so my computer has been acting up recently. there's a few symptoms about half the time, when i boot it up, it goes to a black screen and gives a simple error "Error loading operating system" other times it loads just fine another symptom is i can't run certain programs, for instance Winamp . it returns the error "Error Signature: AppName: winamp.exe AppVer: 5.5.4.2165 ModName: ntdll.dll" which kind of makes me think one or more system .DLL files might be corrupted. this is new and I don't remember making any big changes recently except trying to reinstall a printer driver I'm wondering what the best method is to reinstall/restore system .DLL's I can't simply replace them myself cause it says they are currently being used and can't be overwritten. I have my reinstallation CD if needed. what's the best/easiest way to do this? thanks for any replies -Jim

256 MB of RAM ??? That can be low for running XP + other processes. Best to have over 512 MB of RAM. Each file resides on one or more Sectors on your HDD. Do this to scan and fix bad Sectors --- http://support.microsoft.com/defaul... How to Perform Disk Error Checking in Windows XP

I agree with Chuck 2. Run chkdsk /R and it will scan your drive for weak or bad sectors. It can rewrite/fix weak sectors and assign alternate areas for bad sectors. It takes a long time so it might be a good idea to run it overnight. It might not be a bad idea to also test your memory: http://memtest86.com/ There is a version to create a bootable floppy diskette and/or an ISO for creating a CD. Let it loop overnight and any failures are unacceptable.

To replace corrupted system files click Run and enter sfc /scannow. Note the space between c and /. Have your XP disk handy as it may be required.

Winamp.exe is a music application process by Windows. You can simply reinstall it to replace the corrupted dll. The dll is just a file shared by multiple application. Or you can google the dll and download it. Also simply deleting the files works sometime. Here is a tutorial page to show you how to repair the dll file: http://www.delete-computer-history.... none

Message: Error loading operating system May mean it cannot read the file correctly. Possible bad disk or bad file. Chkdsk or scandisk should be run.