Winlogon & Shell32.dll Error at Bootup

[muthabored]

I haven't turned on my PC in a approximately a month but when I did a few days ago it seemed to take forever just to get to the XP splash screen, at which point I receive the following error:

Winlogon.exe - unable to locate component
This application failed to start because shell32.dll was not found. Re-instsalling the application may fix this problem

When I select okay, eventually the following error appears:

User Interface Failure
The logon user interface dll msgina.dll failed to load
contact your system administrator to replace the dll, or restore the original dll

I'm unable to boot into Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Command prompt, Last Known Good Config doesn't work. I decided to try the Recovery Console and doing the following:

ren winlogon.exe winlogon.old
ren msgina.dll msgina.old
ren shell32.dll shell32.old

cd ..\servicepackfiles\i386
copy msgina.dll c:\windows\system32
copy shell32.dll c:\windows\system32
copy winlogon.exe c:\windows\system32

At this point I'm unable to copy shell32.dll into the system32 directory (I'm told that the file cannot be copied but the other two I can copy).

Of course I'd like to avoid having to reinstall Windows XP.
Is there something that anyone else would like to recommend?

 

[Enkrypted]

You could always try to hook that drive up as a slave to another drive and copy the file that way. Not sure if that will work or not...but it wouldn't hurt to try.

Enkrypted
A+

 

[linney]

What reason, if any, does it give for not being able to copy shell32.dll?

Try to undo what you have done via renaming files and then try running ChkDsk /r from the Recovery Console. If that doesn't get you going try the next piece.

An easy to follow recovery console description when unable to start computer due to corrupt registry.

http://www.digitalwebcast.com/2002/03_mar/tutorials/cw_boot_toot.htm

This is a layman's version of Q307545 in simple language.

 

[muthabored]

linney: unfortunately, it didn't give a reason why shell32.dll couldn't be copied. :-(
I ran chkdsk /r but it only got to 50% and said that the volume contained one or more unrecoverable something or another (the PC is at home now). I suspect that the hard drive (a horrible Maxtor) may be bad so I plan to download a diag for it and see what's what.

 

[linney]

Sounds like your drive may have a chunk of it missing literally and physically.

How old is the drive? You may have some comeback via any warranty? See how the manufacturer's diagnostic programs perform.

If you need to try some data recovery links here are some for you.

Data recovery.

PC Inspector (free)

http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm

http://www.restorer2000.com

http://www.runtime.org/hints.htm

Plenty of other recovery software listed here.

http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Disk_Management/Error_Checking_and_Repair/