Bootmgr and hal.dll problem

Hello everyone. I hope you can help me with a solution with this. I have searched the internet for hours with no luck.

Here is what happened:

I think I got a virus on my laptop, which is running vista 32 bit Home premium. I had McAfee Antivirus software preinstalled with it but currently not up to date. I decided to try AVG antivirus and when I tried installing AVG, it stated that I must delete the other antivirus software. I did the uninstall and rebooted...This is where the big problem starts...

When it reboot, I got the "bootmgr ctrl+alt+del" problem. I looked online for a solution and used the bootdisk to repair disk. At first, My operating system did not show, but i clicked the "next" button anyways. It did its thing and I reboot. It didnt work so I tried it again. The second time, the OS showed, it was highlighted, and I clicked next. It did its thing and I reboot. I have also tried the Command Prompt method and it says its successful, but it doesnt work.

I tried this several times, and finally the "bootmgr" problem does not show anymore. However, there is a new problem...I have a problem with hal.dll not being there is corrupt. I have tried using recovery again, but it seems not to work. It shows a window stating "Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically." So at the moment, Im not sure if I actually fixed the "bootmgr" problem. I have searched for fixes to the hal.dll problem but most information I got was for XP.

So I am stuck and have no idea what to do. I really do not want to reinstall Vista because I don't want to lose any data.

Anyone have any ideas on how to tackle this?
Is there anyway to get hal.dll installed or reinstalled on my laptop manually?
Is there any way to transfer my data out through USB to an external HD using command prompt?


Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dan

I have also tried to restore windows to an earlier point in time, but I did not create a restore point.

Do any of you think this will work?

take my laptop hard drive (vista 32bit) and install it on my desktop (xp) as a slave. Then transfer files from the laptop hd to the desktop hd. Then put laptop hd back into laptop and reinstall vista.

Any ideas if this would work and/or is safe?

Thanks.

Try to follow the following steps for escaping through this error:

1.Try to open the case and remove the data and power cable from IDE drive and reboot your PC onto the Vista DVD.

2. You will find an option Repair so select that option in order to fix your current errors which was making unable for windows to boot in the default manner.

3.Thus by performing this, it finds the generated error and will ask you to boot your machine.

4. Again boot on the Vista DVD and select Repair option and go as per the previous performed steps.

5. It will again repair and ask you to reboot the system.

6. But this time try to make it boot into the system.

7. As you reach to your main screen, Eject the Vista DVD and again reboot PC for performing test whether what you performed is successfully implemented or no?

8. As per my knowledge Vista will boot properly from the installed Hard drive, Turn off the PC and connect the IDE cable and power to 2nd drive.

9. Boot up your machine.

10. Try to Reboot to test for the proper startup without errors messages.

Thanks for the suggestion Devasis.

But I have a few questions just to be sure.

1. You want me to remove my HD from the laptop then reboot?

2. You want me to use Repair option twice from the Vista DVD, and then on the third boot...I should boot normally? What do you mean by "boot into the system?" Don't I need my HD installed?

I am somewhat confused as to what you are asking me to do and in what order to do it in.

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dmisc

Do any of you think this will work?

take my laptop hard drive (vista 32bit) and install it on my desktop (xp) as a slave. Then transfer files from the laptop hd to the desktop hd. Then put laptop hd back into laptop and reinstall vista.

Any ideas if this would work and/or is safe?

Thanks.

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Anyone else have any suggestions??

I don’t know how prevalent the problem is of Vista displaying the error message “BOOTMGR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart”, but I wish I’d seen this fix from Cybernet a few weeks ago. The way I temporarily solved the problem was to boot my machine with the Vista DVD inserted EVERY TIME. I decided this was a bad idea as my DVD drive is temperamental and prone to chewing up discs, so I ended up doing a full rebuild as I didn’t want to risk my Vista Disk.

To fix the problem the sensible way, do the following:

1. Pick your language and continue onto the next screen.
2. Choose the option in the bottom left corner entitled Repair Your Computer:
BOOTMGR Repair
3. Choose the Windows installation you want to repair.
4. Choose the Startup Repair option and the problem

Thanks for the suggestion. But I have tried that with no luck at all.

I was getting really frustrated with this problem....there was no solution. I couldnt not get my laptop to boot up. I could not find a way to manually fix hal.dll on the laptop. I have tried repairing with the Vista DVD so many times and each time it has failed.

So I went to Fry's and picked up an SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter. I took my HD out of my laptop, connected it to the adapter, and connected that into my wifes laptop. I transfered all of my files. I put my HD back into my laptop, and I am now in the process of reinstalling Vista.

As long as my data is safe, I am no longer stressing.

Thanks for the suggestions and your time for trying to help out.

Much appreciated.