Won't boot: "load needed dlls for kernel" error

[Herring]

HP Pavilion a300n
2.6 GHz Intel Celeron
256 MB RAM
40 GB UDMA HD
Onboard sound and video
Windows XP Home edition

A friend brought over his machine that will not boot anymore. I don't have a XP Home CD and he can't find the HP one that came with the computer.

I've tried running the Recovery console from a XP Pro CD, when it gives me a choice of which installation to log onto I get
1 - H:\MiniNT
2 - H:\I386

Neither of these is the installation I want as the installation is on the C: drive. I entered 2 anyway and then could at least go looking around the drives. When I do a directory of H:\I386 it tells me the volume is HP_RECOVERY and lists all the files.

When changing directory to c:\I386\ from the command. Doing a DIR of that folder shows me that almost every .dll file (and other extensions) are renamed .dl_ or .sy_ .ex_ there are a lot of files (5157 actually) but other than autochk.exe and a couple of files all end in _

Any ideas as to where to go from here?

[Herring]

Just went to the root of C: and TYPE boot.ini

[boot loader]
timeout=0
default=multi(0)disk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

[operating system]
multi(0)disk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition"
/fastdetect
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT=Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons

Does this help?

[Herring]

Ok. So it looks like this HP was delivered without a CD, hence the HP_recovery partition. So I've tried the F10 key at the HP splash screen and it doesn't do anything, I still get to the
"Windows could not start because of an error in the software.
Please report this problem as :
load needed dlls for kernel.
Please contact your support person to report this problem"

By hitting the F8 key I can get to the recovery console, but it doesn't seem to be doing me much good as of yet.

I tried bootcfg /scan and it came up with an error, so I performed a chkdsk /r to see what happened, no errors seemed to appear. I have now just rerun the bootcfg /scan command and I get the error again. "Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This may be caused by a corrupt file system which would prevent Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any errors."

[SuperSparks]

Navigate to the I386 folder again, and find the file "Winnt.exe". Double click that and Setup will run and you should be ablke to do an over-the-top install of WinXP. Boot up with the XP CD in the drive and let Setup run. Go past the "C" and "R" repair options by presssing Enter just as if you're doing a clean install and you'll eventually get an option to "Repair an existing installation". That's the one you want. If it asks about formatting you've gone wrong, so start over.

You'll get to keep your existing apps & settings, but you need to re-install SP2, Windows Updates & any unsigned drivers afterwards. NOTE: Be aware that you'll lose any protection from Blaster / Sasser type worms. Don't go online without a firewall, whether the built in Windows one or 3rd party.

How to perform a re-install of WinXP

Repair XP

[Herring]

Thanks for your response SuperSparks. The problem is that we don't have the XP home edition CD, it appears this model of HP has it stored in it's own partition.
I can boot into the recovery console, but any command that is not on the list described in HELP is not recognized; so I can't go to the HP_recovery partition and type autochk.exe or any other command without them being unrecognized.
I can't get anywhere by using the F10 key at the HP startup, but the files are all there. I'm was thinking of using a Win98 bootup disk and then going to the HP_recovery partition, as it seems to be FAT32, so I booted with the 98 bootdisk and it recognizes the partition, but all the files are hidden so it makes it awkward to navigate.
So right now I'm stuck at the hitting the F8 key, selecting "Return to OS choices" and then selecting Recovery console and then d:\I386, D: being the HP folder (which was H: previously when I booted from the XP Pro CD).
I have to get ready to go to work soon so any additional ideas will be gladly looked at in about 10 hours or so.
If I had an XP home edition CD I would try the restore from it, using the serial number that is printed on the side of the computer, but I don't want to use the XP Pro cd, as that would cause an issue. Besides, the setup files are all on the D: drive.

[SuperSparks]

Yeah, you're right, sorry about that. It's a feature of the RC that it will only work on the syatem drive. It is possible to change that behaviour, but you need to boot into Windows to do it

However, all is not lost - if the partition is FAT32 and you can access it from DOS, then you can do whjat I described above. Navigate to the I386 folder, and then at the D:\I386 prompt type winnt.exe.

[Herring]

Another little hiccup here. When I boot with the 98 startup floppy, it recognizes the FAT32 partition labeled HP_RECOVERY but it won't recognize the NTFS partition where XP is installed. So when I go to [HP_RECOVERY]:\I386 and type Winnt.exe it first gives me a message saying I should load Smart drive, then if I click to continue it starts copying files to [HP_RECOVERY] and then stops, now I have a bunch of extra files extracted to the [HP_RECOVERY] partition.
In the root of [HP_RECOVERY] is an autorun.inf file so I tried typing "autorun" but it just told me there was no CD...
I can see all the files and directories are there, ie preload, win51, hp... for the setup but can't get it to go.
There is a file called winbom.ini which from what I read seems to be something to do with the manufacturers PE distribution, but can't see how to do anything with it.

Edit: I'm using [HP_RECOVERY] instead of a drive letter, as it has been H: , D: and C: depending how I boot. It is the FAT32 partition with all setup files.

[SuperSparks]

So are you saying, that when you run Winnt.exe, Setup doesn't run, but it extracts some files instead? Or are you saying that Setup does run and starts copying files?

[Herring]

Sorry for not responding sooner. I had written a fairly lengthy response to you but I guess something happened and it never made it here. Anyway, here's a summary.
I ran winnt.exe and setup did run, though it was "copying files" for 4 hours or so and I had to go to work. I came back 10 hours later and there was an error message so had to reboot again. So I said to myself, what the heck I'll try starting setup from my XP Pro CD and did so. I started the process, did yet another CHKDSK and I was prompted to reboot. On rebooting I kept tapping the F10 key and this time had the option to repair the installation. So it went ok from there.
After numerous Windows and HP updates (and reboots) I got it up to SP2. I then uninstalled the long expired Norton AV, ran Housecall (clean system other than a couple of rogue cookies), downloaded and installed AVG and CCleaner ran them and then defragged and he now has a good working computer.
I should stress that I am one of the lucky people in the area who has a DSL connection so it was lot faster for me to upgrade to SP2 than it would have been for him on dial-up. This is apparently when things went wrong, updates were "in the middle of doing something" and he shut down the computer.
I'm still puzzled as to why the F10 key wouldn't respond before, I'd already run chkdsk 2 or 3 times from the recovery console before I tried the XP Pro CD. But it works now so that's that.

[SuperSparks]

I'm glad you got it sorted out in the end, thanks for posting back and letting us know

That copying files for 4 hours or so is rather worrisome though, it should only take 5 minutes or thereabouts. You might want to download the hard drive maker's diagnostic utility and check out the drive.

[Herring]

The thought had crossed my mind but the computer is now back at its home and I never opened the case so didn't even find out what brand of HD is in there. Thanks again SuperSparks.