Hello I feel I have a unique problem. My computer when it starts won't automatically boot my Recovery CD. I have done it before (on different computers) so i know whats supposed to happen. Well I have read online that I should try going to my BIOS and change something or other to where it will boot it. (Can't remember exactly sorry.) I am using another laptop (the computer im working on is one too.) to get on the internet and figure it out. The computers specs are: WINDOWS XP Home Edition Dell Inspiron 1525 Service pack 3 (I am installing 2 because that's the CD i have.) I have tried getting to the BIOS but it won't go to the screen where it says (insert key here) to go to setup. It's like it skips the POST PHASE or whatever. I have Recovery console on it. The reason I am recovering it is because it's my mom's and for some reason or another it is going really slow and freezing all the time so she asked me to do it so it would be fast again. If there's any more INFO u might want to know or need about the computer I will find it out. In the beginning it would still start up fine. It booted really fast, but I deleted all the partitions except C: local DRIVE because i wanted it to be just like new :S. Now it says "Windows Could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:\system32\hal.dll. What I want to know is if there is a way to still boot the CD, or get to the BIOS (the screen won't come up remember) OR should we just send it to Microsoft because now its (insert word that also means messed up here). When you first turn the computer on tap F2 repeatedly before windows loads. Can you get into setup now?Dude... thanks it worked. :S now what do i do to get the CD to boot next time i reset it?Advance options in Setup...boot sequence/order...it should be set to
1)Floppy
2)CDROM or DVDROM
3)HDD

after making the changes press F10 to save changes and exit.
The machine will now re-boot.Look for Boot order or Boot sequence or it might just say Boot. Use the arrow keys to navigate though BIOS. Now set the CD drive as the first boot device and then insert your disk. You may need to use the plus and minus keys to move your CD drive up in the boot order. Now exit setup and SAVE CHANGES (F10).Thanks you guys are life savers. It worked. From now on if I need help I'm coming here.