RandyL

Cool!! Thanks for posting back withe solution.

If drive C is not the drive that Windows is installed on then look in the correct drive. Drive X for instance. Right click Explore. Navigate to the Program Files directory. Click on Internet Explorer. It should be there.

With Windows ME I believe it's 512 without a painful fix.

What version of Windows? What is the make/model of your computer? On HP/Compaq with XP I have followed HP's instructions a few times to fix a few computers with this message so I'll try to copy/paste their text on some steps that worked for me. FROM HP: HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Error: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll This document applies to HP and Compaq Desktop PCs that come with Windows XP. When Windows starts, the following error message appears: " 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." Use the following steps to resolve this error: Step 1: Opening a command prompt This error prevents Windows XP from opening. This problem has to be addressed from a command prompt environment. Use the following steps to open a command prompt environment: 1.Turn on the PC and press the F8 key repeatedly when the first screen appears. The Windows advanced options menu appears. 2.Use the Up and Down Arrow and Enter keys to select Return to OS choices. 3.Select Microsoft Windows Recovery Console. NOTE: If "Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console" is not listed, restart the PC with a Windows XP CD, Recovery Console CD, or Recovery Tools CD in the top CD or DVD drive and open Microsoft Windows Recovery Console. If a Windows XP Setup screen appears when using Recovery Console CDs, press the R key to open the Recovery Console. 4. NOTE: If "Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console" does not list and you do not have a CD with recovery console, try the following: a.Turn on the PC, and press the F10 key repeatedly at the first screen. b.At the Recovery screen, click Advanced Options. c.Press the Alt + D keys at the same time to open a command prompt window and skip to step 5. 5.When the login prompt appears, press the number next to the windows version (minint or Windows) and type the logon password. Try pressing Enter if you do not know the password. 6.At the command prompt, type the following: diskpart 7.Press Enter, do one the following: If a table of volume names appears, remember the drive letter next to the main drive volume name (usually D or H next to HP_PAVILION or PRESARIO) and press the Esc key. If a diskpart prompt appears, type list volume, press Enter, remember the drive letter next to the main drive volume name (usually D or H next to HP_PAVILION or PRESARIO), type exit when done, and then press Enter. NOTE: If the main drive volume name does not appear in the list, the PC needs to be recovered. For more information, refer to Performing a Full System Recovery in XP . Step 2: Restoring boot.ini Use the following steps to replace the boot.ini file with the backup boot.ini file: 1.Type the following at the command prompt: X: (where X is the drive letter). 2.At the prompt, type the following: ren boot.ini boot.in2 3.Press Enter 4.At the prompt, type the following: ren boot.bak boot.ini 5.Press Enter 6.At the prompt, type the following: exit 7.Press Enter The system automatically restarts. If Windows XP does not open, continue to the next Step. Step 3: Editing boot.ini If the steps above fail to resolve the error, use the following steps: NOTE: The following steps use the recovery partition on the hard drive. If the recovery partition has been removed, these steps will not work and you should recover the PC using recovery discs. 1.Turn on the PC. When the initial logo screen appears, press the F10 key repeatedly until a message about starting recovery appears. 2.At the Recovery screen, click Advanced Options and then press the Alt and D keys at the same time to go to a command prompt. 3.At the command Prompt, type the following: diskpart 4.Press Enter and type the following at the diskpart prompt: list volume A table of drive volumes and names appears. 5.Note the drive letter next to the main drive volume name (usually D or H next to HP_PAVILION or PRESARIO). 6.Type the following at the diskpart prompt: Exit 7.Press Enter and type the drive letter followed by a colon ( : ) at the command prompt. For example, D:. 8.Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: attrib -h -s -r boot.ini 9.Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: boot.ini 10.The file opens for editing in Notepad. Edit the boot.ini file to read exactly as follows: [boot loader] timeout=0 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons NOTE: If your PC came with Windows XP Professional, edit the line referring to Home Edition under [operating systems] to read as follows: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect 11.Save and Exit from the menu. 12.Type the following at the command prompt: attrib +h +s +r boot.ini 13.Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: Exit 14.Click Quit on the recovery screen to restart the computer. The PC should now restart without the error message. If the error still persists, perform a full system recovery. For more information, see HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Performing a System Recovery in Microsoft Windows XP "

Try; "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" then right click it and create a shortcut. I'm guessing your IE7 is installed on a Vista machine. If you want the full applet on the desktop instead of a shortcut you will have to modify the registry. If you're using an older version of Windows, Control Panel>Internet Options>Advanced>Show IE on the Desktop.

From the Run box try entering regedit.exe or regedit32.exe or %Systemroot%\Regedit.exe From the run box enter cmd or command. At the command prompt type one of the above and hit enter. In folder view untick hide system files. Do a search for regedit.com Also do a search for regedit.exe Like I said I suspect a trojan. They will often times remove regedit.exe and you will have to extract a fresh copy from the windows installation files or from the original windows cd. I know there is no SFC in Windows ME but it can still be done manually. If regedit.com is found on your system after the file search and hidden files are shown then you positively have a trojan as regedit.com will execute first instead of regedit.exe displaying different error messages. Also see if you can access the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) and type in msconfig in the Run dialogue box. Sometimes the same trojans will disable those functions too. These type of trojans are most commonly associated with P2P-Peer to Peer-music or file download programs. You didn't mention if you used these type of programs but if you do then it is likely you have a trojan. Do you have an updated antivirus program? Do you use P2P? Do you have an antispyware program? Have you run scans? If you have did you follow up with disabling and re-enabling System Restore to purge any hidden trojans to keep them from reinstalling from there? Did you remove the P2P program first if you have one? I ask this because if you do use P2P and are not protected this could be a clue as to the lengthly steps needed to remove viruses and repair the system later. Simply accessing regedit is not a cure all if there are underlying issues. It's a dangerous computing world these days. Remove any P2P or spyware/adware programs from the control panel first. Install, update an antivirus program then run a complete scan. Install, update adaware and spybot s&d then run a complete scan Try running Housecall from TrendMicro to do a complete online scan. Lengthly if you have dialup. Try a trojan remover like The Stinger from Mcafee. Next disable and re-enable System restore to purge any hidden trojans from executing from there. Next reboot then perform all of the above again over and over untill you're sure your system is clean. If at any time you are asked if you want to delete a file "such as a song" that may contain a virus chose yes as this might be part of the problem. There are other programs to clean your system but some don't work with Windows ME and others deliver false positives. So I suggest starting with the ones I mentioned. For other free security programs you can look at one of my pages. http://rsl45.port5.com/ProgramList/ProgramList.html http://www.freewebtown.com/rsl45/ProgramList/ProgramList.html Like you I used Windows ME for 7 years. I've cleaned up and fixed Windows from 95 to XP. But not having your machine here makes it difficult to guess what's going on. I know I've thrown a lot of information at you but in a couple days I'm going on a vacation and won't be able to reply. So respond quick or wait for me to get back. Hey! I've only taken a vacation 3 times in the last 25 years. Now that I'm retired I thought I would take 1 more. I'll check back with you. RandyL

Can you run it from safe mode? I still suspect a trojan. RandyL

Hi Louis; This could be caused by many things. Is there a details button you can click on when you get this error? Some viruses and trojans will stop the registry editor. Do you have an antivirus program that is updated? Good info on the exact error message and that you use Windows Millenium Edition. I usually only see this type of error message on pre-ME systems. Is your ME an upgrade from 98? Hope to hear from you soon; RandyL

Hi jb1122; Tomsterdam knows the answer to this one too. http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/faqs/how.htm#debrand Your IE browser is most likely branded too. Scroll down to "Internet Explorer Title Bar". http://www.freewebtown.com/rsl45/EXTRASPAGE/extrasregistry/extrasregistry.html RandyL

Hi sayandy; You can't. You could if you used a software program to specially format the disk so it would work like an oversized floppy. I wouldn't do that though because the disk likely wouldn't work on some computers unless they had compatible software. RandyL

Hi Joe; Please don't disable your antivirus. You will be sorry. A firewall stops incoming and outgoing traffic which is good. But you have to allow some incoming traffic if you want to use the internet. Once you do you're vulnerable. Not to mention infected media. RandL

Is yout Alt key sticking?

Hi ovingite; It seems you have two related problems. Probably an MSinstaller issue which there is a Microsoft program to clean it up. I suspect this since it seems you might have used a registry cleaner. Problem two is the message you got when you tried to uninstall Adobe. It uses the same Microsoft installer. Thanks for the exact error message. Let's deal with this problem first. I searched for the last two weeks to deal with this issue myself only my problem was with Microsoft Office 2000Pro on a Wndows Millenium system which also uses the new MS installer version 2 for updates. The latest version for XP is 3. After about 50 hours of research I found one solution for the error message. It was for a version of Office on XP but it worked for ME too. Keep in mind this in a MS installer issue which Adobe uses too. In any case it's worth a try. Backup your registry first just in case it doesn't work. http://rsl45.port5.com/EXTRASPAGE/extrasregistry/extrasregistry.html Click on the Computer on the top so it searches the whole registry. Click Edit - Find and type in PATCHES. Click Find or Find Next. Rename any FOLDERS on the left that says PATCHES to PATCHESOLD. These are called Keys. Don't rename APPPATCHES or IPATCHES or anything else. Also don't rename any data on the right. You may notice that any FOLDER that is named PATCHES is a sub folder of INSTALLER. Quit the registry editor. Reboot just to be sure. Try uninstalling Adobe again. You can always double click the backup to merge it back into the registry if needed. You're caught in a loop. The next step is to deal with your first problem. I'll send you some links tomorrow. Manually set system restore points along the way while you're at it. Then keep restore on. After all this you may need to reupdate any programs that use this installer such as Adobe and Microsoft Office and others. Good luck; RandyL

Hi spookyjoyce; You night also want to try deleteing temporary internet files as well as offline content from within internet options. Other possibilities might include, Viruses and other malware. A Host file problem. Security settings might be set to high. Cookies may need to be enabled. Firewall issues. Just a few possibilities but there are more. By the way what version of Windows is this?

Hi Jimmy75; I know this sounds strange but a long time ago I had trouble accessing my MSN and hotmail mail accounts too. Try deleting all cookies, temp files, history and all "off line content" as well. Problems with MSN Messenger were usually related to a server problem. I have not tried Myspace yet but it still might be worth trying deleting all temp files. A reboot afterwards might help. Without knowing more I'm just guessing but it couldn't hurt. varispeed you must know something I don't. Does he he have broadband? Of course Norton products-firewalls- spyware-viruses may be an issue but I don't even know what version of Windows he has let alone what other software. Keep in touch; RandyL

After 24 years with the same girl I just got married. After 30 years with the same company I am retiring after this month. How is that for off topic? Guess I'm showing my age here too. I'll stay in touch here with you good people; RandyL

Hi chuchuma; No offence but more information might help you get a reply. Look at "hints on posting". http://extremetech.support/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109 Maybe AOL is the problem. Post more info please; RandyL

Hi Ian Smith; The most likely cause is a bad CMOS battery. Cheap to buy and easy to replace. There are a couple other possibilities but I would try that first; RandyL

When running dxdiag did you click no when asked if you heard the sound. Have you tried different speakers or tested yours on another computer. RandyL

You could try a few different things. Uninstall Limewire. Install Spybot S&D and AdAware. Stop as many programs from running at startup as you can. Examples: Nero and Creative Sound Mixer. Move your sound card to a different slot. Check all your cables and wires. You could attempt to roll back WMP11 to an earlier version. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/11/readme.aspx I assume you have all the Windows updates. From a command prompt run dxdiag You seem to be very thorough and meticulous so you may be way ahead of me on any info I supply. I agree that housecall is excellent. Good luck; RandyL

Hi ross23dj; Very good information you supplied but some bits are missing. A 6 month old computer that needed formatting due to spyware. Have you repeated the same mistakes? Are you still downloading music? Do you still use a file sharing program? What type of format did you use? Complete or not? Are old files on your system? What antivirus program do you use? What media player are you using? It's good you checked your drivers but you might want to check from the manufacurer to see if their are better ones. From your post I still suspect bad codecs/spyware/crapware programs and more. It might be hardware related but you stated that after a format it worked fine "until now". This might be a case of needing to do a destructive recovery or engage in a long process. You supplied many clues. Can you supply a few more?

Try the easist thing first. From the Control Panel open Internet Options. Click on the Programs tab. Uncheck "Internet Explorer should check to see if it is the default web browser". Click Apply then OK. Reboot. Recheck "Internet Explorer should check to see if it is the default web browser". Click Apply then OK. Reboot and start IE. When prompted if you want to make IE your default browser choose yes. Try OE links again.

Is Internet Explorer your default web browser?

Hi jfcrackz: Haven't a clue as to what caused this problem. But you might want to try the obvious first. Since you can boot into safe mode try using system restore from safe mode and restore to a time before this started. If that doesn't work a lot more information will need to be supplied. Good luck; RandyL

Hi biggerthanfun; It could be a lot of things but since you use file sharing I would uninstall those then run complete virus, spyware and adware scans. It's always the first thing I do before continuing to trouble shoot a system. Excellent info you provided on your system and your problem. Thanks; RandyL