58 replies to this topic

[Atribune]

Which brand of PC is it and What model number? You may be able to do a non-destructive repair from the hard drive, it really depends on the manufacturers setup though.

[az0028]

SONY Vaio VGN-FS33B

[Atribune]

While booting try pressing F10 this should give you some options to make recovery disks. I'm not sure what all the options are as I do not have a Vaio and haven't worked on one. If you are sure which option to choose type them out here and I'm sure Doug, Ken or myself can point you in the right direction.

[az0028]

F10 did wonders.Thank you!!! I'm FINALLY in the recovery console. I'm now proceeding with Doug's intruction (Post #23) What should I do next? - Erina

[Atribune]

As I said in post 24 I don't believe that using recovery console will get you back into windows. When you pressed F10 was there an option to do a non-destructive repair or recovery? Edit: this is my last post in this thread tongiht ( it's 2 am here)

Edited by Atribune, 10 May 2008 - 12:52 AM.

[az0028]

There's no such option Um.. what should I do next? Will be waiting for your next instruction. Thank you SOOOO much for you time and patience I hope I don't have to do the Clean install thing I see your name back here again You've been a great help already. Please go to bed

Edited by az0028, 10 May 2008 - 01:01 AM.

[Atribune]

Which options are there?

[az0028]

You meant the option at the recovery console, right? Will get back to you later in the morning (my time.. probably night your time).. I don't mind staying all night, but this is my friend's computer and she needs to use it too Anyway, thanks for the constant check.. See you in a few hours.

Edited by az0028, 10 May 2008 - 10:19 AM.

[az0028]

Hi What do you think caused my computer to behave like this and what can I do to fix it? Will I be able to get the content of my computer back? Please don't give up on me -Erina

[ken545]

Erina, You need to boot to the Recovery Console pressing the F10 key and choose the opton to Repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console by pressing R and then enter. This may take awhile. Just follow Dougs instructions. This should leave all your data intact. Hopefully this will get you going, I have read the your posts both here and in the windows forum and it seems you have some issues on this system also not related to malware. We doubt very much that Vundofix caused you issues. If by doing a system repair does not fix it then we feel that this may be related to your hard drive. It may need to be replaced. You had some malware on this system before and have some again, not always but sometimes these infections leave behind some damage. How old is your system? Is it still under warranty?? We are leaning towards the assumption that the problems with this system are with some malware that has been removed and also possibly a hardware issue. Try the recovery console fix and lets see what it does

[az0028]

Hi Ken

My computer is a little bit over 2 years old. I'm not sure if the warrant is still valid.

Anyway.. I tried this ↓↓

2. When you reach the command prompt (detailed above), type the following and then press Enter:

expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll <-- notice the required space after the word "expand" and also between "_" and "c"

Using the expand command as shown above, d represents the drive letter assigned to the optical drive that your Windows XP CD is currently in. While this is most often d, your system could assign a different letter. Also, c:\windows represents the drive and folder that Windows XP is currently installed on. Again, this is most often the case but your system could be different.

But it just said that 「The system cannot find the file or directory specified」


*Sigh*
This is so hopeless.. nothing seems to be working for me.
-Erina

[ken545]

Your trying to replace hal.dll, follow the options for doing a System Repair

[az0028]

I'm assuming that this is the one you meant ↓↓

2. Then, type the following (in bold), in order:
• You will probably see something like the following:
"Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)"
• Type Yes (or all) and press Enter
• When asked to " Enter Load Identifier," type Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or Microsoft
Windows XP Professional Edition depending on which edition you have and press Enter
• When asked "Enter OS Load options," type /fastdetect and press Enter
• When it is done, type exit
• Your computer will restart

Mine looks like this
Total Identified Windows Installs: 2
[1]Add Installation to boot list?<Yes/No/All> : All
Enter Load Identifier: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Enter OS Load Option: /fastdetect

[2] C:\WINDOWS
Enter Load Identifier: <<---- Do I repeat the same this as I did in [1] ?

Edited by az0028, 10 May 2008 - 09:36 PM.

[Doug]

Hi az0028,

You have received some excellent assistance and good recommendations from a variety of folks.
However, I wouldn't be surprised if you feel a bit overwhelmed at this point.

I'd also like to compliment you on your multi-lingual abilities.
Having a Japanese version operating system should not present any insurmountable obstacles in performing the repair.
It's just always amazing to me when I work with someone who can experience an entire additional world beyond the English language world that we share in our work here. Again, my compliments to you.

As to eventually switching to an English version of MS Windows, that should also work just fine.
For instance, my Son recently spent a year in Thailand where he became fluent in Thai. He had his English laptop with him but was able to purchase a keyboard with the Thai language characters and script. He still uses that keyboard even now when he corresponds with his friends in Thailand from his home here in California. Same should work for you.

Now about the Windows operating system repair that you face...

The repair steps that I recommended earlier in posts #15 and #16, as well as the Repair Installation that has been suggested, are all "supposed to" work without damaging your important saved files, documents, tunes, media, etc.
Still, it is important to consider securing your important files before proceeding, since it is "possible" to encounter difficulties.

You may wonder at my suggestion, since you've told us that you can't even get your machine to boot into Windows.
So how the heck could you save your data? A couple of ways exist:

• Removing your hard drive and attaching it to a second machine for purpose of retrieving data.
• Use of a Linux or BartPE CD to boot outside of windows to retrieve and save your data.
• Both of these options are relatively "labor intensive" but can be accomplished if you have stuff you just can't do without.
• Let us know so we can assist as necessary, or you may decide to have someone else locally perform those steps for you.

If you decide to proceed without backing-up saving your files, it will "most likely" be just fine. But consider it carefully.

The steps that I offered earlier, are "less intrusive" than a Repair Installation.
They do work in many instances, but some cases do require a Repair Installation.

*** Things to keep in mind:
You mention that you tried --expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll
But you found that "The system cannot find the file or directory specified"

OK.... think about the file paths
C:\ is where your Windows and applications reside
D:\ is your laptop's back-up partition
Therefore your Optical Drive (cd/dvd ROM or writer) will be E:\
therefore you may need to change the instruction to fit your machine.
By that I mean that you would "expand from E:\" if you have inserted an XP installation CD into your Optical drive
It would therefore look like the following: expand E:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll

Consider the following sequence

• Repeat the instructions that I offered in Post #15
• Repeat the instructions that I offered in Post #16 (if #15 doesn't help) - (type it as E:\ for your CD drive)
• Consider moving on to a Repair installation if the above two don't help.

The link that you were offered to Michael Stevens page on Windows XP Repair Install is a great site, with competent information.
There are plenty of other such sites. (I personally use the routine Provided by Fred Langa.
http://www.informati...cleID=189400897
Another that I particularly like was written by our own Administrator (Blair).
http://www.geekstogo...ws-XP-t138.html
I like it because his step-by-step instructions are clear --- and he uses screen-shot pictures

Bottom Line... If you are going to perform a Repair Installation, consult Blair's (admin's) tutorial.

Don't hesitate to ask questions as they come up.
And please ask Ken if he thinks you should take this work back over to your Windows Thread where you were working with Paws. We can all look in and contribute there if needed.

After you get your operating system booting properly again, I would certainly recommend that you make another visit back here with Ken to assure that you got rid of all the malware bad-guys.

Best Regards.

[az0028]

Hi Doug

Aww Shucks..
Thank you for the compliment. You're really sweet.
I do realized that my situation is using up a lot of resources. If I had more knowledge on computer, things might have run smoother.
I really do appriciate all the help I'm getting. You guys are indeed one of a kind and I'm very lucky to have found this site.

Anyway, I've decided to run ahead with your procedure in Post#16, as I'm not sure where or how I'm going to find a person who could help me with all the 'labor intensive' work.

I changed from C: ⇒ E:
BUT it said 「Unable to create file hal.dll. 0 file<s> expanded」

Will try Repair Installation next.
I will keep you posted.
- Erina

PS. Ken, do you think I should move to my old thread at hardware?

Edited by az0028, 11 May 2008 - 05:09 AM.