How do format a HD that prevents booting????

[LoKi_chaos]

Hello!

I have a major problem:

I have a sick PC, which has lots of data/software on it which I really prefer not to lose. The PC gives "missing/corrupt hal.dll" messages on boot and will no longer actually 'do' anything.

Spec:
P4 2.3Mhz Intel
WinXP Pro (missing install disks and no recovery disks)
CD-ROM, CD-RW, Floppy
Seagate 80Gb HD

I have another PC (thank heavens), and I have tried hooking up the 'sick' HD to it as a slave, but then during booting (at the point where you get the Win2000 bootscreen) it jumps to the infamous 'blue screen of death'....

Spec 2nd PC:
P3 600Mhz Intel
Win2000
CD-ROM, Floppy
Seagate 20Gb HD

Now what I would really like is:

To retrieve ALL my data/software from my 'sick' HD and continue using WinXP Pro.

What I'm willing to settle for is:

Losing ALL my data from 'sick' HD and starting all over again with Win2000 on it.

I DO NOT have a any WinXP CD ROMs
I DO have a Win200 install CD
I CAN download stuff and burn CDs if necessary

Can anyone please help me?

 

[X-Humed]

First thing I'd do is get the seatools drive diagnostics (there's a link for it in the drive diagnostics sticky thread at the top of this forum) and verify whether the drive has any physical faults or not.

if it diagnoses as faulty, then bin it. chances are you won't be able to get your data off.
If it passes the testing, (and i'm going to assume you had the jumper configuration set correctly when you put it into the win2k box) then you could try putting it in either box (as master, on it's own), booting from the win2k cd and deleting the partition(s) and then recreating them to install win2k on and see how that goes. of course this will lose all the data, but if you can't get it to work in a machine as a slave, it's unlikely you're going to be getting this back anyway.

 

[Didou]

Search Feature is your friend.

• How to: Repair Windows XP/2000 if you are unable to boot into Windows.

 

[LoKi_chaos]

Okay, thanks again for all your posts - I gave everything a try.

Here's where I am now:

I installed MS DOS, and used fdisk to delete a partition (I was flying blind at this point)... with my HD hooked up to my CD ROM as a slave.
I installed Win2000 without a hitch and was ready to take a look to see if I had managed to retain any data.
I restarted my system to watch Win2000 start for the first time when during the bootscreen BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!!!

***STOP: 0X0000007B (xX818984D0,0xC000014F,0x00000000,0x00000000) INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

I've tried allsorts to get it working, even hooking my HD back up to the old cable (not as a slave to CD ROM) and then my PC didn't even recognise it anymore!

So in summary:

Win2000 installed but crashes on startup
HD hooked up as slave to CD ROM
HD will not work on original cable

Help!?

 

[LoKi_chaos]

Anyway, I have Win200 up and running, and all my data from one of my partitions (the most important one!) is still there!

Next problem though: I tried updating and installing the latest driver for my Graphics Card (Nvidia GeForce MX 400), using the forceware WinXP/2000 drivers from the Nvidia site. The reason being my display is now in VGA mode - 800x600 16 colour max.

After installing the new driver, I am prompted to restert, I oblige and and repayed with a blank (ie black) screen after the win2000 bootscreen (and also, weirdly - a monitor that no longer responds to it's power switch until the pc is switched off)...

Restarting in safe mode works ok, but I really want my shiny graphics back!

Help!?