install required DLL????

[Steve T]

Friends HP pavilion a350n PC won't boot past the black screen. I have tried
to boot normal, safe mode, last known good, etc. but keep getting the
message that I have to install the required DLL. It does not say which DLL
is bad or missing or what. Pressing F10 and trying PC Recovery I get errors
that it cannot open certain backup files. It just keeps going, for about 1/2
hour; telling me what it cannot open never exceeding the 5% recovery stage.
I have the PC with me now and I'm going to blow out the case with compressed
air as it is packed with dust. I will reseat all of the memory modules and
the power connectors first. There are no recovery disks. The recovery is
probably on a hidden partition. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank
you, Steve T.

 

[R. McCarty]

First rule of "Helping" someone with their PC is not to make things worse.

It happens to everyone eventually, as all PCs have a "Murphy" chip built
into them. Random repair attempts and doing things in a hurry are
guaranteed to toggle the variable "Enable Murphy = 1". Once this happens
you'll probably get to see the sunrise while still cursing the PC. Alcoholic
beverages should be saved for the Celebration after the PC is again working,
not while repairs are underway. Coffee is acceptable - having the "Jitters"
sometimes helps in resolving Windows issues.

Seriously, before ever making changes it's always a good idea to backup
or image the disk. If you don't have an Imaging program, you can always
mount the drive in a working XP machine to capture important profile data
like My Docs, Mail.... With data protected, it gives you more room to try
things to get the PC back up and running. If you do retrieve the personal
data, be sure to immediately burn it to CD/DVD-R media. Do Not rely on
any magnetic media for "Long Term" data protection.

Having a "True" XP CD-ROM is invaluable for repairs and doing Chkdsk
operations. Unfortunately, you'll need the appropriate disk to use or
you'll
find yourself in the next "Hole-in-the-Road" - Key Validation or Product
Activation once XP is running.