major problem with my laptop


deb turned it on but on the windows start up it says that the <windows boot>system32/hall.dll file is either corrupt or missing

reinstall this file


i can take the file off this PC i'm using but how do i get to install the file on the laptop when i cannot access safe mode or DOS????


is it terminal? can you help?

 

mark, John has very limited access to a pc at the mo. Might be worth giving him a bell.

 

If you still have the windows disc it will allow you to repair an installation as one of the options.

Try looking here

 

"have ya tried turning it off and on again"

 

the laptop never came with the windows cd

 

Did it come with a driver disc or something? can you borrow someones disc?

 

its a dell one and no it never came with any cds

 

You can download the file from that site I mentioned it should extract and install itself.

 

Mark_B4 helped me with my pc problems

 

no its just a readme file and the dll file

 

i think there are serious issues with the harddrive as i have managed to get to DOS

and when i type in c:\ Dir

it says there is problems numerating the directory

 

If there are files on the HD that you need to keep then i suggest you HALT there.

One option i have used in the past is to physically remove the HD and give it to someone who can recover possibly what is still there without actually using it to boot into an OS.

I have the facility where I have a caddy system on my PC and can 'hot swap' HDs. I 'may' be able to recover the HD and data for you. No promises until it is looked at though.

If it is terminal, then you have already possibly lost your data.

Let me know if you want me to look at the HD.

 

i am doing a chkdsk on the c drive now

i would like to save the info if possible, its quite important, all of the rb5 and rb320 club info, members databases etc etc

i guess i have pushed my luck too far as i kept meaning to do a full backup

 

chkdsk found one or moreerrors on the volume


f'in great

 

the dll may be the tip of the iceburg, trying to recover the data would be a good start as Tissy suggests. Hard drives are cheap, if you can recover the data then bin it and get a new one.

If you can't recover then get hold of a windows disc and repair if possible.

 

my advice would be to open the back door
and sling the thing as far up the garden as you can
go to the kitchen
open the fridge
pour yourself a beer
and bo11ok5 to the laptop
see how it likes the snow thats forecast

budgie

 

microsoft knowledgebase has some interesting stuff

 

Sometimes the more you try and fix a drive, the worse it can get. When CHKDSK is run it can replace sectors etc and so the problem snowballs.

Recovery what you can first, then mess around and try and fix it. If you can't, hopefully you still have the data available from what you can backup.

As Milamber says, a new 2.5" 60GB harddrive is about £50 (thats if the laptop is out of warranty). They are normally sturdy devices, thats what i have used in the Carpc.

RB5 286, let me kow if you want me to try and do a recovery.

 

I've also got my XP disc from dell that you could use to re-install and validate using your original CD key if required

 

that should do the trick.

I have one knocking around somewhere too........ you'll need your cd key though

 

who's closer to me (ilford @ work) or thurrock (home) and i'll borrow your CD please

i'm going to try and get a lead that i can use to connect the harddrive to the PC and try to recover what i can

does any1 know what lead/leads i need to to this, I'm assuming that the power lead connector will be smaller

 

is this what i need to do what i just said above?

IDE to 2.5 Laptop IDE Cable

 

mark, the best thing is a drive caddy (usb bus powered)
makes your 2.5" into a pertable usb device.

that way you can copy the data off.

you will loose installed applications though and possibly application-encrypted data.

dazza

PS: I dont have one, else i'd pop it over.

 

Mark, just remove it and plug it in as a slave on your desktop. Save yourself some cash.

Seriously though, unless I am missing something get hold of a windows disc before you start removing things.

I'm in chelmsford BTW.

 

thats what i was going to do, plug it to my pc but the laptop hardrive doesnt take the desktop connections does it?

 

I have the USB drive caddy. If not they are reasonably cheap from LinITX.com - USB2.0/FireWire 2.5" Hard Drive Enclosure They are more than twice the price in Maplin.

The benefit of these over the IDE method is that they are hot swapable without the need to remove the cover off your desktop and set the drive up as a slave etc. Very easy to use.

Again, in my experience if you run the Windows Recovery system BEFORE you backup your drive, there is every chance you will loose a lot more data. MS has a habit of buggering things up with the recovery software. Generally it over writes the operating system, so BACKUP first.

 

yes i want to remove what i can before i go down any XP windows repair.

I was going to install XP on the partition drive of the laptop but it wouldnt work

Might be a good time for me to buy Vista and install that

 

thanks for every1's advice by the way ESC RULES!!!!

 

Sorry mark....ive got no internet at home at the moment...bt problem

if you need to have it fixed give me a call on 0781 6226764.

John