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July 29th, 2006 03:00

System won't boot

My Inspiron 8200 laptop won't boot up from the hard drive or Windows XP Reinstallation CD.  After the system attempts to boot I receive the following message:
 
Windows could not start because the following file is mission or corrupt:
\system32\had.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
 
I have also notice a repeated clicking sound at times, which I'm thinking might be the hard drive. 
 
The motherboard failed about 18 months ago and Dell replaced it under the warranty.    Unfortunately my warranty period has now expired. 
 
Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

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87.5K Posts

July 29th, 2006 09:00

If there's data on the drive you need that isn't backed up start here:

Buy a notebook to desktop drive cable or an external USB 2.0/firewire 2.5" drive enclosure, attach the drive to a working desktop or notebook and copy your data for backup.

DO NOT PROCEED WITHOUT A BACKUP - DOING SO COULD BE FATAL TO YOUR DATA.

Return the drive to the notebook. Boot, press F12 and run the extended diagnostics on the drive. If the drive passes, skip the next step.

If the drive fails and you're under warranty, call Dell, report the error and they'll ship you a new drive.

If the drive fails and you're out of warranty, bin it and replace it - any notebook 2.5" drive will work.

If the drive passes, you can continue to try a repair (which fails more often than it succeeds) or bite the bullet and reinstall everything from scratch.

Recovery usually fails to restore the registry; in about 70-80% of all cases, it's a hardware fault that causes the problem.
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