Dead DELL - Can I use Sony Vaio CDs to Recover?

Hey All,
So here's the situation. I have a great DELL Inspiron that was given to me by a friend and it died. I ran diagnostics and it said files were corrupt (possibly the dlls). The thing is, my friend doesn't have the CD's anymore. I would love to revive this laptop cause it's awesome, but all I have are my Sony Vaio Recovery Discs and my EMachines from old computers. I also have Windows XP, but I don't know if that's good enough either. I would love some advice.

In the meantime, Santa brought me a MacBookPro and I simply cannot believe I don't need any anti-virus/adaware/spyware protection. I wonder if my need for help will decrease?

Thanks a bunch,
Stephanie

 

No, the Dell would need a Dell Recovery disc or an XP one. You should be able to run the sfc /SCANNOW command and revive the corrupted files using the XP disc as long as the .dll's are Windows files and not for an application.

 

Aw, crap! I just looked again and my Windows CD is 2000, not XP. How is it that I bought an EMachine and and Sony Vaio a few years back and did not get a Windows XP CD? Is it because it's on the recovery CDs?

So am I out of luck now? I had put in my Sony Vaio CDs out of desperation a few weeks ago and the Dell accepted them and warned me that I would lose all my files if we continue. Would I seriously kill my Dell (even more than it is) if I did this? How else could I get those CDs?

 

If it accepted the Sony disc before (which doesn't seem right) do this:
Insert the recovery disc, (if auto run starts up, just close it)
Go to Start>Run and type cmd and hit enter.
In the DOS command window, type sfc /SCANNOW and hit enter.
That will check your Windows files against the Windows files on the disc. If it finds corrupted or missing ones, it will repair or replace them. You will not lose any data or files this way. (If it will accept the disc again)

 

Well, I don't have a Start>Run ability since I have a black screen. but this time it didn't accept my CD. and it gave me this message:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOW\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM. Any new ideas? Also, during boot up, what can i press something to get it in safe mode?

 

Latest update: Took EMachines Windows XP system restore CDs. Gave me menu 1. Restore Windows XP or 2 Boot to command prompt from CD-ROM.

No matter which one I type (1 or 2) it just give me A:\> with a blinking cursor and no matter what i put in there, it says bad command or file name.

 

The best advice I can give is to get a re-installation disc from Dell. Here is how:
https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form

 

Well this is FANTASTIC! Thank you! I was on their site and didn't find this. Thanks again. P.S. If I get them, can Go to Start>Run and type cmd and hit enter.
In the DOS command window, type sfc /SCANNOW and hit enter. so I don't lose my files? and just to make sure - is there really a space between "sfc /SCANNOW"?

 

Sorry, I didn't see your post before my last one for some reason. (I think I was looking for the link and had to go back into my old posts)

If you see this post: it may be possible to use the EMachines disc.

Yes, there is a space and no you won't lose anything. It just puts the Windows files back into proper shape. It is not like re-installing your OS.
From the DOS prompt, type cd c:\
then you should see: C:\> then type sfc /SCANNOW

 

Got your post. Got very excited until I keep getting "invalid drive specification" when I typed cd c:\ . Just to make sure, the prompt I'm getting is A:\> and then a blinking cursor after that. This is the DOS prompt, yes? Anyway, like I said - it's not letting me type anything in there. Sigh.

 

Yes, you are at the right place and I just checked to make sure a small c:\ works instead of a capitol C:\ and it does.
You might try other letters: D:\, E:\, and so on, but I think it is just not going to work without a Dell or true XP disc.
I had a similar problem a few years ago, I had what I thought was the right recovery disc, but got the same error message. I never did get an answer on how to get the pc to recognize the drive letter I knew was correct.

 

Well, thank you for all of your time and help. I really do appreciate it and learn a lot - even if I don't get the outcome I want. Have a great night!

 

Thanks. It was no problem. That's what MG is all about learning and helping. Oh and using great smilies. (animated .gifs?)
http://bestsmileys.com/computer1/8.gif