Windows repair gone wrong... Computer won't boot.

[Nickthestick91]

Ok, here's what happened:

I put in my XP install disk and selected to repair my current windows installation. After it was done copying the files to the disk it said that it was going to reboot, and it did. But, when it rebooted, it started the Windows setup screen, the one you see when you do a fresh install of XP. So, scared that it was going to erase the partition and install a Fresh windows, I shut the computer off and removed the disk from the CD drive. Then, I turned the computer back on, and it did a loop of the Windows screen, and then a reboot for three times, but after the third reboot, the windows screen did not show and the only thing there was a blinking cursor. So, I put my XP CD back in, and was going to try the repair again, but now the partition that Windows is installed on is shoing up as "Unknown", or "Unrecognized", one of those. Now, I know it's formatted as NTFS, and still has all of my files and stuff on it, because in the Acronis TrueImage Workstation recovery partition, it's showing up as 35.8 gigs total, with 13.2 gigs free, which is what it was before this all happened.

Is there any chance of me getting it back, or will I have to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows, which is something I don't want to do.

PLEASE help me out. Thanks. :cry:

[peat moss]

Your fucked ! JK what happens in safe mode ? Or last known good config.?

[Nickthestick91]

^ I ran CHKDSK /r in recovery console, before that, I hadn't tried Safe Mode or LKGC. But now, after running chkdsk, and letting it fix the errors it found, when the computer boots, it says:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file."

After I saw that, I googled it, and got this site:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

So, I proceeded to try "Option 2" about halfway down the page, but when I started the recovery console, I got this message:

"The system registry does not appear to have an active ControlSet key.
The system registry may be damaged.

If your system is currently not starting correctly, you can try restarting it with the Last Known Good configuration or you can try repairing the installation of Windows using the setup program's repair and recovery options."

Even though I saw that, I still tried to expand the hal.dll file, but it wouldn't expand. After that didn't work, I tried to boot into safe mode and LKGC, but both of them give me the missing hal.dll message.

So, that is currently where I stand, not knowing wether the hal.dll error or the registry error is my problem, or both.

Help would be appreciated. :)

[Virtualbody1234]

Restart windows setup again. When it reboots after copying files, don't press any keys to boot the CD. Let the install proceed.

[Nickthestick91]

^ Starting windows setup would require me to format the partition that windows is on. After doing chkdsk, the XP CD recognized that it was NTFS, and showed the correct sizes, but it didn't recognize that Windows is installed on it, which means that I can't choose to repair it.. It shows up as "Partition1 [NTFS]".

[erRor67]

Fixing Windows is tough as shit exspecially when you cant even log in. I suggest to back up your important data and then do a clean install.

What you can do is download and run a live Linux cd (like ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/), suse (http://www.opensuse.org/)or mandrivia (http://www.mandriva.com/)) and use that OS to back up all your files on a CD or USB drive. Make sure to get a live disk so the linux OS runs off the ram and does not install itself.

There are also a shit load of utility CDs like The Ultimate Boot CD (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/) and Hiren's Boot CD (http://www.9down.com/story.php?sid=6598)


Hope that helps.

[Nickthestick91]

^ Yeah, I have UBCD, which hasn't done much for me. I'll try a Linux LiveCD, but I have a question. Since the computer I'll be using it on is a laptop, and only has one disk drive, which means I can't back up to a CD or DVD, can I instead back it up to a network drive?

Even though I'll be trying this out, I'd still appreciate any help which will get Windows back up and running without having to do a fresh install.

Thanks to everyone who has helped so far, and anyone else who will help later!

[Nickthestick91]

Ok, after some further googling, I found this page:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/pcrepair/a/missinghal_dll.htm

I'll try it out, even though it gives no mention of the registry thing. Hopefully it works.

EDIT: Well, it didn't work, and now I have the same message as before, but replace hal.dll with ntoskrnl.exe.

:cry:

[erRor67]

^ Yeah, I have UBCD, which hasn't done much for me. I'll try a Linux LiveCD, but I have a question. Since the computer I'll be using it on is a laptop, and only has one disk drive, which means I can't back up to a CD or DVD, can I instead back it up to a network drive?

Even though I'll be trying this out, I'd still appreciate any help which will get Windows back up and running without having to do a fresh install.

Thanks to everyone who has helped so far, and anyone else who will help later!
Network drives should work as long as you config linux properly. However, I suggest buying one of those USB thumb drives to backup your data (good for transporting your data too. Replaces floppy drives). They are pretty cheap nowadays and can store a lot of memory (from like 64megs to over 6 gigs).

[Nickthestick91]

I was getting fed up last night and just restored the partition with an image from Acronis TrueImage from like a month ago. It restored successfully, but when it boots, it flashes "MBR Error 3" and the quickly goes to the missing hal.dll message. Why the hell am I STILL getting the missing hal.dll message, AFTER I restored an image that had a perfectly good one when I backed it up..

I was playing around with the Ubuntu Live CD, and I must say, it was pretty cool. I followed a tutorial on how to transfer files from one computer to another, but after entering the command into Start > Run, it said that the network path didn't exist or something, but it did show it in "View Workgroup Computers", but when I clicked it I got the same message. I guess I'll go and buy a USB stick and just transfer files that way.

[erRor67]

I had a missing hal.dll issue last year. Dont remember how i fixed it though (recovery console i think).

But searching hal.dll gets a lot of hits on google. See if you can find any useful information on solving the issue..

As for the MBR issue, thats probably a boot loader issue. The recovery console on the XP install disk will fix it. Just enter the command "FIXMBR" (without the quotes) ;)

[Nickthestick91]

^ I think I'm just going to format the entire drive and reinstall Windows. I might even dual boot with Linux after using the LiveCD's. Thanks alot for all of the help.

[peat moss]

^ I think I'm just going to format the entire drive and reinstall Windows. I might even dual boot with Linux after using the LiveCD's. Thanks alot for all of the help.


Ah probably for the best sorry we could n't help , sounds like you know what your doing tho . Good luck and keep us posted . :)

[Nickthestick91]

^ Yup, I just reformatted about an hour ago. I installed all my drivers and security programs so far. Right now, it's installing the updates from Windows Update... all 58 of them. http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eek.gif It's gonna take like an hour and a half. Next I'll install all of the other programs that I use, and then I'll make an unattended install disk with all of these updates slipstreamed. Anyone know a good tutorial on how to do that?

[peat moss]

Should be one on our forum under guides .

Here : http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=71&page=1&pp=25&sort=lastpost&order=desc&daysprune=365

[erRor67]

^ Yup, I just reformatted about an hour ago. I installed all my drivers and security programs so far. Right now, it's installing the updates from Windows Update... all 58 of them. http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eek.gif It's gonna take like an hour and a half. Next I'll install all of the other programs that I use, and then I'll make an unattended install disk with all of these updates slipstreamed. Anyone know a good tutorial on how to do that?
For tutorials on unattended shit, check this: http://unattended.msfn.org/

Also, i recommend getting a free program called nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/)(just came out final recently).

nLite is a great tool for creating unattended XP installation CDs. Very easy to do (theres a guide on the site if you get stuck). You can remove programs you dont want from the disk. Even set your own settings so you have to config less after installation.

As for slipstreaming, nlite does this too but I do it manually. SP2 can be slipstreamed by using the -s switch. Post SP2 updates can be slipstreamed using Ryanvm's updater (http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/).

[Nickthestick91]

^ Thanks for the links. :)