Guys,

I'm writing to all of you in the hopes that someone can help my daughter, whose Compaq Presario, running Windows XP Home Edition, crashed today. The following is a verabtim transcript of a conversation her fiance (Aaron) had with a Microsoft tech (Peter).

The problem is that, for the moment, Jodi (my daughter) cannot find her operating system disk. So, my question is twofold: 1) Does anyone know of a "workaround" that could possibly restore the system (without wiping the drive clean and starting from scratch -- God forbid!) without using the disk? Or, failing this, 2) Does anyone have a Compaq Presario Windows XP Home Edition operating disk that he/she could possibly make available to us, assuming that having it might actually solve the problem?

Thank you ahead of time for any and all suggestions.

Don

>Peter

>Welcome to HP Total care for Compaq products.

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>My name is Peter. How may I assist you today?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>we are having problems with a compaq presario 6000. We came home after leaving the computer on and this message was on the screen, "Windows could not start because of an error in the softwar. Please report problem as: load needed DLLs for kernel. Please contat your support person to report this problem

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>Aaron Salsberg

>I have since tried to restart, doesn't work

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>Peter

>Aaron, Did this problem start after the installation of any specific software or applications? ..... Or when any changes were made to the system?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>No, absolutely nothing was done to the computer

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>Aaron Salsberg

>we weren't even here!

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>Peter

>What version of Windows (ie, 98, Me or XP) do you use?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>XP

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>Aaron Salsberg

>but it won't load at all

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>Peter

>What happens when you start the system now ?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>the same thing, the same message comes up

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>Aaron Salsberg

>I tried to get in through F10 but we got another error message

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>Peter

>Are you able to get into safe mode ?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>no, I tried loading safe mode command prompt only as your website instructed, and it gave me a different error message, then repeated the same message as before

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Also tried 'last known good configuration' but it just took me back to the same opening screen error

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>Aaron Salsberg

>I can give you the different error messages if that's any help

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>Peter

>Thanks for explaining. If you could give me the some more error messages, it will be helpful for me.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Ok

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>Peter

>Thanks.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>From hitting F10 at the startup screen, it read: "File\minit\system32\biosinfo.inf could not be loaded. The errror code is 57344. Setup cannot continue. Press any key to exit.

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>Peter

>Thanks for the details, Aaron.

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>Peter

>May I have few moments to look into the issue ?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Then why I tried to run from safe mode, it read: multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS\system 32\ntoskinl.exe

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>Aaron Salsberg

>then three other lines the same except after system32\hal.dll

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>Aaron Salsberg

>then \KDCOM.DLL

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>Aaron Salsberg

>\BOOTVID.dll

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>Aaron Salsberg

>sure

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>Aaron Salsberg

>I'm around!

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>Peter

>Thanks for staying with me, Aaron .

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Thanks for the help!

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>Peter

>This issue seems to be because of the corrupted files of the Operating system. Since you are not able to enter into Safe mode , the option that is left with us is to perform full restore.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>What does that mean?

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>Peter

>Do you have the Recovery CD with you ?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Possibly, I'll have to look. Do you have any idea what could have caused this? And do we lose any files/data by doing a full restore?

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>Peter

>Aaron, please confirm me whether you created the Recovery CD using the Recovery CD creator that came with your system.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>I don't know -- I don't think we created anything when we first got the system

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>Peter

>Sorry to hear that.

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>Peter

>Since the full restore will erase the hard disk, I suggest you back up the data of your hard disk.

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>Peter

>You can contact the service center for taking the back up of your hard disk.

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>Peter

>Please do stay, I am checking for your Warranty status.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>One moment -- a new message came up this time

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>Peter

>Ok.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>It says: "Windows coudl nto start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\system32\l_intl.nls. You can attempt to repair this file b y starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM. Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair

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>Peter

>Thanks for the details, Aaron. But it can be done with the help of the Operating System CD. Do you have the Operating system CD with you ?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>I think so -- I have the Windows XP Home Edition that came with the computer

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>Aaron Salsberg

>is that the right one?

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>Peter

>Yes, you are correct. In an attempt to resolve this issue you can try repairing the Operating system using that CD. I will provide you the steps.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>great, thank you

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>Peter

>To repair the OS without destroying any personal data, use the Windows OS CD that was shipped with the notebook.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Ok, I'm having a problem -- the sealed packet that I thought had the CD only has the Microsoft works and money CDs in it

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>Aaron Salsberg

>I'm still looking to find the OS cd

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>Peter

>1. Turn on the notebook.

>2. Immediately insert the OS CD into the CD drive.

>3. Hold the power button for 5 seconds to turn off the notebook.

>4. Press the power button again to start the notebook.

>5. Press any key to boot from CD when prompted. The 6. Welcome to Setup screen is displayed.

>7. Press Enter to continue. A Licensing Agreement screen is displayed.

>8. Press F8 to accept the agreement and continue. The Setup window is displayed.

>10. Press R to repair the selected Windows installation. 11. The repair process may take several minutes to complete. The notebook restarts into Windows after the process is complete.

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>Peter

>These steps applies to desktop also.

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>Peter

>Aaron, if the repair installation does not fix the issue, you have to restore the system using the Recovery CD. Since you have not created the CD, you can obtain one by calling our phone support at 1-80-Ok-Compaq.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>ok

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>Aaron Salsberg

>you mentioned something about backing up the hard drive -- how would I do that?

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>Peter

>You can contact the service center, Aaron. They might assist you getting the back up.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>is that the same number you just gave me?

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>Peter

>Aaron, please visit the following web site to take the back up of your hard drive. They are renowned for data recovery.

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>Peter

>www.ontrack.com

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Ok, thank you. Is it possible this computer could have been sold without a reinstallation CD?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>and could I use the OS CD from a different computer? That will work the same?

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>Peter

>I am afraid you cannot use other OS CD to repair your system, since it is OEM version..

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>Aaron Salsberg

>But all computers are sold with an O

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>Aaron Salsberg

>with an OS CD

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>Peter

>You can try using the OEM CD that came with other Presario.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>What's OEM?

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>Peter

>OEM is the preinstalled version of the Operating system which is different from the retail version , which is available at the market.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>OK, so I can use any CD that came with any Presario

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>Peter

>Yes, you can use the XP CD that came with any Presario.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Great -- will this chat be saved, will be sent to my email? I don't want to lose all this information

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>Peter

>For your convenience , the transcript of this chat session (chat content copy) will be e-mailed to you shortly after this chat session is over. This will be helpful for your future reference.

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>Peter

>If the issue persists, you have to get the Recovery CD and perform the full restore.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>And do you have any thoughts on how this file could have been corrupted?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>Will do that

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>Peter

>It cannot be predicted, Aaron. Even though no changes are made to the system, the files can become corrupt.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>So you don't think it's a virus, just something wrong with the computer somewhere

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>Peter

>It is not a virus, it is related to the Operating System files.

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>Aaron Salsberg

>OK -- well thank you very much for your time and all your help Peter

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>Peter

>You are welcome.

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>Peter

>Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

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>Aaron Salsberg

>No, I think this is the only major computer issue I have today!

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>Peter

>Thank you for using HP Total Care and giving us an opportunity to serve you through Chat Support.

> A copy of our chat session will be e-mailed to you shortly.

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>Peter

>Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further assistance. We are dedicated to providing support for your needs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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>Peter

>Bye and take care.