[mphenterprises]

Okay, going back to the error message....what other software or hardware changes did you make just prior to all of this happening?

[Mauigreen77]

I installed a video game "Halo" . The fisrt time the error actualy popped up was when I was in the middle of playing the game. Since then it has not been working right. I cant uninstall the game because I can only boot up in safe mode. When ever I go to control panel and double click add or remove programs I get this error: Windows cannot find 'C:WINDOWSsystem32rundll32.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.

[mphenterprises]

I had a feeling you were going to say that. My gut was telling me that if you were okay to boot in safe mode, some type of DLL file would be missing or corrupted. Unless something else pops up, I think you may have to start looking for the original Operating System CD from a store.Maui, you still have not answer one of our original questions...do you have the COA sticker on the bottom of your laptop?

[Mauigreen77]

yes I do

[mphenterprises]

Okay, well, according to RGreen's thorough investigation, you will need to get a full version Windows XP Home edition CD in order to use the Product Key number on your COA. The only thing is that CD will obviously come with its own Product Key.You're in a bit of conundrum. If you could boot in normal mode, I would advise you to try System Restore. Unfortunately System Restore does not work in Safe Mode. In order to use the Product Key you have now, you need a full version of the original Operating System...which will have its own Product Key anyway.RGreen, do you see any other avenue?

[rgreen4]

Maui - let me jump back in here. You're kind of between a rock and a hard place. In your situation you have a hard drive that is functional, has all your drivers and won't boot. You have a new hard drive with no O/S, so it won't boot. To fix this right I think you have two avenues. A do it yourself route that will cost around $270 as follows:A full retail copy of Win XP Home $195A 2.5" external drive enclosure ~ $20AcronisTrue Image 10 $40Plus shipping.You make note of the wireless, video, audio, and other devices while you can get to the Device Manager on your old drive. You then insert the new drive back into the machine and install XP Home. At the same time you install the old drive in the external enclosure (I'm assuming it is an IDE drive). Then after XP home is installed on the new drive, you go into the device manager and one by one update the drivers by pointing XP to the old drive which is now connected to a USB port.After you get the new drive fully installed and operating you can use Acronis to clone the new drive onto the old drive which is in the enclosure. Acronis works via USB, I just did a clone on my laptop in this manner this afternoon. Ghost wouldn't do it.However, if you have a good computer repair shop. They may be able to restore the system on the old drive with their tools. If they can, then I would still buy the external enclosure and Acronis. If your original drive is A and the new drive is B, and clone A (which has been restored) onto drive B which is clean.By keeping a clonned drive, you can swap drives when you have a problem. If A later again gives you a BSOD, put B into the machine, bring it current on updates and clone it back onto drive A. (that gave you the trouble). Never fall into the trap of running off of B without cloning it onto A and using it now as your backup. Remember, you don't have restore disks.The repair shop may be your best option, they can probably restore that one small file (its on 33KB).

[Mauigreen77]

Is windows XP home the same as Windows XP media center edition? If it is, I still have a XP OS disc from my HP notebook. Will this work?

[AuroraDizon]

it depends some discs that come with specific computers only work on those types of computers. Windows XP Home and Windows XP Mediacenter are in all technicalities (I say that because I see little difference lol) different operating system versions. If may work, but theres the product lisence keys and all that. They let you use it x amount of times, I dunno if they let you use it on other computers or not.I haven't read the entire thread, but have you considered using Ubuntu? Its free.

[mphenterprises]

Mauigreen, unfortunately, as RGreen pointed out earlier, the Product Key you have is exclusively for Windows XP Home Edition. The only Operating System you can get to use that specific key is Windows XP Home Edition.IF you have the full version of Windows XP Media Center with its own product key, then this entire thread is moot. :-) Install that Operating System and use that specific Product Key and you should be fine....or, as Aurora pointed out, you can go with Linux...which is free.

[rgreen4]

Okay - since you have a second machine that gives us another option. You cannot install the XP Home from the HP Laptop onto the Dell Laptop, you still have the device driver as well as the COA problem.Boot the Dell laptop into the safe mode from the original HD. Using Windows Explorer, look into the System 32 directory and see if you can find rundll.exe. The patch is C:WindowsSystem32rundll.exe.Post back what the size and date of the file is, if it is there.

[Mauigreen77]

Im in safe mode but not sure how to find the file exactly. I ran a search of rundll.exe. and nothing was found. Am I doing this correct?

[smax013]

[quote name='Mauigreen77']Im in safe mode but not sure how to find the file exactly. I ran a search of rundll.exe. and nothing was found. Am I doing this correct?Not to throw a damper on all the excellent help that has been provided so far, but have you tried to see if there is a hidden partition that you can boot to that will allow you to restore the computer to "out of box" condition. I know that Dell no longer does restore disks for their desktops (or at least they did not when I bought my last Dell), but rather creates a hidden restore partitiion that will return the computer to just like it was when it first came out of the box. My assumption is that they might do the same for their laptops.If so, then the only issue is the files that you have on the hard drive would get wiped when you restored it. So, unless you have a backup (you do have a backup, don't you? <grin>), you would want to some how mount the drive and get the files off before you restore if you can.FYI, doing a search on Dell's site for "restore" and "pp14l" resulted in a manual for an Inspiron 9300 with the following instructions for accessing the Dell restore:To use PC Restore:1 Turn on the computer.During the boot process, a blue bar with www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.2 Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press <Ctrl><F11>.If you do not press <Ctrl><F11> in time, let the computer finish starting, and then restartthe computer again.NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in the following step.3 On the next screen that appears, click Restore.4 On the next screen, click Confirm.The restore process takes approximately 610 minutes to complete.5 When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the computer completelyreboot.6 When prompted, click Yes.The computer restarts. Because the computer is restored to its original operating state, thescreens that appear, such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones thatappeared the first time the computer was turned on.7 Click Next.The System Restore screen appears and the computer restarts.8 After the computer restarts, click OK.You might try that with the original hard drive installed and see if it will work.

[Mauigreen77]

Thanks smax013, Im going to try that right now. I post back asap. Hope it works.

[Mauigreen77]

Damn, I think this model notebook does not do that (the blue bar with the www.dell.com) I didnt see it when it was booting up. I know it was bought in 2005. I also have a Dell Inspiron 9400 that I bought last year and it has the blue bar with the www.dell.com when it starts up. Well it was worth a try and I learned something new today. Didn't know you restored computers like that now days. Thanks for trying to help.

[smax013]

[quote name='Mauigreen77']Damn, I think this model notebook does not do that (the blue bar with the www.dell.com) I didnt see it when it was booting up. I know it was bought in 2005. I also have a Dell Inspiron 9400 that I bought last year and it has the blue bar with the www.dell.com when it starts up. Well it was worth a try and I learned something new today. Didn't know you restored computers like that now days. Thanks for trying to help.It is still possible that such a method might work but just requires a different method to start it...just like getting into the BIOS on different computers can be different. You might try searching a little more throught the Dell site or even chatting with Dell support and see if they can tell you how to access the hidden restore partition...assuming that you have one.It looks like I might have looked at the wrong manual. I found a XPS Gen 2 manual with the part number you listed. From looking at its manual, it seems that maybe there is not a restore partition, but it appears that there is a diagnostic partition...if so, then maybe it will help or maybe there actually is a restore partition. So try this:Start the Dell Diagnostics from your hard drive. The Dell Diagnostics is located on a hiddendiagnostic utility partition on your hard drive.NOTE: If your computer cannot display a screen image, see "Contacting Dell" on page 113.1 Shut down the computer.2 If the computer is connected to a docking device (docked), undock it. See the documentation that came with your docking device for instructions.3 Connect the computer to an electrical outlet.4 Turn on the computer. When the DELL logo appears, press <F12> immediately.If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Microsoft Windows desktop. Then shut down your computer (see "Turning Off Your Computer" on page 83) and try again.5 When the boot device list appears, highlight Diagnostics and press <Enter>.The computer runs the Pre-boot System Assessment, a series of initial tests of your system board, keyboard, hard drive, and display. During the assessment, answer any questions that appear. If a failure is detected, the computer stops and beeps. To stop the assessment and restart the computer, press <n>; to continue to the next test, press <y>; to retest thecomponent that failed, press <r>.60 Solving Problemswww. d e l l . c o m | s u p p o r t . d e l l . c o m If failures are detected during the Pre-boot System Assessment, write down the errorcode(s) and contact Dell before continuing on to the Dell Diagnostics. See "ContactingDell" on page 113.If the Pre-boot System Assessment completes successfully, you receive the message Booting Dell Diagnostic Utility Partition. Press any key to continue.6 Press any key to start the Dell Diagnostics from the diagnostics utility partition on your hard drive.The manual is here:[url]http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/insXPSG2/en/om/G80112LRs.pdf_Take a look under "Solving Problems" then "Dell Diagnostics" in the table of contents/index of the PDF.HTH

[Mauigreen77]

Ok, I ran the Dell diagnostics and it started going through all the tests. Then at the end of the test a message popped up that says:"No Diagnostic Utility Partition found. To run diagnostics, insert your Dell "Drivers and Utilities" CD, then select OK to restart the system and boot off the CD. OK or Cancel" So I obviously need the drivers for this to work correctly right? And because I cannot get them from Dell or anyone else, I need to buy an alternate Operating System (Microsoft Windows Media Center) and switch back to the new Hard Drive again and install the new OS right? What are the "Drivers and Utilities" exactly that are mentioned in the message?

[smax013]

[quote name='Mauigreen77']Ok, I ran the Dell diagnostics and it started going through all the tests. Then at the end of the test a message popped up that says:> > > > "No Diagnostic Utility Partition found. To run diagnostics, insert your Dell "Drivers and Utilities" CD, then select OK to restart the system and boot off the CD. OK or Cancel" > > > > So I obviously need the drivers for this to work correctly right? And because I cannot get them from Dell or anyone else, I need to buy an alternate Operating System (Microsoft Windows Media Center) and switch back to the new Hard Drive again and install the new OS right? What are the "Drivers and Utilities" exactly that are mentioned in the message?Well, it looks like the partition option is a dead end. And since it seems you cannot get the original Dell disks or install disks, it appears that you are stuck with getting a new license for the OS.

[Mauigreen77]

Here's an interesting thing that just happened. When the message prompted me to put the "Driver and Utilities" disc from Dell into the computer, I decided to try a recovery disc from my HP notebook and put it into the Dell notebook. Cant believe it. It worked!!! Problem solved!!! Everything is back to normal. When I was back up and running a message popped up that said "a serious error has been fixed" and asked me to send to Microsoft. lol. Weird huh? So now that I have a spare brand new Hard Drive, what should I do with it? Should I still buy the Windows Media Center and install that onto that Hard Drive? Just in case something happens again? Or does someone have a better idea? Thanks a lot for the help everyone.

[rgreen4]

Maui, I have been following the recent activity, but you seemed to be in good hands. You are wondering what to do with the spare hard drive, I would take the opportunity to purchase Acronis True Image 10 and a 2.5" drive enclosure, and clone the hard drive.You have gone though a great deal, and have learned a lot. I congratulate you, but to protect the boot drive you should make a copy. Once again, XP Media Center is only available as an OEM product and properly sold only if you purchase the components to assemble a PC. Also, the major difference between XP Home and XP Media Center is the ability to record and replay TV.Glad it worked out.

[smax013]

[quote name='Mauigreen77']Here's an interesting thing that just happened. When the message prompted me to put the "Driver and Utilities" disc from Dell into the computer, I decided to try a recovery disc from my HP notebook and put it into the Dell notebook. Cant believe it. It worked!!! Problem solved!!! Everything is back to normal. When I was back up and running a message popped up that said "a serious error has been fixed" and asked me to send to Microsoft. lol. Weird huh? So now that I have a spare brand new Hard Drive, what should I do with it? Should I still buy the Windows Media Center and install that onto that Hard Drive? Just in case something happens again? Or does someone have a better idea? Thanks a lot for the help everyone.You were thinking about smashing the computer with a sledge hammer when everything finally worked out, weren't you?!? :D See...computers can sense their future demise in a grizzly manner and then they start to behave!! :wink:As to the new hard drive, I would strongly second rgeen4's advice about an external drive enclosure and cloning the drive. That way if this problem or some other problem pops up again, then you can just swap drives since don't seem to have the original restore or install disks.Glad things worked out!