ln command screws up computer

[Guest]

OK, so i foolish typed this command into command prompt
ln -sf C:\McClim\McClim-0.9.5 C:\
and it started deleting and 'unlinking' all files on C:\
Then i try to restart the computer and it complains that it can't find
boot.ini, so it load from C:\Windows, and then it says something like
'Invalid <root drive>\Windows\hal.dll' I have gotten to the recovery command
prompt, but don't know where to go from there. I have tried chk drive and it
also appears cd doesn't work except when changing directories to cd C:\. I
know i can do a full system recovery, but would prefer not to since it
deletes all programs. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[peter]

I think at this stage I would do a repair installation
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
peter

 

[Patrick Keenan]

OK, so i foolish typed this command into command prompt
ln -sf C:\McClim\McClim-0.9.5 C:\
and it started deleting and 'unlinking' all files on C:\
Then i try to restart the computer and it complains that it can't find
boot.ini, so it load from C:\Windows, and then it says something like
'Invalid <root drive>\Windows\hal.dll' I have gotten to the recovery
command
prompt, but don't know where to go from there. I have tried chk drive and
it
also appears cd doesn't work except when changing directories to cd C:\. I
know i can do a full system recovery, but would prefer not to since it
deletes all programs. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

If you've got extensive system damage, you likely need to at least do a
repair install. However, if you only have recovery or "restore" disks, you
may not be able to do that.

Restore disks aren't always destructive, but it's a really good idea to back
up the data first. Since you can't boot the system, you should remove
the drive, attach it to another XP system with enough drive space (USB2
cases are great for this, and can be had for aboutr $20), and simply copy
the files or image the drive to a spot on the host system. Check that
the copied files are OK. Put the drive back and restore the system.

Unfortunately, you probably have no way of knowing how damaged the program
files actually are, so you may not be able to safely assume that they don't
need to be replaced anyway, or that the registry is undamaged - and if it
is, you have pretty much no choice but to reinstall. A simple repair
install may not help enough in that case.

HTH
-pk