However I can’t run the Macbook off the battery. When the power cuts out from the 85w adaptor the whole macbook shuts down. The battery isn’t doing anything, even after charging all day and being half charged. What’s more neither of my 65w adaptors can start the macbook no matter how many times I try them. Only my 85w one can boot it, but it’s defective so very rarely seems to work. The 65W ones worked perfectly before,so I don’t know what’s changed.
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Thanks again for all the input, very much appreciated.
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The only charger I have which can start it is an 85w one. However that's defective, so I don't get a connection long enough to complete a bootup. The question is, is this normal? Should this MBP only work with an 85w and not a 60w?? And if that's the case, how come it worked on a 60w charger for so long? And why is the battery 60w and not 85w?
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Can you boot into safe mode? http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
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Unlocking worked using the DVD, but I could never really make it bootable anymore. Reinstallation of Lion on the existing partition didn't work either. Just FYI, when trying to make the disk the startup disk it give me the following error: 'Building boot caches on boot helper partition failed'. The only solution that worked and was good enough for me was to delete the partition, reinstall lion and restoring time machine data on the new installation afterwards.

Curve 8320 corrupts OS periodically and then cannot boot (blinking LED only)

I have a T-Mobile BB Curve 8320 that I've had for about 9 months, and I have what appears to be a recurring problem.
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To be honest, if the BB OS is that fragile that I can't even load these two applications on it, I'll be trading it for a different email capable phone.
Anyway, I'm looking to find if anyone else has a phone that repeatedly gets corrupted so it can't boot, and requires a complete reload. Also, is there anyway to test the memory on the phone? I'm going to call T-Mobile back and try to get them to swap my phone, because I can't afford to spend three hours on the phone with tech support every couple of months when my phone dies.
thanks!

Thanks for the reply. Our cases sound a bit different. I seldom use Desktop Manager, as I sync through BES. I do use it for backup though.
But over the time my phone corrupting itself has happened, I've upgraded from BB OS 4.3 to 4.5, which required an update to Desktop Manager, and following that I upgraded to a new computer. So I've changed computers, BB Desktop software, and BB OS software, and the problem has happened across all of those changes.
You should have been able to restore the OS even if it was corrupt. Desktop Manager won't recognize the device if it won't boot, but application loader will still find it. The first two times I did it, I used instructions basically like this: http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101-lecture-12-how-reload-operating-system-nuked-blackberry?page=4
But since then I've found I can just access application loader via BB Desktop Manager and do the same thing. I did notice when my OS reload kept failing this last time, that using application loader directly showed more of the failure message. It still wasn't anything useful, but when I reran the reload via Desktop Manager, I recognized the error was the same, but noted that I didn't see all of the output of the standalone application loader.

Kernel Panic / G4 dp500 / Cannot boot currently

Machine Config:
10.4.8
G4 DP500
1.5 gigs ram.
Internal ATA133 PCI controller card (Sonnet)
Four internal hard drives. My current 4-drive configuration:
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I installed the Sonnet ata133 card three months ago to expand the drive capacity. I wanted to "see" hard drives larger than 127 gigs, which is the limit if using the onboard ata33.
Everything has been working fine for 3 to 4 months after I installed the Sonnet card, and three internal drives. But about three days ago, my computer was hard-frozen when I went to use it. No mouse movement etc. When I rebooted, I received the Kernel panic black screen with its resulting verbosity.
I had a spare internal drive laying around that was preconfigured with an OS on it. So fearing the Kernel panic was from the Sonnet controller card, I installed my spare drive to connect from the mother board ata33 connector. I was then able to boot from my spare. after that I was able to repair my boot drive that was attached to my Sonnet card. The one that was initially corrupted by the Kernel panic.
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Specifically the volume header wraps.
In addition, I can't even boot from Disk Warrior or my OSX install disk. The screen just hangs at grey. So, I have no more spare boot drives available, and I cannot boot from cd/dvd. The cd/dvd drive is attached to the internal on-board ata33 like my spare is.
I know that heat will often cause a hard freeze. But will it also cause kernel panics upon reboot?
As it stands now:
When ever I try to reboot, a black screen will display unix command line text describing kernel panic and the last line is"
"Panic: we are hanging here."
This seems like a hardware issue. But why are my boot directories becoming corrupted? At this point, maybe its over heating. I have four drives now stuffed into the G4 with ribbon cables all over the place and a vent fan installed into one of the unused PCI slots.
I haven't installed any new hardware lately.
I upgraded to 10.4.8 and the panic still happens.
I have 30gigs of itunes, 20gigs of iphotos, 40gigs of imovies, 10 gigs of mail, etc. My back up system was using SuperDuper to copy my USER folder to another internal drive, so I know I have a backup, It's just that I cannot access it. If I can recover my data, I'm going to go out and buy a G5, transfer my data, and be done with it. If I can't recover my data, then I will be forced to live a life of quiet desperation. My wife will leave me if I've lost her itunes collection
BTW, what is a good program to back up to 8.5 gig DVD's? Can I make large 20gig .DMG files and segment then into 8.5 gig portions? I no longer want to rely on internal backup. I would feel better knowing that my back were on dvd's locked in my fire safe. When did I become so dependant on computers?!
Losing sleep.
Haifarmer

It may not help, but it's worth a try to reset the PMU. See Mac PRAM, NVRAM, CUDA/PMU & Battery Tutorial
When trying to troubleshoot problems, disconnect all external devices except your monitor, kbd & mouse. Do you experience the same problems?
May be a solution on one of these links.
Troubleshooting
The X Lab (Troubleshooting & Maintenance of OS X)
OS X Routine Maintenance & Generic Troubleshooting
Prevent Mac Disasters
Kernel Panic
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
Mac OS X Kernel Panic FAQ
Resolving Kernel Panics
12-Step Program to Isolate Freezes and/or Kernel Panics
 Cheers, Tom

Cannot boot into Windows XP, should I replace hard drive?

THE PROBLEM: I have not been able to boot into or use Windows XP (SP2) for almost 3 years. I have been using Linux instead for 3 years and am using it now. The Windows Recovery process only half works, it works up until you have to boot up the computer from the hard drive. Then it no longer works. The computer will load the files from the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD that came new with the computer onto the hard drive. But when you get to the point of booting off the hard drive, with newly added Windows & Toshiba files, nothing happens. It does not boot up into Windows XP. In fact I can see the newly added Windows & Toshiba fileson the hard drive when I boot into Linux (Live) off the hard drive.
THE HARD DRIVE (Specs below): I ran a SMART Data check using a Linux (Ubuntu) Disk utility on the hard drive and it passed everything except for Reallocated Sector Count. There are 20 bad sectors. I called the Toshiba 800 # on the DVD and they told me that the problem may be the hard drive. A new TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD costs $40. Toshiba also said there is no Windows XP Recovery Console on the DVD.
CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM: I think, and TOSHIBA agreed it is either the hard drive or corrupteD files on the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS: I have found a couple of sites that seem to have instructions for making a Windows XP Recovery Console CD. And I have thought I might try to run some Windows XP Recovery Console commands from such a CD, such as fixboot, fixmbr, etc. The try to see if I can boot into Windows XP from the hard drive. If I can, then that might suggest he problem is corrupted files on the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD. If I still cannot boot into Windows, then maybe I should replace the hard drive. This should be very easy to do.
QUESTION(S): Does anybody have any comments or suggestions? Does my approach sound good? Do you have any other suggestions?
I have a TOSHIBA Satellite L25 S1216 that I bought new in early 2006. It has a 40 GB (5400 RPM) Enhanced IDE (ATA-6) 9.5 mm height hard disk drive in it. User removable, i.e., it is easy to replace.
Thank you,
Bob
Solved!
Go to Solution.

My plan is to try to use the TOSHIBA Recovery and Applications/Drivers DVD to load the WIndows XP files onto the hard drive, then use the Windows XP Recovery console CD I downloaded from here
http://www.proposedsolution.com/downloads/download-windows-recovery-console/
by using commmands such as fxmbr, fixboot, etc to see if I can get the computer to boot up into Windows XP.
Good plan, Bob!
Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console for advanced users
A backup plan would be to obtain a Windows XP installation CD from eBay or wherever. They are super cheap now. Then you could install Windows clean and add the drivers and utilities from the website here. Or you could use it to repair-install Windows.
How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
You are entitled to activate Home Edition for free. I understand that even after Microsoft no longer supports Windows XP (in April), they will honor activation attempts.
I wouldn't mess with SSDs. And stick with IDE PATA drives. You won't need to worry about advanced-format technology since that didn't come along until the very recent SATA drives. Your BIOS should support 120GB (KB303013). Some here.
-Jerry

Help: Cannot boot from leopard disc anymore, everything else fine

I was working on an ibook and messing with it in firewire mode and was going to install leopard on it that way from my macpro. (just letting you know the context)
I tried to restart my machine(mac pro) and boot leopard both by pushing C and by running the installer.
I get the "You need to hold the power button panic message" everytime I do this. I unplugged external devices and tried this also and it has the same problem.
I cannot boot from the dvd anymore. If I eject the disc, osx loads normally.
Any ideas what I can do? (I have tried safe boot, pram clearing and hold option on boot to check options)
Here is the kernel panic when it finally loads into osx.
here is the kernel panic log when it reboots into OSX
Sat May 17 14:13:09 2008
panic(cpu 1 caller 0x001A7BED): Kernel trap at 0x894ec373, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x8001003b, CR2: 0x00000018, CR3: 0x00df8000, CR4: 0x00000660
EAX: 0x00000000, EBX: 0x00000000, ECX: 0x00000000, EDX: 0x0a5a1004
CR2: 0x00000018, EBP: 0x817c3bc8, ESI: 0x0a4c5c00, EDI: 0x0a4c5c00
EFL: 0x00010246, EIP: 0x894ec373, CS: 0x00000008, DS: 0x0a3c0010
Error code: 0x00000000
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x817c39d8 : 0x12b0e1 (0x4555b4 0x817c3a0c 0x133238 0x0)
0x817c3a28 : 0x1a7bed (0x45e568 0x894ec373 0xe 0x45dd24)
0x817c3b08 : 0x19e517 (0x817c3b20 0xa83c980 0x817c3bc8 0x894ec373)
0x817c3b18 : 0x894ec373 (0xe 0x48 0x10 0x10)
0x817c3bc8 : 0x894db540 (0x0 0xa83c980 0xa4c5c00 0x1)
0x817c3c08 : 0x78d45139 (0xa4c5c00 0x1 0x0 0x13)
0x817c3c68 : 0x78d3e940 (0xa4c5c00 0x2407 0x817c3d2c 0xa4c5c00)
0x817c3c98 : 0x40c515 (0xa4c5c00 0xacd8130 0xacd8130 0x0)
0x817c3ce8 : 0x437535 (0xa4c5c00 0xacd8130 0xacd8130 0x0)
0x817c3d48 : 0x18c8aa (0xa4c5c00 0xacd8130 0x0 0x0)
0x817c3db8 : 0x12d165 (0xa525c78 0xaa76b90 0x817c3df8 0x11ee04)
0x817c3df8 : 0x126247 (0xa525c00 0xa2f9254 0xaad84b0 0x0)
0x817c3f08 : 0x196afc (0x817c3f44 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x817c3fc8 : 0x19eb34 (0xab382a0 0x0 0x1a10b5 0xa63f208)
No mapping exists for frame pointer
Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0xbffff378
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.NVDAResman(5.1.6)@0x894d8000->0x89704fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(1.5)@0x78cc5000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.4)@0x78ac0000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.5)@0x78d36000
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(1.5)@0x78d36000->0x78d51fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.4)@0x78ac0000
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: WindowServer
Mac OS version:
9A581
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 9.0.0: Tue Oct 9 21:35:55 PDT 2007; root:xnu-1228~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacPro1,1 (Mac-F4208DC8)

I really appreciate everyone's help.
I am certainly not above taking the machine in but I will say this.....
I have been building and working on PC's for 15-20 years. I have never once used or had the need for a repair shop. It is my hobby. I recently switched to osx to give the mac a try and I love it.
I will say that vista/xp has four times as many problems but at least i can fix whatever comes my way hardware or software.
Any more ideas how to settle this without making my first trip to the repair shop ever?...
Chad

Cannot boot from osx or cd, help

Hi,
I have a problem. My macbook 5.1 boots only to windows, not to cd or osx. I am not sure what has happened but I think I installed the latest security update. I have a backup with time machine (osx) and vista with windows backup. I can wipe the whole disk clean (I do this only if I am absolutely sure it will work, CD is now unresponsive, what about if network fails...).
However, I cannot boot from CD, to verbose mode or to single user mode. None of the keys work (eject, c, s, v, cmd+c, cmd+v, cmd+s) anymore at startup. My installation dvd is stuck into the cd-rom. The eject button does not work in windows (otherwise the vista works perfectly). Also the refit screen has disappeared.
This problem is caused (to my knowlege) due to following actions:
1. security updade => failure to boot osx (hangs to apple-logo and shuts down)
2. recovery from time machine to 2 days old configuration (last known working)
3. current status, no cd, osx or startup buttons
This is my work computer and I need the linux (osx) part on monday. Please help.
Juha
Technical details:
- refit
- osx leopard
- macbook 5.1
- vista created with bootcamp
- timemachine 500Gb

I got the problem worked out. Now that I have the possibility to boot from cd I used the recovery from timecapsule again. Now it worked more properly. There is some issues with some programs and data (missing), but thats another story.
Last time I left the recovery program calculating the space needed (step 1) overnight, as takes a lot of time. I finished the step 2 (choose recovery date and copy the files) in the morning. I was not at the computer when it did the thing and I only saw the text 'recovery complete'.
Apparently there is a 'feature' that if you lose the connection between steps 1 and 2, the recovery program copies the network path that is empty (connection lost -> empty path). The program thinks everything is copied and gives 'recovery complete' message.
The problem is now mostly solved, some programs are not recovered. This is seen as question mark icons in the tray. Overall I have succesfully recovered from the latest security update.
Juha
P.S. My original login name has disappeared from this forum. I am the same guy as Dv3. Could some admin mark this as solved.
Message was edited by: dve_

I cannot boot from HDD nor CD/DVD drive - Satellite C

I want to recover my laptop & i need to boot from cd.
I pressed F12 first time & boot from cd but i discoverd that i have put another cd just when i restarted (correctly) i could not boot from cd neither hdd.
When i log in bios hdd was detected but not available in boot priority menu. Just network adapter was there & now i cannot boot from hdd nither cd/dvd. Bios version is 1.30
PLEASE HELP ME

> When i log in bios hdd was detected but not available in boot priority menu. Just network adapter was there & now i cannot boot from hdd nither cd/dvd.
Does this means that neither HDD nor CD/DVD drive appears in the BIOS boot option?
Strange what notebook model do you have?
Did you try to set BIOS to default?
If not do this (press F9 and save the changes in BIOS)

Win 7 pro installed on hp touchsmart 320-1030, the machine cannot boot from installation DVD. Assist

I have installed Win 7 professional on hp touchsmart 320-1030 with an OEM DVD to overwrite Win 7 premium preinstalled from factory.
I want to reboot the machine with the same DVD after completing the installation, to test for possibility of reimage in case of crash. Although in bios, I specify cd\dvd as firts boot media, the machine cannot boot from installation DVD. I have 20 machines that behave this way. Can anyone assist?
Note: I had to delete all partitions on the PC before doing a fresh installation of Win 7 pro as Premium can not joing domain.

Hello,
So, you installed Window 7 Pro with a DVD, you boot with it to install the O.S, and now it does not work?
Have you tried to load the BIOS default values or even updating the BIOS?
If it had work before, cant understand why it does not work now...
Let me know.
Thanks,
I work for HP! Please remember to provide and if this helped click ON

Cannot boot from DVD since 10.4.6 update.

My Quad cannot boot from the Superdrive at all.Upon updating I decided to repair permissions from the DVD but everytime I got to the Apple logo the fans powered up,full tilt. I had to turn the Quad off from the power button and start up holding down the mouse, in order to eject the DVD.
As far as I remember, I allowed the computer to start up twice, and disconnected all peripherals whilst updating.
I've tried zapping the pram and resetting the nvram to no avail.I've inserted Disk Warrior and that will not boot. The computer runs fine from the HD (although there was one occasion when, briefly, a small OS9-style Mac monitor appeared with a question mark, then made way for a proper boot), but I'm really concerned at this problem. I do not want to wipe the system drive and start from scratch,since I've only just finished migrating a whole buch of software from another G5, and I have TV job looming.
Incidentally, both my other G5's and Mac Mini updated with no perceptable problems. Can anyone shed any light on this and, perhaps, offer a solution (other than a wipe ! ).
Thank you.
G5 Quad 2.5,G5's DP 2.5/2.0,Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.5) MOTU 2408's Mk3x3,24i/o,Hammerfall HDSP 9652x3

Any installation can theoretically cause harm. If you aren't backed up, you may be forced to use Target Disk Mode if you can't boot a DVD, or an external DVD burner that supports booting. Both LaCie and Otherworld Computing have external Firewire DVD drives that support booting. Target Disk Mode is described here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58583
Fortunately when you boot via Firewire or use Target Disk Mode, you bypass the hard drive's bootloading software, which you don't when you use the internal optical drive.

Cannot boot my MacBook Pro. Tryed CMD+R, reinstall OS, error message :damaged HD. When trying to repait it says it's OK. Yesterday HD wasn't even half full when I turned it off, now it says it's full.

Cannot boot my MacBook Pro. Tryed CMD+R, reinstall OS, error message :damaged HD. When trying to repait it says it's OK. Yesterday HD wasn't even half full when I turned it off, now it says it's full.

What may have happened is an error and a kernel panic, filling up the logfiles.
What I recommend is first to find a way to backup your data without booting the hard drive directly if it isn't already backed up, and then get Alsoft Disk Warrior to repair the hard drive.    You'll probably want an external drive from http://www.macsales.com/
And you'll want to go into Hard drive -> Library -> Logs, System -> Library -> Logs, and Users -> yourname -> Library -> Logs to remove whatever you find there.
If after booting it fills up again, start by removing all startup items in your System Preferences for your user, and rebooting in safe mode with the shift key held down. If the hard drive is over 85% full after removing the logfiles, you may want to look at what were the last applications you installed.
Peer2peer software if installed can be as bad as a virus, because it enables others to access your computer. Insecure wireless networks are just as bad, if they are WEP or no encryption and someone is within 1500 feet of your computer.
If no such software is installed, your RAM probably has failed.    Run the hardware test that came with your computer, by booting with the 'D' key.
If nothing shows up there, it can still be the RAM.   Especially if you've seen any 4 language screens telling you to restart.
Here's more on kernel panics:
http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html*

My G5 iMac cannot boot up from its hard disk

My G5 iMac cannot boot up from its hard disk - I get the alternating Mac OS folder and the ? Folder which I understand means the system cannot be found.
On recommendation from a friend I tried replacing the battery - no difference.
However, I can boot up from the CD/DVD drive from the OSX installer disk, DiskWarrior, Drive Genius and Techtools Pro. But none of these utilities can see my hard disk to see if it needed repairing.
In fairness at one point DiskWarrior did see the drive and I was able to replace the directory safely. However, on subsequent reboots nothing can see the disk.
Suspecting the hard disk I bought a new one and a USB/SATA casing to mount the old drive in to see if I could get anything off of it. The good news so far is that the old drive (now mounted in the new USB casing) can be seen and read on my daughters iMac. So all my information is safe and also now backed up.
Having installed the new disk I found it also cannot be seen by any of the above utilities. I have since formatted it in the USB casing and put it back in the iMac but it still cannot be seen.
As a test I installed a new system on an old 40Gig Lacie Firewire drive attached to my iMac. This works and boots ok - sometimes.
I am now experiencing the necessity to force shutdown and restart from the startup button several times before the external disk is recognised. And most times it freezes after 30 minutes or so.
I might also add that after some force shutdowns/startup I get little or no chimes. And sometimes when trying to reset the PRAM get no second chime. On other occasions I do.
Now I am totally stuck and wondering if anyone can throw some light on why my iMac can boot up from a variety of CD/DVD utilities and sometimes an external Firewire disk but not from its own hard disk which, as I have already said, can be seen on my daughter's iMac but not by mine, so its not the disk.
Does anyone have any suggestions at all before I bite the bullet and take it in for a diagnosis and repair (depending on cost).
Thanks

Could be the logic board, in which case you would need to take it in. Since the drives are good, and the directory was repaired, the logic board is about all I can think of.

MOVED: Windows cannot boot because of missing/corrupt hal.dll! Help!

This topic has been moved to Operating Systems.
Windows cannot boot because of missing/corrupt hal.dll! Help!

Hi,
make sure you have disconnected all non-essential external devices (printers, scanners, external harddisk) prior to installing BootCamp Windows.
Leave only mouse, keyboard and display connected.
Make sure that your XP CD is either retail or OEM/systemBuilder version and not a manufacturer-bundled one.
Also make sure that the CD is 'clean' (no dust, no scratches, etc.).
Use the BootCamp Assistant to revert back to one single OSX volume.
Use OSX Disk Utility to Verify your harddisk and repair permissions.
Retry the XP installation from scratch.
Generally using NTFS is more likely to not getting the 'missing hal.dll' error.
Stefan

Cannot Boot

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