XP Home crashed

[bimfi]

I really need some expert help. I am trying to fix a Gateway MX6121 laptop problem that has gotten way out of control.

It all started when an application would not open (QuickBooks). Ended up with a boot problem: (Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM). I tried to research different sites to find a fix. One site I went to and followed was: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

The next time I booted, it said: (Windows root\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt: Please re-install a copy of the above file).
I could probably write a few pages of the stuff that I tried, but alas, did not work.

Long Story short, I had to reinstall XP Home from my own CD because the owner of the laptop never made a copy of any recovery disk. I thought I could just use the product key-code on the bottom of the laptop, but because my XP Home CD was an upgrade version, it would only allow me to put in my product key-code (go figure).

Now, in Windows Explorer\Documents and Settings I have the following folders: Administrator; Administrator.YOUR-FC6C9F88BD; All Users; All Users.Windows; Default Users; Default Users.Windows; Kevin; Owner. In the “Owner” folder are his original applications (MyAttorney, AVG anti-virus, Nero, etc…).

What I need to know is how to change the boot process so that everything boots up like it did before the crash.
Even now, when I boot up, it asks me which OS to boot into. Both say windows xp home. The top one will allow me to boot into the newly made C:\Windows. The bottom one still gives me the (Windows root\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt: Please re-install a copy of the above file).

I know I can remove the bottom one in msconfig\boot.ini, or startup and recovery in system properties. But, I don’t want to do that until I know for certain that I won’t be able to bring back the original “owners” settings ("Owner" being the original name of the laptop computer name).

Also, it can't collect information in system information (WMI files missing or moved)

Any suggestions would greatly help.

[camaroguy1998]

Read this thread it may help you!

http://forums.legitreviews.com/about6705.html