attempting to recover from virus ( hal.dll ?)

[Mokmo418]

Through a corrupt file, my neighbour caught a few viruses, trojans, the whole shebang.
She wasn't running the anti-virus routine i had installed for her.

She did, however, run all windows updates. So now her computer is XP SP3.

This is how it all went down:
-She was not able to start windows in normal mode one morning, so she used safe mode.
-She was not able to revert to a "last know good configuration" either when in windows or before loading it.
-Then we put in the XP original CD, ran scandisk /r , from then it would not load at all, not being to find hal.dll
-i have attempted a few things to fix the boot.ini, with fixboot and a few other commands.
-expanding the file from the cd did not work
-Any other instruction in KB314477 on Microsoft's website were done and did nothing

the same error about hal.dll being missing shows up

So... help?


Getting anything on a floppy to then put in that computer is a little hassle as the closest other computer with a floppy is a block away. I do not believe that usb boot works on that motherboard. Putting the old drive into an enclosure is also not an option as i do not have mine available for a few weeks and she is not spending any money for this.

Just help me guys or this will probably have to go into love & relationships.

 

[law9933]

My thought is if SM or the disk will not work, time to post in relationships, good luck.

 

[Mokmo418]

i can move around the disk with the recovery console using the usual DOS commands. it's still alive

 

[AnnonUSA]

get a copy of the Hal.dll file from another system and put it on the dead system.

 

[krnmastersgt]

When you get a real, serious virus, there is no real hope for the system since it's usually impossible to find out how much it corrupted, when you have a serious infection it usually means it's time to reformat it.

 

[Mokmo418]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
When you get a real, serious virus, there is no real hope for the system since it's usually impossible to find out how much it corrupted, when you have a serious infection it usually means it's time to reformat it.

I have come to this very conclusion. I will attempt using a live linux cd to backup stuff she absolutely must keep (and hope that whatever virus she had will be caught by the next install), then i'll do a clean install.

 

[GaryJohnson]

Have you tried using the XP disk to do a 'repair' on the XP installation?

(it's a couple screens past the "recovery console" option)

 

[Mokmo418]

She has begun backing up her stuff and there is a LOT of corrupted files. She lost a lot of stuff but nothing of extreme importance (best time to fail: start of semester).
the XP disk does not offer the automatic repair option in the installer, probably because a newer service pack is on there.

 

[GaryJohnson]

I've repaired a SP2 install with a no-SP disk before. You have to re-apply the service packs and any other updates after the repair, but it still gives you the option.

My next thought, then, would be to just re-install windows without re-formatting.