missing <windows root>\system32\hal.dll

sharonbsharonb
edited March 2007 in Hardware
Hi, I hope someone can help me, Im getting desperate now.

My daughters PC windows XP home edition was working fine, then all applications locked. She turned it off by holding down the button. On start up the following error message appeared, " windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt <windows root>\system32\hal.dll.

Searching the net, I loaded the windows XP disc, entered the recovery and followed the onscreen instruction to repair. However, I donnot get a prompt to choose which windows installation to choose. I typed Bootcfg / rebuild the message back "failed to successfully scan discs for windows installations, this error may be caused by a corrupt file system, run chkdsk. Which I have done, no errors? run chkdsk /r, found and fixed one or more errors. rebooted, entered recovery again, entered Bootcfg / rebuild, the message back "failed to successfully scan discs for windows installations, this error may be caused by a corrupt file system, run chkdsk.

Im completely stuck? Can anyone help? Really dont want to have to do a complete re install, as she has college data, photos and stuff that she dosent want to loose.

Please, please help:confused:

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    You're doing a Repair Install, correct?

    Are you proceeding like this:

    1) Make sure the bios is set so your cdrom drive is the first boot device.

    2) Put your WinXP CD in the drive, start the computer, then watch for a line like "Press any key to boot from CD".

    3) Continue as if it were a clean install, until it gets to the point where it finds your existing Windows installation.

    4) Pick the option to repair the current Windows installation, not add another one.

    5) The rest is automatic.
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    profdlp wrote:
    You're doing a Repair Install, correct?

    Are you proceeding like this:

    1) Make sure the bios is set so your cdrom drive is the first boot device.

    2) Put your WinXP CD in the drive, start the computer, then watch for a line like "Press any key to boot from CD".

    3) Continue as if it were a clean install, until it gets to the point where it finds your existing Windows installation.

    4) Pick the option to repair the current Windows installation, not add another one.

    5) The rest is automatic.
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    I have tried that but it dosent find the existing windows installation?????? Its as if its dissappeared all together, and I dont know why?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    The fact that it runs chkdsk is encouraging, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to run the Quick and Full tests from the hard drive manufacturer. In the worst case, you may have a failing drive with not enough of the parts of Windows that Setup looks for to properly identify it.

    If the drive is sound, try running TestDisk (it's free) and see if it can find any partitions. If it does, allow it to repair them. :)
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    In Bios I ran hard drive diagnostics and this was the result
    Drive 0 Maxtor 6y080m0 - fail
    Return code 7.

    How do I run test disk on the computer?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    TestDisk will run either from a bootable floppy or bootable cdrom. If you have a fast Internet connection and can burn a CD, it is included on the Ultimate Boot CD.

    I'd run the tests from Maxtor, too, to see if maybe the BIOS test was wrong.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Important:

    Sorry - I should have mentioned this before.

    If you want to give yourself the best chance of saving any data (assuming the drive is bad), don't run any of those tests just yet; they will only add to the wear and tear on a failing drive.

    What I'd recommend is that you remove the hard drive and install it in another computer, then try and manually copy your files over to the drive in the "good" computer. If they are important enough that you would be willing to pay for (likely to be expensive) professional data recovery, don't do anything. Just shut the computer down and leave it off. The less you use the drive the better your chances of getting your files back.
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    Do you think it is the drive? or do you think something else is going on, given that the cd rom failed about a month ago. Does this mean anything to you?

    Drive 0 SATA-0 - Maxtor (on)
    Drive 1 SATA-2 - Serial ATA (off)
    Drive 2 PATA-0 - Parallel ATA (primary IDE master) (Off)
    Drive 3 PATA-1 - Parallel ATA (primary IDE Slave) (off)

    Is there something wrong in the settings?

    Sorry for all the questions, am desperate here. Concerned that I will have to buy a new system.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Is that what you see when you start the computer, or when you enter the BIOS. If it's the former it's normal. meaning it is just a list of the drives the computer found.

    How many drives (including cdrom/DVD) are in the computer and what type (PATA/SATA) are they?
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    When I enter Bios.

    I dont know? I had to install an external cd rom because the internal one failed. The system didnt recognise it. Same thing one minute it was working fine the next, nothing.? I am just a working mum here, not sure what PATA/SATA is?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    PATA: Has a wide ribbon cable
    SATA: Has a thin ribbon cable

    The fact that chkdsk ran indicates that the computer is seeing the hard drive. It could be that the reason the cdrom drive quite working was that it failed, or maybe a setting got switched around in the BIOS. It is even possible that a cable came loose.

    Open the side of the case and make sure all the cables are snug. (Make sure the computer is off and unplugged first.) While doing that you can count up how many of each type of drive you have.

    It is also possible that your motherboard or power supply unit is failing. In the case of the former, it could lead to the controllers which operate your drives are either not working at all (cdrom failure as an example), or are intermittently working (causing your hard drive to be "not all there"). In the case of a bad PSU, it could present any number of weird symptoms - including drives not working properly.

    Unfortunately, the only sure way to test either of the last two is to start swapping parts out. Unless you have a spare computer you can afford to at least partially dismantle it is a job best left to a computer repair shop.

    For the time being I would concentrate on seeing what the Maxtor drive test comes up with. :)
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    Maxtor Drive test? Isnt that what I did, that failed?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    sharonb wrote:
    Maxtor Drive test? Isnt that what I did, that failed?
    You said you tested it in the BIOS. Have you run the two tests from a bootable floppy disk or CD, made from the program downloadable from Maxtor's website?
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    No, I havent done that. I am trying to hook it up to my sons PC at mo. I have attached the SATA and power but its not showing up in "my computer". Have I missed doing something?

    Managed to access the drive but my daughters folder is empty. No documents, pics etc. Is there anything, anyway I can retreive these?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    It's possible the files were saved somewhere besides the default location. Try doing a search using wild cards for each type of document you want to find.

    For example, if there are Word documents you want to find, do a search for *.doc. For PowerPoint files , search for *.pps. Pictures would be *.jpg, *.gif, etc.
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    Nope! They must be on there somewhere hidden. As the total folder space is different to the used space on the hard drive.

    It appears that under the windows folder the system32 folder is gone?

    I can copy most over but not the CONFIG one as my system is using it. I think this is an important one, How can I get pass this?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Open Windows Explorer, click Tools>>Options>>View, then make sure that Show Hidden Files is checked.
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    Already done that
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Then my best guess is that the documents you're after are on a damaged part of the drive. :(

    I just popped in for a minute and have to go back out, but when I return I will see if the error code you got reveals any further details. The full test from Maxtor would probably be more specific.
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    ok, how do I do a full test from Maxtor?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Get the SeaTools for DOS program and use it to make a bootable disk. Do both the Quick and the Full tests and see what result it gives you. :)
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    I have downloaded this to my desktop, what do I do now to get it to work. How do I make it a bootable disc? Sorry, I must sound really stupid but this is new to me.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    If you got the floppy diskette creator, just run it and it should prompt you as to what to do.

    The cdrom version is an .iso file. Use your CD burning software and have it "burn image to disc". When it asks what image to use, point it to the .iso file.

    Don't worry about sounding stupid. Mot of us learned this stuff when we encountered a problem like this and had to muddle our way through it. You are well on the way to becoming an expert yourself. :)
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    lol! Your not wrong there, thanks for your time and all your help.

    I have put the disc in and it gets as far as the license agreement, but I cant get the keyboard to work. I have no way of pressing Y for accept? The keyboard works up to that point? Whatever next?
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Do you have another keyboard you could try? (Unless it's of the USB variety, shut the computer down before you switch them.)
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    It cant be the keyboard because the keyboard works fine before and since, it just wont work at that particualr part of the test?
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    Am on the verge of giving up now. soo frustrated!!!!
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    If the drive is in seriously bad shape it may be hanging while trying to detect it. How long did you wait after pressing the "Y" key?
  • sharonbsharonb
    edited March 2007
    Ages! have even burned it twice? But still the same. Have reported to seagate or whatever there name is?
Sign In or Register to comment.