corrupted hard drive - missing hal.dll

[tpspoons]

hi.
in short, i was cleaning up my computer when it restarted and came up with the message

the disk is corrupted and unreadable

or something very similar. So then i run a chkdsk using the windows disk, then a new error came up stating

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.

I tried lots of things but it always said that the drive is corrupted/ unreadable. But i always had a spare partition, so i installed windows on that (which is working fine) but now im stuck. I realise that theres not much chance of me fixing the partition (d:\), but i was hoping there was a way of recovering some files. I read all over the internet for solutions, non of which worked...

Some stuff that might be useful:
under proporties it sais that d has 0 bytes used and 0 bytes free space - dont know if it means anything but what the ****...

also if i try to open d it sais

d is not accessable. The file or direcotry is corrupted and unreadable

if i try accessing it through cmd, it sais practically the same thing.

PLEASE HELP!


oh and btw i saw software out there that say they can recover files from/ even fix a corrupted partition. Do any of those actually work?
is there a free one out there? Or even is there a way i can do it myself?

thanks!

 

[Osiris]

How to Take Ownership of a File or Folder

Administrators have a lot of power on XP machines. One manifestation of that power is the ability to take ownership of files or folders on NTFS partitions that were created by other users. The owner of a file or folder can change its permissions, thus controlling who can and can't access it. Note that once you take ownership, though, you can't give it back without the other user knowing. Here's how to take ownership of an NTFS object in XP Pro:

1. Log on as Administrator.

2. First you need to turn off simple file sharing if it's on. To do that, click Start | My Computer. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, then the View tab. Go to Advanced Settings and clear the box that says Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended). Click OK.

3. Now navigate to the folder you want to own, and right click it. Select Properties from the context menu.

4. Click the Security tab, click the Advanced button, and click the Owner tab.

5. In the Name list under "Change owner to," click Administrators. If you also want to take over ownership of everything within a folder, check the box that says Replace owner on subcontainers and objects.

6. Click OK. Remember that this only works on files and folders stored on NTFS partitions. Objects stored on FAT partitions don't have owners or file level permissions. You can't turn off simple file sharing in XP Home edition, but you can take ownership by booting into XP in Safe Mode as Administrator, and then following steps 3 through 6.

 

[SkyHi]

What OS are you running?

 

[tpspoons]

hi.
(btw im running xp home)
thanks for the instructions! But im a bit slow on pcs, could you explain to me how taking ownership of a foldef/ file in my case? Should i take ownership of drive d (although the option isnt in the proporties menu)? Seriously my noledge of pcs is limited...

thanks!

 

[JohnnyX]

What were you "cleaning" Your pc with ?

 

[derrmc]

hi.
(btw im running xp home)
thanks for the instructions! But im a bit slow on pcs, could you explain to me how taking ownership of a foldef/ file in my case? Should i take ownership of drive d (although the option isnt in the proporties menu)? Seriously my noledge of pcs is limited...

thanks!

just boot to your xp, and do a repair

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm

 

[tpspoons]

johnny x: i was just deleting some old files i didnt need, and i did a virus scan, a defrag. Stuff like that.

I was looking at some old files, when i came across a movie file i didnt recognise, so i opened it, which is when my computer restarted. If it was a virus, then zonealarm anti-virus didnt recognise it.

derrmc:i tried that, but i wont let me repair that partition. As in when it first loads i dont have the option of using d, also when i try doing cd d:\ ect it sais the partition is corrupted and unreadable. Thanks for the idea tho.

 

[armyofswiss]

couldnt you just go into start and "run" and then type in the dll? cause thats what i ended up doing when my msn didnt work.

 

[tpspoons]

err msn isnt the problem....