Well, Carol.. I think your mishap cursed me.
I got back from my appt earlier and rebooted only to get this error message:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file."
Windows would not let me reboot.. I find out after the fact that I might have been able to run System Restore from a boot command but I didn't know that or how to do it.
Ended up having to do a "non-destructive" reinstall (which isn't non-destructive really). It erased all the important files on my C: drive, meaning I lost all my emails, bookmarks, and saved passwords, plus all the pictures and files in MyDocuments. Then, my system reinstalls with internet blocked by default and it took me 90 mins to remember what setting to change to allow me to log on to the Net (it was a LAN setting).
So, I'm back on but have to reinstall all my apps (webcam. Slype, Yahoo Messenger, etc).
I usually backup my Favorites but stupidly saved them to MyDocuments so they were erased. Lost all my Roboform saved passwords so I'm bummed to say the least.
No idea how the boot.ini or hal.dll got corrupted.
