Hi everyone
Would really appreciate if u could help with this prob
My computer won't boot saying "ntldr is missing" - I tried the recommended advice on this site ie/ insert the windows bootable CD and repair...but I couldn't even get to press "r" for repair b/cos it said 3 things when i entered the setup
1. file dmio.sys is corrupted
2.\i386\1_instl.nls could not be loaded; error code is 7
3.\i386\hal.dll couldnt not be loaded; error code is 4
for those reasons the windows setup couldn't continue

Does anyone know how to solve this prob??Was everything fine before this happened? If so, sounds like probably bad memory, CPU or hard drive. If you have more than 1 memory module, you can try using 1 at a TIME to see if your CD will LOAD. There are links at the top of the computer hardware forum for hard drive testing software. Saw a link somewhere on this site for free memory testing software, forget where though.

I use TuffTEST, a program that makes a bootable floppy that tests the memory, CPU, hard drive, and a few other things. Costs $10.00 though. There's a free version, but it's useless (very small max memory and hard drive limits). The free version might help you see if your system's in good enough shape to run the disk though. You'll FIND it if you do a web search.

I'm GUESSING it may be bad memory or CPU because your hard drive got corrupted, but it also seems your computer is corrupting the files from the boot CD.Did you boot to the cd?
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/part1.htmGood point... The advice I gave only applies if you're SURE you were booting from the CD, everything's hooked up right and the computer was working fine before. Otherwise, more likely a virus / software PROBLEM on your hard drive than a hardware problem. Never hurts to test what hardware you can as a first step to solving any problem though.http://www.memtest86.com/  
this link is for a program called memtest86
scroll down and try downloading  the iso for a bootable cd-rom and id reccomend nero to burn it to cd ,, only problem is ,, youll have to do it on another pc that has a cd burner and nero ,, oh and when you use nero to burn it select the option to create or burn cd from .iso ,, i agree with royphil it does sound like a bad memory stick ,, could also be the memory bus on the motherboard tho.
if none of that makes sense take it to a proffessionalyup my computer was working fine before and i did boot the CD i went into set up to make sure it booted from the win xp cd - it's just i didnt get to repair anything as it said all the files (from my original msg) couldn't be loaded/corrupted
ill try the memory test thing and see if it works...and post if its still not working (i think it prob is a memory thing)
thnx~jjl:

Another possibility: The Windows CD may be dirty or scratched.  The i386 folder on the CD has the files needed to install Windows.  Dmio.sys is a driver or user mode component used to configure dynamic disks and volumes and perform I/O.  Of course, a bad hard drive or memory would also cause these errors, as Royphil mentioned.  

Doc