Strange problem?

[Chr1sUK]

Just been at my mates to do what should have been a reasonably routine job...

A file had corrupted, windows would not boot, and the file needed to be replaced (HAL.DLL was the file).

Now usually, this is a case of getting a working version of the file, putting it on a floppy and then copying it over in the windows recovery console. The hard drive however, denied access to itself.

So, step two - put my own hard drive in as the master, and boot off that, copy the file over to the other hard drive....but it was rejecting my hard drive, which is strange cos I have done it loads of times....just went over in a continuous loop, and would not boot. Why would this happen?

On going back into recovery, i wanted to look at the list of files present on the dodgy hard disk -

And it said it was unable to enumerate the list...which is weird and I have never seen an error of that kind, and made me think the hard drive was shot....

Went to windows installation, and noticed that there was one megabyte in use..out of 50gb....not looking good..I brought it home, put it in my pc and its not even formatted.

This is the second time this has happened, last time the file was config.sys but I was able to replace that easily.

So...opinons? I think his hard disk might well be bust, especially since it's wiped itself for no reason......incidently, how can it just wipe itself?? Its showing up as being RAW formatted!

Next question is - why wouldn't the machine boot with my hard drive in? I checked in the bios, and it was recognised.... Like I say, I have not had this happen before.

All jumpers were correctly set and the correct cables were connected.

Ideas?

TIA

 

[satrow]

This isn't a ?Sasser? issue, is it? Isn't there some nasty from a few months ago that is supposed to be able to do something like this?

Andy.

 

[Chr1sUK]

Not likely, this pc has never been on the internet, and it's all got genuine software etc.

It's very strange!

Its a maxtor hard drive, not even a year old.

 

[satrow]

Download the Maxtor utilities and run a few tests; get back and let us know the result!

Andy.

 

[blutekhnd]

I would suggest going to Maxtors web site and downloading there diagnostic tool, to check the harddrive.

 

[Chr1sUK]

have you got a link please?

Which utilities would I need?

 

[satrow]

http://tinyurl.com/33u8y

Andy.

 

[Chr1sUK]

Thanks -

I have ran the tests, it got as far as scanning the drive, and then reported a Failure.

I have a diagnostic code and will contact Maxtor.

It's funny, it's nearly always Maxtor drives that I find to be faulty!!

 

[micker377]

I presume you checked/replaced the data cable?

 

[Chr1sUK]

Data cables are fine, I could browse through files at the command prompt in System Recovery no problem on my hard drive, just it wouldn't boot from it.

 

[VanDerHaagen]

I have come across the HAL.DLL file problem on a couple of occasions and found a simple fix on a really obscure site that has fixed it on both occasions.

The HAL.DLL file just needs it's attributes changing, uncheck the read only option and it will work fine.

No do not ask why this happens (ours is not to question why....just as long as the soddin thing works!)

Cant help with the hard disk glitch though, funny one for for sure, if i stumble across a clue i'll post it.

G,luck

 

[Chr1sUK]

Thanks.

It will be impossible for me to change the attributes of the HAL.DLL file, as I cannot access the drive at all.

I think I will recommend my friend to get a good hard drive from Seagate instead, much better IMO.

 

[VanDerHaagen]

Could you not put the drive into another machine as a secondary, and use that machine to boot up, access the drive and change the attributes??....Sorry, this from a geek who has 9 computers running in a room at a time!

 

[Chr1sUK]

Yeah, I often do that.

But the drive is reading as unformatted RAW format. It can't be accessed!

 

[VanDerHaagen]

Sorry Chr1s, I misread you, I thought it was your disk that had become corrupted not the original one.
You may be right at this stage, convince him to invest in a good hard drive, I would not write off the old one but just use it for storage.

Bear in mind the HAL.DLL tip for the future though, it do work!
G'luck

 

[Chr1sUK]

I will bear it in mind, thanks!

Yes, I have reccomended that he gets a Seagate!

 

[BadBigBen]

There is also the possibility that the MBR got fried...

Win98/ME - FDISK /MBR

W2k/WinXP - Fixmbr (I do believe under the recovery console)...

if not try a progy like "PC Inspector File Recovery" (I believe it's from Convar/Ontrack) to try to get atleast the Data down from it...

Ben

PS - I prefer Western Digital and Seagate, as my experience with Maxtor and IBM/Hitachi has been well let's say, very bad...

If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...