Computer Dead

[Aither]

Ok, so about three weeks ago my computer started acting really slow. My hard drive started sounding weird and everything was going wrong. Finally my computer shutdown and it took about 30 minutes for it to start up. It was still acting slow and then this past friday i finally shut it down. I tried startin it up again and now it says that it can not find system32.hal dll file or something like that and it will not boot. I believe its spyware or something but i have no idea what to do.


Thread moved from Software For Windows to Computer Help.

AnandTech Moderator
mechBgon

 

[rogue1979]

Well, hopefully you already backed up any data you needed.

Just reload/restore windows and see if it works. If it doesn't, I would suspect the hard drive needs to be replaced.

 

[Aither]

I have no idea if ive backed any up. But i cant even get to the windows loading screen. I tried changing boot priortity and loaded a disc but that did not do anything.

 

[kh4130]

When you tried "loading a dic" what did that include? Was that the OS reinstall disc? Were you not able to boot to disc or were you able to do a Reapir install on XP?

 

[rogue1979]

If your Windows is completed mucked up, you need to boot to an operating system CD, reformat and reload Windows.

All of the existing files/programs/photos/music will be erased.
You will have to load device drivers after your operating system is installed.
Then install your personal software or third party programs that you want to use.

If Windows loads, your hard drive is fine. If not, then you have a hardware problem which may or may not include the hdd.

 

[Aither]

I tried the xp upgrade disc and the xp installation disc i used even when i built my computer but neither of them did anything. just sat at the black screen with all my stats with the blinking cursor forever.

 

[Quiksilver]

Sounds like your hard drive just went or motherboard. Of course diagnosing this would be a bit easier knowing system spec's.

 

[Aither]

My specs are a asus a8n-e motherboard. 1 gig of ddr ram. 120 gig seagate hdd. nvidia 6800gs. umm thats about the bare bones of it.

 

[techmanc]

Might need to install another hard drive and see if you can install windows. I wouldn't overwrite your drive unless you have absolutely nothing on it you want.

 

[RebateMonger]

Offhand, it sounds like a failing hard drive. Remove the hard drive and attach it to another PC, either using a USB adapter cable or an external drive housing. Copy any important files to the other PC.

Now you can safely test the hard drive using the drive maker's diagnostics program. Do a thorough test and see what it reports. If your data is important, do the transfer before doing the disk test.

Once it's determined if the drive is any good, we can go from there for the next step.

 

[Spivonious]

Sounds like a dead or soon-to-be-dead hard drive. Especially since it started making weird noises when the problems started.