My sister's PC has received the following error: Windows root\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt. As such, I cannot access Windows. Plus, the system32 folder is gone.

I've been advised to perform a System Recovery or purchase a Windows XP CD and repair it.

I want to back-up the My Documents folder to a USB before doing anything. How can I do this using Ultimate Boot Disk? FYI, I can't find my hard drive directory (C: Drive) using UBCD FreeDOS.

Computer Info
Model: HP Pavillion
OS: Windowa XP Media Center 2005
Processor: Athlon 64 3400+ 2.2 GHz
Additional Info: LINK

Run your HDD manufactures drive check from UBCD.

After it repairs/fixes the problem continue to recover the files by:

1. Plug in a UFD (USB Flash Drive) or External HDD into computer and boot from CD.
3. Boot into Parted Magic.
4. Mount the HDD Drive (Drive Mount) and UFD or External HDD.
5. Copy file(s)/folder(s) to the mounted UFD or External HDD.
6. Unmount Drives and shutdown.

Now that you have everything backup, can proceed with a repair installation following these instructions. This will require you get an HP XP install disc. Call their customer service line and request one. May be cheaper than buying an XP disc outright. It's very unlikely you will lose any personal data but as a precaution its always best to be backed up. You will have to reinstall service packs/updates after you finish with the Repair Installation.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/usin ... oug92.mspx

_________________
~Just StopSpazzing~

Visit the UBCD Wiki: http://wiki.ultimatebootcd.com
Please check your UBCD ISO MD5 Hash Sum; May prevent issues later on by not having an exact copy.

Currently Working on Common Issues and Repair Tips on the Wiki.

I was able to "Mount" the Hard Drive and USB Flash Drive using Drive Mount. However, the File Manage could not view or recognize the USB Drive.

What should I do to get the file manager to recognize the USB to transfer the files? Or is there another way to copy files from the hard drive to USB Flash Drive?

Does the file system format of the USB matter (i.e. FAT32, NTFS)?

FYI, upon starting Parted Magic, I chose option 1 (Default setting (Runs from RAM)).

How exactly you have "mounted" the USB Flash Drive (UFD)?

I mean, if you can mount it in PartedMagic, the File Manager of PartedMagic should be able to see the UFD. That's why I am confused by those opposing sentences. Can you describe what exactly you did?


If you connect the UFD to a "direct" USB connection (usually and generally speaking, the ones at the back of the computer, not the ones at the front), and you have your computer powered off (not restart, not hibernate or nothing similar, but completely power off), then wait a couple of minutes (not just 2 seconds) and then boot with your UBCD -> PartedMagic optical media, then usually PartedMagic can recognize the UFD.

Once recognized, the UFD can be mounted and using the File Manager...


Well, it could matter. Try answering the first question about how you exactly proceeded to successfully mount the UFD and we'll see other issues then.

If you have more than about 300MiB of RAM, then that's fine.

Here's exactly what I did:
Inserted Flash Drive (front of PC)>> Turn PC on >> Ran Parted Magic >> Clicked "Mount Devices" icon on the Desktop >> "Mount - gtk" Window appears >> Clicked "Mount" on Two Drives 1) Model ATA ST3200822AS (8 GiB, vfat) /media/sda1 2) Model ATA ST3200822AW (178.3 GiB, ntfs) /media/sda2

I thought I mounted the USB Flash Drive through "Mount Devices" icon on Desktop. However, I was really mounting the Recovery Partition of my hard drive (normally D:\).

I thought it was the USB since the size was 8 GB. Just turns out that the Recovery Partition and the Flash Drive had the same size. I didn't see any USB's in the File Manager's media folder or Hardware Information.

Not sure what to do next. Maybe I made an obvious mistake. If so, hopefully the steps I gave above will show it and someone can point it out.


I shut down the computer for about 10 min. I placed the 8 GB, FAT32 USB flash drive in the back of the computer, repeated the process, and nothing changed. I tried a 1 GB, FAT16 USB Flash drive, repeated the process, and nothing changed. Parted Magic still couldn't recognize the USB drives.

Doubt it would fix the problem, as I have not has any problems while testing several different types of UFD's but could also try the latest version of Parted Magic. http://partedmagic.com/doku.php?id=downloads


With the USB Flash Drives plugged in, could you open a terminal and type and list what is displays? (May be asking too much)

_________________
~Just StopSpazzing~

Visit the UBCD Wiki: http://wiki.ultimatebootcd.com
Please check your UBCD ISO MD5 Hash Sum; May prevent issues later on by not having an exact copy.

Currently Working on Common Issues and Repair Tips on the Wiki.

@rave_phantom

You said it. USB front ports are usually NOT the best for this type of tasks.

But you said that you tried also a USB port at the back. This is also "tricky". Not EVERY USB port at the back is directly connected to the motherboard. You may try changing to other ports (at the back).

For your tests, try disconnecting any other USB devices (printers, other UFD, webcams...).

In addition, try NOT using USB hubs or similar connections.

You could also try setting your USB to a lower standard (USB 1.1 for example), and changing to IDE modes (instead of AHCI/RAID).

Is the BIOS detecting your USB storage devices?

If you have a simple USB Flash Memory (not a HDD connected by USB) that you already know is working under Windows, try testing with it the USB port under PartedMagic. If PartedMagic can detect and mount it, then at least you would know that the specific USB port is working and is detected. After that, you could proceed with your USB HDD or whatever you want to connect using that same specific USB port.

You can also try to boot to Parted Magic first. When Parted Magic is fully booted, insert your USB stick.
Then run the following command:

It should show some USB related messages, if your USB stick is recognized.

_________________
Download Ultimate Boot CD v5.0: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html
Use Parted Magic for handling all partitioning task: http://partedmagic.com/

I installed the latest version of Parted Magic (5.10) and everything worked great. That was an excellent suggestion.

The new version of Parted Magic recognized the USB drive (when I inserted it in the back of the computer). I used the USB flash drive to back up all my important files. Then, I used the System Restore to take Windows back to the way it originally was.

Thanks guys!

Glad to hear it!

I will also note that the Alpha build as Parted Magic v5.5 so for anyone else having this problem trying using the Alpha build.

_________________
~Just StopSpazzing~

Visit the UBCD Wiki: http://wiki.ultimatebootcd.com
Please check your UBCD ISO MD5 Hash Sum; May prevent issues later on by not having an exact copy.

Currently Working on Common Issues and Repair Tips on the Wiki.