[dirksiegle]

...in CMOS/BIOS but cannot be seen in windows. Pls help!? This is what happen, my computer hangs(WINDOWS XP) and display a error message "corrupt HAL.DLL pls. reinstall windows". when i restarted it the computer display "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK". The hard disk is detected in CMOS/BIOS. I tried to put it as SECONDARY SLAVE in other computer, again the hard disk detected in BIOS but when the windows loaded the hard disk cannot be seen in the list of available drives. Is my hard disk damage.. What will I do? Pls help me with this one all my important files are saved in that hard disk... any solutions are highly appreciated... thank you...

[Milad]

first check it in device manager to see if there is your hardthen if it was there try a file recovery program

[Mizu]

I think you need to do what it said, and pop the XP setup CD in. Boot from the CD and load setup. Choose the repair option, and if it gives you several repair options, choose "fast" or whichever one will automatically fix the problems. Right now, important system files in XP aren't working properly, so XP will not load until you fix it or reinstall it.

[Mike0001]

Originally Posted by dirksiegle ...in CMOS/BIOS but cannot be seen in windows. Pls help!? This is what happen, my computer hangs(WINDOWS XP) and display a error message "corrupt HAL.DLL pls. reinstall windows". when i restarted it the computer display "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK". The hard disk is detected in CMOS/BIOS. I tried to put it as SECONDARY SLAVE in other computer, again the hard disk detected in BIOS but when the windows loaded the hard disk cannot be seen in the list of available drives. Is my hard disk damage.. What will I do? Pls help me with this one all my important files are saved in that hard disk... any solutions are highly appreciated... thank you...

Can you get hold of a USB HDD caddy and stick your disk in that? That way you may be able to read it.

Simpler solution: get a Linux Live CD, boot from that and copy the files off. Available in most large newsagents attached to a Linux mag.

Another solution: boot to the recovery console from an XP CD and try to repair the disk. (Google XP Recovery Console Commands to see how.)

Just because the BIOS sees a disk, it doesn't mean it is readable in Windoze. The BIOS will detect an unformatted disk or a Linux disk.