Entire Windows directory missing!

[killingspree]

The other day I got a random blue screen in XP right after booting to the desktop. I restarted the machine and I reboot and chkdsk fixes a bunch of errors it reboots immediately. Upon the third boot I get the typical "windows root\system32\hal.dll is missing or corrupt" message.

I boot into the Windows 7 partition to look at the Windows directory and it's gone. All the folders in the directory are mostly intact except the Windows directory is gone and it's 2gigs lighter.

Can someone explain to me what happened?

 

[JohnOfSheffield]

The other day I got a random blue screen in XP right after booting to the desktop. I restarted the machine and I reboot and chkdsk fixes a bunch of errors it reboots immediately. Upon the third boot I get the typical "windows root\system32\hal.dll is missing or corrupt" message.

I boot into the Windows 7 partition to look at the Windows directory and it's gone. All the folders in the directory are mostly intact except the Windows directory is gone and it's 2gigs lighter.

Can someone explain to me what happened?

It's either a corrupted filesystem or a lot of corrupted sectors on your disk.

 

[jjsbasmt]

Are you talking about a dual boot system? And if so, both OS on the same HD or 2 HDs?

I am thinking a bunch of bad sectors, but until you tell me more, I'm a bit reserved on my thoughts.

 

[jjsbasmt]

Sorry, JohnOfSheffield, I was composing my reply and you posted yours first. Forgive me.