hal.dll and repair problems

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Please bear with me as English is not my mother language and my technical
knowledge and terms are limited.

My 17 y.o. son owns an HP Compaq nx7010 laptop, Intel Pentium M 1.7GHZ,
512MB RAM, 40GB HDD with WinXP Pro SP2 with all the security and antivirus
updates. A couple of days ago he uninstalled NOD antivirus and installed Bit
Defender antivirus. When he tried to restart he got the system32\hal.dll
missing or corrupt message as described in so many other posts in this forum.

I read through all the relevant threads in this forum and the proposed
fixes. Most seem to assume that the Recovery Console recognises the installed
Windows and propose to choose “1: C:\windows” when prompted. In my case it is
not so. After booting from the CD and selecting “Repair” the Recovery Console
does not ask me to choose which installation to repair. I only get the c:>
prompt. The “dir” command is recognised, tries to run, but then gives a
message that it cannot run (I don’t remember the exact wording). The commands
“windows”, “win” and “winnt” do not work at all. So I think I cannot try most
of the solutions, like the one by Charlie White, mentioned here.

Thought my best bet was to do what the damn machine was asking for, i.e. to
re-install a copy of the hal.dll file. I tried the “rename
c:\windows\system32\hal.dll halORG.dll” command (in order to follow that with
a “copy hal.dll c:\windows\system32” from the CD) and it tried to run but
then gave a message like it could not be executed.

I then tried the John Barnett solution, obviously without the step of
selecting the relevant installation so it was no surprise that the
“bootcfg/list” was not recognised.

Finally I tried the “chkdsk c: /r” command suggested by Ron Martell. The
process was very slow. After 90 minutes it showed 3% progress so I left it to
run overnight. This morning I found it saying 50% complete and then a message
like there are one or more volumes that are un-repairable.

Someone on this forum said that re-installation is not the answer. So my
question is: What should I do next short or reformatting and/or re-installing
windows?

Thank you in advance for any help.

Costas
(not an expert, not even in asking questions)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi,

> and then a message like there are one or more volumes that are
> un-repairable.

Generally not a good thing. Either the hard drive or the file system is
severely damaged. Regardless of which, recovery without loss is not usually
possible. I would first run a hard drive diagnostic using a utility from the
drive manufacturer. It should tell you the state of the drive and whether or
not it is a candidate for replacement. If it's ok, you will likely need to
remove the existing damaged volume and create a new one, then format and
create a clean installation. Data currently on the drive will likely be
lost. If it is not ok, you will need to replace the drive first.

Something that is worth trying is to remove the drive and install it as a
slave in a working machine. You may be able to read some of the data and
copy it before replacing it or having to redo the installation.

By the way, your use of the english language was just fine. I doubt that I
could master your native language so well.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Constantinos" <Constantinos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C462CD26-95F8-42D1-94B8-B30134B261FB@microsoft.com...
> Please bear with me as English is not my mother language and my technical
> knowledge and terms are limited.
>
> My 17 y.o. son owns an HP Compaq nx7010 laptop, Intel Pentium M 1.7GHZ,
> 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD with WinXP Pro SP2 with all the security and antivirus
> updates. A couple of days ago he uninstalled NOD antivirus and installed
> Bit
> Defender antivirus. When he tried to restart he got the system32\hal.dll
> missing or corrupt message as described in so many other posts in this
> forum.
>
> I read through all the relevant threads in this forum and the proposed
> fixes. Most seem to assume that the Recovery Console recognises the
> installed
> Windows and propose to choose “1: C:\windows” when prompted. In my
> case it is
> not so. After booting from the CD and selecting “Repair” the Recovery
> Console
> does not ask me to choose which installation to repair. I only get the c:>
> prompt. The “dir” command is recognised, tries to run, but then gives
> a
> message that it cannot run (I don’t remember the exact wording). The
> commands
> “windows”, “win” and “winnt” do not work at all. So I think I
> cannot try most
> of the solutions, like the one by Charlie White, mentioned here.
>
> Thought my best bet was to do what the damn machine was asking for, i.e.
> to
> re-install a copy of the hal.dll file. I tried the “rename
> c:\windows\system32\hal.dll halORG.dll” command (in order to follow that
> with
> a “copy hal.dll c:\windows\system32” from the CD) and it tried to run
> but
> then gave a message like it could not be executed.
>
> I then tried the John Barnett solution, obviously without the step of
> selecting the relevant installation so it was no surprise that the
> “bootcfg/list” was not recognised.
>
> Finally I tried the “chkdsk c: /r” command suggested by Ron Martell.
> The
> process was very slow. After 90 minutes it showed 3% progress so I left it
> to
> run overnight. This morning I found it saying 50% complete and then a
> message
> like there are one or more volumes that are un-repairable.
>
> Someone on this forum said that re-installation is not the answer. So my
> question is: What should I do next short or reformatting and/or
> re-installing
> windows?
>
> Thank you in advance for any help.
>
> Costas
> (not an expert, not even in asking questions)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Rick,
Thank you for your advice. I’ll check the CDs that came with the laptop to
see if I have any for checking the drive. I guess if it comes to having to
reformat, the best I can hope for is not to have to pay for a new hard disk.

I have the slave option in mind but that would mean having to use the
vendor’s technicians, and I’ll only do that as a last resort. If I have to
replace the drive, then I’ll use the slave option to see what I can salvage.

Costas

"Rick "Nutcase" Rogers" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> > and then a message like there are one or more volumes that are
> > un-repairable.
>
> Generally not a good thing. Either the hard drive or the file system is
> severely damaged. Regardless of which, recovery without loss is not usually
> possible. I would first run a hard drive diagnostic using a utility from the
> drive manufacturer. It should tell you the state of the drive and whether or
> not it is a candidate for replacement. If it's ok, you will likely need to
> remove the existing damaged volume and create a new one, then format and
> create a clean installation. Data currently on the drive will likely be
> lost. If it is not ok, you will need to replace the drive first.
>
> Something that is worth trying is to remove the drive and install it as a
> slave in a working machine. You may be able to read some of the data and
> copy it before replacing it or having to redo the installation.
>
> By the way, your use of the english language was just fine. I doubt that I
> could master your native language so well.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
> www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

"Constantinos" <Constantinos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C462CD26-95F8-42D1-94B8-B30134B261FB@microsoft.com...
> Please bear with me as English is not my mother language and my technical
> knowledge and terms are limited.
>
> My 17 y.o. son owns an HP Compaq nx7010 laptop, Intel Pentium M 1.7GHZ,
> 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD with WinXP Pro SP2 with all the security and antivirus
> updates. A couple of days ago he uninstalled NOD antivirus and installed
Bit
> Defender antivirus. When he tried to restart he got the system32\hal.dll
> missing or corrupt message as described in so many other posts in this
forum.
>
> I read through all the relevant threads in this forum and the proposed
> fixes. Most seem to assume that the Recovery Console recognises the
installed
> Windows and propose to choose "1: C:\windows" when prompted. In my case it
is
> not so. After booting from the CD and selecting "Repair" the Recovery
Console
> does not ask me to choose which installation to repair. I only get the c:>
> prompt. The "dir" command is recognised, tries to run, but then gives a
> message that it cannot run (I don't remember the exact wording). The
commands
> "windows", "win" and "winnt" do not work at all. So I think I cannot try
most
> of the solutions, like the one by Charlie White, mentioned here.
>
> Thought my best bet was to do what the damn machine was asking for, i.e.
to
> re-install a copy of the hal.dll file. I tried the "rename
> c:\windows\system32\hal.dll halORG.dll" command (in order to follow that
with
> a "copy hal.dll c:\windows\system32" from the CD) and it tried to run but
> then gave a message like it could not be executed.
>
> I then tried the John Barnett solution, obviously without the step of
> selecting the relevant installation so it was no surprise that the
> "bootcfg/list" was not recognised.
>
> Finally I tried the "chkdsk c: /r" command suggested by Ron Martell. The
> process was very slow. After 90 minutes it showed 3% progress so I left it
to
> run overnight. This morning I found it saying 50% complete and then a
message
> like there are one or more volumes that are un-repairable.
>
> Someone on this forum said that re-installation is not the answer. So my
> question is: What should I do next short or reformatting and/or
re-installing
> windows?
>
> Thank you in advance for any help.
>
> Costas
> (not an expert, not even in asking questions)

Many posters whose mothertongue is English should be proud if
they worded their posts as carefully as you worded yours. The
same applies to the technical content of your post.

About your question: I believe you need to determine if your
file system is intact. Here is an easy and safe way of doing it:

1. Boot your machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).

2. Run these commands:
ntfsdos.exe /L GHIK
c:
dir /s /p
You need to download ntfsdos.exe from www.sysinternals.com,
then copy it to your Win98 boot disk.

Can you see your files and and folders? Do they look reasonable?
You won't see long file names. Instead of "C:\Program Files", you
will see "C:\Progra~1". This is OK.

The next steps will depend on the outcome of this test. Do
you have another Win2000/XP PC that you could use to
assist in the repair process?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

If chkdsk could not repair the underlying file system issue then a format
would have to be performed to rebuild the file system. If you have issues
formatting then most likely its a physical problem with the drive(damaged
physically).

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

>
> "Constantinos" <Constantinos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:C462CD26-95F8-42D1-94B8-B30134B261FB@microsoft.com...
> > Please bear with me as English is not my mother language and my technical
> > knowledge and terms are limited.
> >
> > My 17 y.o. son owns an HP Compaq nx7010 laptop, Intel Pentium M 1.7GHZ,
> > 512MB RAM, 40GB HDD with WinXP Pro SP2 with all the security and antivirus
> > updates. A couple of days ago he uninstalled NOD antivirus and installed
> Bit
> > Defender antivirus. When he tried to restart he got the system32\hal.dll
> > missing or corrupt message as described in so many other posts in this
> forum.
> >
> > I read through all the relevant threads in this forum and the proposed
> > fixes. Most seem to assume that the Recovery Console recognises the
> installed
> > Windows and propose to choose "1: C:\windows" when prompted. In my case it
> is
> > not so. After booting from the CD and selecting "Repair" the Recovery
> Console
> > does not ask me to choose which installation to repair. I only get the c:>
> > prompt. The "dir" command is recognised, tries to run, but then gives a
> > message that it cannot run (I don't remember the exact wording). The
> commands
> > "windows", "win" and "winnt" do not work at all. So I think I cannot try
> most
> > of the solutions, like the one by Charlie White, mentioned here.
> >
> > Thought my best bet was to do what the damn machine was asking for, i.e.
> to
> > re-install a copy of the hal.dll file. I tried the "rename
> > c:\windows\system32\hal.dll halORG.dll" command (in order to follow that
> with
> > a "copy hal.dll c:\windows\system32" from the CD) and it tried to run but
> > then gave a message like it could not be executed.
> >
> > I then tried the John Barnett solution, obviously without the step of
> > selecting the relevant installation so it was no surprise that the
> > "bootcfg/list" was not recognised.
> >
> > Finally I tried the "chkdsk c: /r" command suggested by Ron Martell. The
> > process was very slow. After 90 minutes it showed 3% progress so I left it
> to
> > run overnight. This morning I found it saying 50% complete and then a
> message
> > like there are one or more volumes that are un-repairable.
> >
> > Someone on this forum said that re-installation is not the answer. So my
> > question is: What should I do next short or reformatting and/or
> re-installing
> > windows?
> >
> > Thank you in advance for any help.
> >
> > Costas
> > (not an expert, not even in asking questions)
>
> Many posters whose mothertongue is English should be proud if
> they worded their posts as carefully as you worded yours. The
> same applies to the technical content of your post.
>
> About your question: I believe you need to determine if your
> file system is intact. Here is an easy and safe way of doing it:
>
> 1. Boot your machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).
>
> 2. Run these commands:
> ntfsdos.exe /L GHIK
> c:
> dir /s /p
> You need to download ntfsdos.exe from www.sysinternals.com,
> then copy it to your Win98 boot disk.
>
> Can you see your files and and folders? Do they look reasonable?
> You won't see long file names. Instead of "C:\Program Files", you
> will see "C:\Progra~1". This is OK.
>
> The next steps will depend on the outcome of this test. Do
> you have another Win2000/XP PC that you could use to
> assist in the repair process?
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Pegasus,

Thank you for your reply.

The laptop does not have a floppy drive but it does boot from the CD drive.
Would copying the win98 boot file and ntfsdos.exe files to a CD do the trick?

If it does I want to be sure I have the right files. I followed the links in
your reply but there are a number of different versions available. Are
Windows 98 SE OEM and NTFSDOS v3.02 good enough?

I have a WinXP computer at work (the one I’m using now) and an external CD
writer (again at work) that I can borrow. Unfortunately it’s not possible to
bring the laptop to work in order to “work” on it here. It’s very
time-consuming having to do the office-home trip between posting/reading the
board and trying out the solutions but I’ll live with that.

Costas

"Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:

> Many posters whose mothertongue is English should be proud if
> they worded their posts as carefully as you worded yours. The
> same applies to the technical content of your post.
>
> About your question: I believe you need to determine if your
> file system is intact. Here is an easy and safe way of doing it:
>
> 1. Boot your machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).
>
> 2. Run these commands:
> ntfsdos.exe /L GHIK
> c:
> dir /s /p
> You need to download ntfsdos.exe from www.sysinternals.com,
> then copy it to your Win98 boot disk.
>
> Can you see your files and and folders? Do they look reasonable?
> You won't see long file names. Instead of "C:\Program Files", you
> will see "C:\Progra~1". This is OK.
>
> The next steps will depend on the outcome of this test. Do
> you have another Win2000/XP PC that you could use to
> assist in the repair process?
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

I suggest you do this:
- Download a boot disk file with CD drive support from www.bootdisk.com
- Create a boot diskette on a machine with a floppy disk drive.
- Test it.
- Insert it into a machine with a CD burner.
- Burn ntfsdos.exe onto the CD, and make sure to select
the option that turns the CD into a boot CD. If unsure, ask
a friend/colleague to show you how it's done.
- Test the boot CD. You're supposed to see a populated DOS
folder on drive A:, plus ntfsdos.exe on drive C:, D: or E:.
- Use it on your laptop.


"Constantinos" <Constantinos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B3B3EEDE-4191-467A-BC5F-B494256D5808@microsoft.com...
> Pegasus,
>
> Thank you for your reply.
>
> The laptop does not have a floppy drive but it does boot from the CD
drive.
> Would copying the win98 boot file and ntfsdos.exe files to a CD do the
trick?
>
> If it does I want to be sure I have the right files. I followed the links
in
> your reply but there are a number of different versions available. Are
> Windows 98 SE OEM and NTFSDOS v3.02 good enough?
>
> I have a WinXP computer at work (the one I'm using now) and an external CD
> writer (again at work) that I can borrow. Unfortunately it's not possible
to
> bring the laptop to work in order to "work" on it here. It's very
> time-consuming having to do the office-home trip between posting/reading
the
> board and trying out the solutions but I'll live with that.
>
> Costas
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" wrote:
>
> > Many posters whose mothertongue is English should be proud if
> > they worded their posts as carefully as you worded yours. The
> > same applies to the technical content of your post.
> >
> > About your question: I believe you need to determine if your
> > file system is intact. Here is an easy and safe way of doing it:
> >
> > 1. Boot your machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).
> >
> > 2. Run these commands:
> > ntfsdos.exe /L GHIK
> > c:
> > dir /s /p
> > You need to download ntfsdos.exe from www.sysinternals.com,
> > then copy it to your Win98 boot disk.
> >
> > Can you see your files and and folders? Do they look reasonable?
> > You won't see long file names. Instead of "C:\Program Files", you
> > will see "C:\Progra~1". This is OK.
> >
> > The next steps will depend on the outcome of this test. Do
> > you have another Win2000/XP PC that you could use to
> > assist in the repair process?
> >
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Thank you Pegasus, Ron and Rick for your help.

I have saved your advice in case I need it at a later date. You have tought
me a few things.

I found the HP CDs that came with the laptop and tried to run a diagnosis of
the hard drive. I had two options, one quick (two minutes) and one other (37
minutes) offered. I tried both and neither worked. In both cases I got a
message like it couldn't read the drive. So I guess I have no option now but
to return the laptop to the supplier and ask them to replace the hard drive.
I'll also ask them to hook up the damaged drive to a working computer as a
slave drive and see if I can salvage any of the files.

Costas

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

=?Utf-8?B?Q29uc3RhbnRpbm9z?= wrote:
>
> I'll also ask them to hook up the damaged drive to a working computer as a
> slave drive and see if I can salvage any of the files.

I dont believe they will pay attention to the above.







--
http://www.bootdisk.com/

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Plato,

Plato was one philosopher who was never a sceptic. I understand what you're
saying but living in a place as small as Cyprus, where everybody knows
everybody, has it's advantages. I spoke to them on the phone and they expect
me in person this afternoon to change the HD and do the "slave" proceedure in
my presence.

Costas

"Plato" wrote:

> =?Utf-8?B?Q29uc3RhbnRpbm9z?= wrote:
> >
> > I'll also ask them to hook up the damaged drive to a working computer as a
> > slave drive and see if I can salvage any of the files.
>
> I dont believe they will pay attention to the above.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> http://www.bootdisk.com/
>
>