SpuddGunn

My bro got the dreaded 'Hal.dll is missing or corrupt' error so I went about trying to sort it, but to no avail.

1) Replaced the hal.dll file via Windows Repair

2) Then it found isapnp.sys was corrupt too, so replaced that

3) Then it said hal.dll was missing or corrupt again - had me confused - so I replaced that again.

4) Still said hal.dll was missing even though I replaced it numerous times.

5) Did the Fixboot/Fixmbr but still refuses to boot past the hal.dll error

6) Ran chkdsk and it said it fixed things

7) Replaced hal.dll again but it still says its missing or corrupt


So all in all hal.dll is still corrupt/missing even though I've replaced it half a dozen times

The machine wont boot into any stage of windows (safe mode is a no no) but it can boot from cd

Any ideas on how to get it working?

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jaslew

dont know if you've looked on microsoft's website, but i found a couple of threads in their forum about the same/similar issue :-

http://forums.microsoft.com/Communit...42537&SiteID=6

and that thread pointed to a solution page, it could be worth reading or giving it a try :-

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314477

SpuddGunn

Cheers, but i've tried the microsoft suggestions and they dont help

Really help its not H/D failure (as they point out it could be)

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alex98uk

Format and reinstall

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SpuddGunn

Thats what I'm trying to avoid though.

I've had a thought about it though

If I install a second version of XP to the same drive, in a new folder.....boot into the new version......copy the missing files across into the 'old' windows...boot into windows repair in the 'old' windows install.......delete the new windows......fix the bootcfg etc so it boots straight into the 'old' windows

Would that work?

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SpuddGunn

Argh! this machine is doing my 'ead in!

Exhausted all the fixes from Microsoft and other random sites.

- So took a H/d from my machine and installed windows onto that.
- Switched the machine off and hooked up the 'old' drive as a slave
- Machine wouldnt start up at all, fans whirred away but no BIOS screens or anything else
- Unhooked CD drives and managed to get it working - Not sure how crap the PSU is, but on this evidence its proper lame

- Got into Windows, ran Scandisk on the old drive, with check for bad sectors and the other option ticked.
- Access the old drives windows folder but could not find the 'system32' folder

- The machine then rebooted, and continues to do so after a few minutes.

Where the hell as the SYSTEM32 folder gone? but more to the point, why?

Ran Find file and it found one in WINDOWS\I386\SYSTEM32 but i dont think that this is it.

Anyway my thoughts on how to sort it are

- Copy the 'new' windows SYSTEM32 folder into the 'old' windows folder - Would this cause any issues?

- Give up

A new h/d looks like its needed anyway.

One problem I do have is that my bro wants to save all his 'My Documents' stuff. Problem is he has a passworded account. Via the new install his account folder (on the old drive) reads as 0kb so I can't copy the folder to the new drive. Is there any way around this? or is all the data 'lost'

Sound like a good plan?

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dragosmp

This will surely crash both installs.

1. The path you foud for System32 is the good one, but it's no use to copy another win's system32, it can't work

2. No way

3. It looks like you need another HDD

The fact that the account has a password or not is meaningless unless he encrypted the HDD, which would be weird to be done on a home computer. A password-ed account does not encrypt data by default, so with another win install you must easily have access to that data.

The fact that it shows you 0kB could mean that that folder has gone down the drain too. The HDD is falling apart imho. I have tried once @work a software called O&O recovery to recover some files from a damaged HDD with moderate sucess: I managed to save some 10-20% of the really small files (up to 100kB), the larger were MIA. Try this piece of software, it may recover something if the HDD wasn't encrypted.

Hope it works!

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My log:
100W Mini server build log

Nice guide:
How to: Silence any HDD with 1$

SpuddGunn

Cheers for the info

Nah the drive shouldn't be encrypted. All I get is the Access is denied box pop up when I try to enter the user account folders.

I'll give O&O recovery a go tonight. I thought about formatting the 'old' drive and using something like Recuva just to try to save the data. But that seems a tad far fetched and risky.

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dragosmp

Don't wanna sound like an old cliché or something, but as long as the hard drive is still alive there has to be a way to recover your data. In my campus there are guys that do this kind of recovery stuff (paid of course) but if it's worth it...

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My log:
100W Mini server build log

Nice guide:
How to: Silence any HDD with 1$

SpuddGunn

Well I ran the free version of O&O Recovery and it couldnt find anything wrong with those folders. It did find out files that had been deleted and werent needed anyway. Free version wouldnt let me recover anything anyway.

Gave it a virus scan and it found 1 virus, DP0913.exe I think it was.

Not sure if the whole machine is up the creek though. Whenever it is switched on it always say 'The system has recovered from a serious error' in windows.

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