lap top troubles! help ! long post!

[duaneb9729]

I have a HP/Compaq NX 7400 loaded with windows Xp, when i go to boot up the computer i get this error message.

\system32\hal.dll missing

So i tried the system restore disks go through the instructions get to the screen that asks me if i want to install a new copy of Windows Xp? or do a repair.

I picked repair, and get an error message saying that there is no system hard drive, install or plug it in etc etc.

So i restarted the computer went to the bios set up screen and tested the hard drive, and it says there are no problems!

I went on line to hp's online help and after repeating all the above tests they told me to bring it in and they could repair it.

Great! So i asked repair what? what is broken, smiles he didn't know either!

Its not under warranty and for how cheap lap tops are i would hate to spend a ton of money on it.

And of course i am a moron and have some pictures on the hard drive that i don't have any where else!

Any help would be greatly appreciated !

 

[Quest]

If it manages to go as far as reporting that the hal.dll missing, you bet your hard drive should be ok and you shall be able to re-install XP on it and life goes on.

Good luck.

Q.

p.s. Doesn't have any excuse for blaming on hardware being too "cheeP" for all the good reasons in life, laptop computers are really "that cheep" and HP has the nerve to overcharge people for the same quality like, Dell (I know someone will dis me on this part but hey! In the world of IT, no 2 guys can be in agreement for the most part)

 

[duaneb9729]

Quest thank you for your response

when i try to reinstall windows i get the "no hard drive detected" message, the same message i get when i tried the restore.

so i am at a loss as to how to go forward, i have some trouble handing it off to the hp authorized repair center just to be charged for saying yes Duane your right it wont work smiles.

 

[OVERKILL]

How old is the laptop? If the drive is SATA, you can pull it, put it in a desktop and run chkdsk on it, which will fix it.

If it's PATA, you need an adaptor but the same can be done.

If you are feeling sassy, you can download a boot CD like the UBCD, run NTFS for DOS, and run chkdsk on the drive that way.

 

[duaneb9729]

its two and half years old, and yes i am feeling sassy !

can i down load UBCD from cnet?

 

[OVERKILL]

Just google Ultimate Boot CD.

I would try the system swap first if the drive is SATA though. Way quicker.

 

[duaneb9729]

Thank you so very much for your help!

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: duaneb9729
Thank you so very much for your help!


No problem!