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Guys, I need some MAJOR computer help!

wdinc01

wdinc01

Nov 19, 2005
2,791
44
Jacksonville, FL
#1
Okay so some of you may have noticed that I haven't been on in a couple of days (okay, well, no one probably noticed, but that's okay!). The reason for that is my main computer just died. I'm not really sure what happened, but my brother was on it, tried restarting it because it wouldn't recognize his iPod, and next thing we know it wouldn't boot because it said it was missing a file (I think it's C:\Windows\Run32. Something along those lines, I don't feel like checking). We tried popping in the Windows XP CD we have from Dell, and it wouldn't work either.

So does anyone know how to fix this? I would very much prefer not to reformat, because I've got about two years of stuff archived on there. I asked one of my computer friends that if I could just pop in a second hard drive if that would work and could read off my current hard drive. He said it would, so I'm thinking about doing that. But if anyone has any other way of fixing it, please let me know.

Thanks very much in advance.
 
#3
The disc from Del should work if it's only a missing file.

Do you mean you ran the disc and it didn't fix the problem, or the disc wouldn't run? If it's the later you may just have to go into the bios and change the boot priority to "boot from disc" and run the windows repair. Windows repair will replace the missing file without loosing any data.

Also, a lot of companies like Del will have a repair partition on the hard drive. I think you hit F10 when rebooting.
 
#6
#8
Okay, sorry for not getting here sooner. I decided to take a four hour nap. Anyway...

rkejeepin said:
Is HAL.dll the missing file?
Click to expand...

No. The file that's actually missing is C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM\. That's what the computer tells me when I try starting it up.

Chunk-O-Funk said:
The disc from Del should work if it's only a missing file.

Do you mean you ran the disc and it didn't fix the problem, or the disc wouldn't run? If it's the later you may just have to go into the bios and change the boot priority to "boot from disc" and run the windows repair. Windows repair will replace the missing file without loosing any data.

Also, a lot of companies like Del will have a repair partition on the hard drive. I think you hit F10 when rebooting.
Click to expand...

Okay, I did try running Windows repair from the disc I got from Dell, and got as far as either setting up Windows XP or repairing. I select to repair, then it askes me what drive I want to repair (there's only one option). It then restarts my computer. F10 doesn't seem to work, either. Unless I'm pressing it at the wrong time.

TL5 said:
Un-plug the iPod.

Seriously.
Click to expand...

Not the problem.
 
#11
wdinc01 said:
Okay, sorry for not getting here sooner. I decided to take a four hour nap. Anyway...



No. The file that's actually missing is C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM\. That's what the computer tells me when I try starting it up.
Click to expand...

Wow, okay. That's not just a missing file, it's a utility that basically tells windows what to start to make your computer and application run.

If Dan Molina's instructions look confusing to you, I would bring it to a pro if saving your data is important to you. Or I guess you should be able to pop that drive in another computer as a slave and copy all the data that is important. Then reinstall it and reload windows.
 
#16
Dont panic, however you probably do need to reformat. If you need to save your data, take out the hard drive, and hook it up to another computer as a slave drive. Save your files, hook it back in your own computer, and format/reinstall windows.
 
#17
morf said:
Dont panic, however you probably do need to reformat. If you need to save your data, take out the hard drive, and hook it up to another computer as a slave drive. Save your files, hook it back in your own computer, and format/reinstall windows.
Click to expand...

He doesn't need to format at all.
All he needs to do is just run the windows repair.

Put your Windows XP CD in, and run the Restore/Repair setup, it will fix your issues.
 
#18
One solution that I use at work to recover data is this:

Grab a copy of "Knoppix", boot to the knoppix cd and hook up an external hard drive or flash drive. The current version of knoppix recongizes USB drives and also the windows xp partions (NTFS). As long as the drive is good you should be able to pull stuff off in this manner. FYI: Knoppix is a bootable version of linux that runs entirely from the CD.
 
#19
Thanks for all the advice guys. I'll try some of these later. I realize that it should be just running Windows XP repair, but it doesn't want to be that easy. If I still need help, I might give a play-by-play so someone here can figure out what I'm doing wrong.
 
#20
Okay, so I gave it a try AGAIN, and got up to where it askes me what I want to repair. My only option is 1: C\:Windows or something along those lines. Everytime I hit 1 then enter, it takes me to a blue screen telling me to restart my computer and blah blah (I guess it would be the blue screen of death).

Am I doing something wrong here?
 

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