T41 - Not detecting Hard drive / hal.dll error

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eefeft · #1 Post by **eefeft** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:44 am

My thinkpad T41 was having wierd problems and all of a sudden it froze

When I reset, it loaded up the IBM screen, then it froze and took a while to do anything....

then it said the following:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing
or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Ok so I put in the boot disk to repair the windows copy I had put in, let my comp load off of the windows XP sp1 CD rom disk. It then asks me if I want to repair or reformat etc.

I select repair, and it tells me "Windows cannot find a hard drive, please install one, etc etc."

I did not drop/kick/misplace/overheat my laptop, This problem happened out of the blue and my laptop was not dropped or moved from its stationary position on my desk.

Now I have had previous problems with my laptop, none like this though. Could my hard drive be shot? or something broken in my compter? Should I use my warranty? Anyways, thanks for taking a look! I can't find the answer this anywhere and while looking I remembered this community and though i'd give it a shot!

Anyone know how to do this? I don't know much about this sort of stuff and i can't find answers to this anywhere online, i've search for over 3 hours.

(oh just added in edit: I also tried doing the factory restore, and it appeared to have froze when loading..)
Thanks!

AIX · #2 Post by **AIX** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:55 am

Did you try to take out the HDD and put it back? Maybe it's a loose contact problem.

eefeft · #3 Post by **eefeft** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:01 am

AIX wrote:Did you try to take out the HDD and put it back? Maybe it's a loose contact problem.

how would i go about taking the HDD out, i dont have my books for it on my right now and im not sure where its located on the laptop (i've built my desktop computer but im a total nub with laptops lol)

AIX · #4 Post by **AIX** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:09 am

eefeft, look here, easy task:

Hard disk drive removal movie - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p, T43/p

eefeft · #5 Post by **eefeft** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:12 am

Ok done, nothing has changed. Perhaps my HDD is shot?

AIX · #6 Post by **AIX** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:17 am

Hmm, it is possible; sorry to hear that. Call IBM for warranty..

eefeft · #7 Post by **eefeft** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:35 am

Quick update:

I ran the Ultimate Boot disk diagnostics test on the hard drive, as that appears where the problem is, and the test failed and said "Bad cable".

Is ultimate boot disk that good at detecting stuff like that? perhaps I should venture into my laptop and find out or should I just go for my warranty?

It did detect my hard drive though, knew its size and everything.

AIX · #8 Post by **AIX** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:45 am

I think the HDD connector is soldered on the motherboard - so there is no replaceable cable, if I'm not wrong.

#9 Post by **GomJabbar** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:07 am

If you have the Warranty, go for it. Sure sounds like a bad hard drive to me. One test I have found that pretty indicative is if you try and reformat the hard drive with a Windows Install CD, and the format will not complete or takes excessively long - you have a bad hard drive. The exception is if your hard drive connection is not good, but you seem to have checked that already.

eefeft · #10 Post by **eefeft** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 8:48 am

well... should i open my laptop up and check the connector cuz i havent dont that yet, i just pulled the HDD out and put it back in..

#11 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:18 am

This error has to do with the hardware abstraction layer, this happens sometimes when installing on an older machine or drive.
Try wiping out the drive with kill disk and using your recovery CDs to do the resotore.

eefeft · #12 Post by **eefeft** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:35 am

the KILLDISK even on the fastest setting seems to be taking forever to get past 0%, this ussual or is this a sign my HDD is done for? lol

#13 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:20 pm

Sounds about right

here is one more thing to check out:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

eefeft · #14 Post by **eefeft** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:33 pm

Would it be safe to put a laptop HDD into a desktop tower (and will it fit to being with?)

After read that link, i think that might be the key to my problem.

#15 Post by **bill bolton** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:13 pm

eefeft wrote:Would it be safe to put a laptop HDD into a desktop tower (and will it fit to being with?)

You will need an adapter between the normal IDE drive connector & Molex power connectors used for the 3.5" drives found in desktop machines and the combined IDE+Power mini connector used on 2.5" laptop drives.

You can find these adapters on eBay for a few dollars, and I'd guess that they will also be available from a computer-warehouse style store.

If you can get the drive connected, it's otherwise a "safe" thing to do.

Cheers,

Bill

T41 - Not detecting Hard drive / hal.dll error

T41 - Not detecting Hard drive / hal.dll error

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