Recovery Console not recognizing C drive/ HAL.DLL error

Okay, so I promised I'd fix a friend's teenage daughter's computer that was filled with viruses and crap.
I did the usual scanning and everything and i seemed to get rid of mostly everything.

But then everything went wrong. my girlfriend mentions that the screen resolution looks strange so I went to fix it,
and i got a "Windows-No Disk" error and the wallpaper went black.

This happened as I was updating from her XP Home Service pack 2 to SP3 with the automatic updates.

It finishes. I restart and i get a "Windows can't boot because of a HAL.DLL error".

Can't get in safe mode or do a system restore or last good config or anything.
I just get that error.
I go to Recovery Console and my only choices are
D:/i386 and D:/miniNT

why is there no C:? or C:/Windows anywhere?

It says for both D:/i386 and D:/miniNT that there are no boot enteries available.

I ran chkdsk/r and chkdsk/p on both choices available.
Chkdsk /f wouldn't work?

7. I think the XP on this computer came pre-installed and I've tried lots of pirated repair or recovery cd's but everytime I click Setup 'Windows', there is never the option to Repair the windows files. Just to clean install.

I've tried 'Expand D:/i386/hal.dl_C:/windows/system32/hal.dll'

but..there is no C:/windows so it doesn't work.

Bootcfg/rebuild gets a FAIL error.

i know there are two partitions. One with 67 of like 88,000 MB free and one REALLY small one.
so i know like..it's all still there.

It just won't boot.

I just don't get it.

 

Looks like you have somehow unhidden the hidden recovery partition, forcing the Windows partition to become D:

You could try to rehide the small recovery partition, that may allow you to boot normally?

Oh, yes - welome to Majorgeeks

 

heh. and how exactly do i go about doing that?

 

Hmm, I think you need to find and edit the boot.ini file, it will probably look like

If you can find it, you can add lines to it that will show as options when you try to boot

If I've remembered this correctly, you should now have 2 options at boot up, the first being the bad loader, the second 'may' be good

 

well when i type Bootcfg /list on D:/i386 or D:/miniNT, it says that there are no boot entries available.

So I'm not sure how i could do that.

 

So you're using the XP CD Recovery Console and getting 'no Windows installation found' or similar?

What do you get when you boot from the XP CD Recovery Console and use 'bootcfg /add'?

 

Hey there just noted your post in passing.:wave

Hope you havent corrupted (if its a name brand) the repair partition of this unit.

Many p.c's name brands generally may have a hiddent partition. this is usually accessed at start up by presssing F11 or similar F key there are probably other various rebuild partition keys depending on the maker.

If you haven't then there should be an option for a rebuild leaving files in tact and a destructive restore which pretty much kills evrything and brings the system back to new..

Other wise you may as well just backup whats critical and start fresh you may spend days trying to fix it and still have todo the same thing....weigh up the pros's and cons. Of course remember to scan any data prior to restoring or reinstalling on the unit again.

Check the bios for an option for different os format to load other than ntfs sorry I forget what it was. I came across this once sometime ago now. With a Packard Bell. Had to change something in the bios to allow the Hidden restore partition to be recognised..after i found this the repair was so much sweeter. I originally wondered why the 40gb hdd only detected as 35 odd gb thats what got me hunting for the rest of the space the owner wasnt aware of it....

G.luck

 

well when i try Bootcfg /add for D:/i386 and D:/miniNT,
I get the same "Failed "to successfully scan...corrupt file sytem etc." message.

and this is a Compaq Presario and i have not corrupted it, because if you press F11, it goes to PC Recovery, but the only options are Destructive Recovery and System Restore.

and System Restore doesn't work because the HAL.DLL message pops up before it can start. and DEstructive Recovery isn't an option.

is there anyway to get it to recognize my C: drive?

 

Ok, so bootcfg is only looking into your CD/DVD. Can you do a dir on the C: to see what files are there, how much free space there is?

The F11 options may be in the BIOS and pointing at where the the recovery/restore options should be on the HDD not what is currently visible on there.

I think you need to remove your drive and connect it to a working PC, if you can access what was the C: drive, BACK IT UP , if not, please tell us whether Disk Management can see the drive.

 

Yes what satrow said in his previous post, if its an option, ensure the HDD has its jumper set for slave if its an older IDE Harddrive (HDD). You dont want to let it even try to boot from this drive just incase there is "crap" on it that may contaminate the good master drive. It may pay to make a system restore on the good unit before attaching the secondary hard drive.

See if you can also try a windows repair install by using the XP disc (if xp). When you set up for installation, it should hopefully detect "a previous, another, there is already version of windows is already installed" and prompt you to either write over the exisitng windows files or clean install, forget which options it pops up, but see if you can use the repair windows - install windows option, although quite often units that have an option for a recovery partition dont have the CD...gosh.

When the HDD is installed on a second machine, again what satrow said, backup everything required first, dont forget the registry just incase. Before you do anything to the drive update the anti-malware software and check it for nasties, then copy the data off the problematic drive. See if you can locate the driver files on the problematic drive, if available, just to save time / bandwidth.

Of course you could say damn it..could be a good lesson for the user not to download anything just because its free or highlights when the cursor is over it and do a fresh install. Could be days before a fix happens and we all know how ansi teenagers get without a p.c nowdays. On the plus side the machine will be like new...

G.luck
:wave
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Sometimes a valuable lesson at an early age can prevent a lifetime of suffering:cry

 

I'm having the same problem as per my recovery console not recognizing my C:\ Drive


And when I attempt to do a repair install, It shows the C drive, but lists it as Unknown... When I attempt to continue with the repair on the drive it only gives me options for reformatting.

 

@XanderBlue,

Hi, you need to create a new thread for your problem; please ensure it has full hardware specifications, make/model of PC/laptop and operating system + service pack level and the steps you have already taken to try to solve your problem. Also tell us if you changed or installed anything immediately prior to the boot failure.

Thanks.

 

I was trying to get back my startup desk top,I lost it a week ago.I have used system restore to get it back.Today I couldn't get it,it said I have a corrupt c disk...how can I fix a corrupt C disk???? help....PLEASE...Fastjanow OH! the startup I do get is the one that came with the pc....Vista..home my email isn't there,my addresses nada.....