[Infamous_Nate]

Ok here is the situation.

My wife's laptop is stuck in an endless reboot. After disabling the option to "Restart on system failure" i got this message on the BSOD.

STOP: c0000135 {Unable To Locate Component}
This application has failed to start because USER32.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem.

The following options cause windows to give me the BSOD with the same message as above:

Safe Mode
Safe Mode w/ Networking
Safe Mode w/ Command Prompt
Last known Good Configuration
Debugging Mode
Start Windows Normally

Her laptop did not come with a windows xp disc, and she has no clue where any software that came with it is at. But luckily we both run XP home and I do have the XP disc and CD key that i purchased.

After inserting the XP CD into her laptop and setting it to boot from CD first, I have come to a point where I am unsure what step to take next.

An attempt to use the recovery console option leads to a request for an administrative password, which neither of us have ever set.

Selecting the Windows xp setup option and moving past the terms and conditions page gives me these options to setup windows xp:

-: Partition1 <EISA Utilities> 4997 MB (296 MB free)
C: Partition2 <ACER> [FAT32] 35409 MB (20205 MB free)
D: Partition3 <ACERDATA> [FAT32} 35911 MB (35900 MB free)

All I want to do is just replace this USER32.dll file so i can get into windows and back up her school notes and pictures of our newborn ( Located in her "My Documents" folder )so i can format her laptop (im 90% sure her laptop is infested with spyware, viruses, registry errors).

Any suggestions or directions would be greatly appreciated by us both.

%Nate%

These are her laptops specs:

Acer Aspire 5100-3583

*AMD Turion 64 mobile technology
MK36 (2.0GHz, 512kb L2 cache)

*ATi Radeon Xpress 1100

*80GB PATA HDD

*1GB DDR2 (support dual-channel)

*802.11 b/g wireless LAN


Thanks again in advance for any assistance

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Try use Last known Good Configuration.

Regards,

[mirjel]

Try use Last known Good Configuration.

Regards,

[Infamous_Nate]

The following options cause windows to give me the BSOD with the same message as above:

Safe Mode
Safe Mode w/ Networking
Safe Mode w/ Command Prompt
Last known Good Configuration
Debugging Mode
Start Windows Normally

Sadly that was the very first thing I tried. Before I disabled the restart after system failure option, selecting this just sent her laptop back into an endless reboot. Same thing with the above quoted options. Endless reboot until i disabled that option, now each one gives me the BSOD with the original error message about user32.dll

[mirjel]

Do you have a startdisc (floppy), boot with startdisc to dosprompt:
A:
change path to
C:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\
Type DIR
Maybe rename your user32.dll ...
Or ask a friend to help you, copy his user32.dll onto the floppy,
a:
Type
copy user32.dll C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\
Or ask a friend if he knows Knoppix or any other "LiveCD", you can boot into Linux, browse to your windows-hd ...
When you rename/patch systemfiles, always make backups and always be careful

Regards,

Edited by mirjel, 21 June 2008 - 03:58 PM.

[happyrock]

2 options to get the data...
first is remove the drive and slave it to a working computer and copy your data off to that computer or burn to dvd's..
2nd is to use puppy linux to get your data...you don't have to remove the drive to do it this way..

puppy will load and run totally in ram...

get puppy linux...Get puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso download it and burn it to cd ...if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ......in this case its puppy linux
3. Select the ISO file
4. Suggestion ==> Check the option "Fix close"
5. Click on "Start"

make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....puppy will boot and run totally in ram...if your hardware is is good working order you will know...
after you get it running and your at the desktop...you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all yor data to cd/dvds
you can also use it to backup your data to a external usb harddrive..just have it hooked to the computer when you boot up with puppy...
==========================
quick guide for saving data...music..files on a system that will not boot using puppy Linux..


after you get to puppy desktop..
click on the drives icon...looks like a flash drive...top row..it will list all the drives connected to

your computer...

click on the red icon for the drive you want to mount...in this case its a flash drive ...puppy will

mount the drive..the drive icon turns green when its mounted...
minimize the drives mounter window..you will need it again in a few minutes..
drag the right edge of it sideways to shrink it to its narrowest size...then drag the window to the
right edge of the screen...

now click on the icon that looks like a filing cabinet (kind of yellow) on the main drive...it should
already be green..
you will see a list of all the folders on the main drive Usually your C: drive..shrink that window to

the narrowest you can..drag that window to the left side of the screen...
at this point you should have 2 windows open on your desktop..the flash drive on the right side..
go back to the folders on the C: drive...click on the documents and settings folder...then your user
name or all users..find the folders that has your data..
drag and drop the folder with the data you want to make copies of to the flash drive window...

your options are to move ..copy ect...JUST COPY..if its to big you will have to open the folder and
drag and drop individual files until the flash drive is full...(I have a 120 GB external USB drive for
big data recovery jobs and a 4 GB flash drive for the smaller jobs)..after you get the files copied to
the flash drive...
Click on the drives mounter you minimized earlier
UNMOUNT THE FLASH DRIVE by clicking on the green icon..you will once in awhile get error messages when
unmounting the drive..ignore them..when the flash drive icon turns red again its safe to remove the
flash drive..trot on over (stroll if you want to look cool) to another computer and plug in the flash

drive and copy all the data files ( I drag and drop) to the other computer..
make sure the other computer can read them...

now delete the data on the flash drive...take it back to the misbehaving computer and plug it in

again..click on the drives icon again and repeat until you have all your data transferred to the working
system..

Edited by happyrck, 21 June 2008 - 04:44 PM.

[Infamous_Nate]

Thanks for the reply

after you get it running and your at the desktop...you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all yor data to cd/dvds

Don't think this will work since her laptop does'nt have a CD burner. But I downloaded those programs anyway, should the need arise for me to take those steps to salvage files on my pc.

ask a friend to help you, copy his user32.dll

After some searching around it turns out she not running home edition, she is actually running media edition. Does that make a difference? I mean, is the user32.dll file different in both of those versions?

[Infamous_Nate]

ok i decided to install Windows XP home into a separate folder in the C drive labled "C:\WinXP".

Windows now loads as a newly installed version, and i was able to retrieve all of the files from her old my documents folder. But now there is a new issue.

When her laptop boots up I am taken to a black screen that gives 3 options to load:

Windows XP home Edition
Windows XP Media Edition(Bootscreen)
Windows XP Media Edition

(Media Edition is missing user32.dll)

So now i have 2 questions:

1. How do i remove Media edition completly?

2. After removing it, if i change the new windows folder "C:\WinXP" to "C:\Windows" will it still load properly? (Without the multi option black boot screen)

Thanks again in advance for all your help

[Makaveli213]

Hello,

To remove Windows Media Center you will have to boot into Safe Mode to be able to delete the folder that Media Center had assigned to it. C:\Windows.

You can not rename the WinXP folder to Windows. This will cause ill effects.

Cheers,
Mak

[Infamous_Nate]

Ok I think i have reached my limit with this retarded laptop.

Makaveli213,

I did what you said and deleted the old windows folder, but im getting weird error messages when i try to delete her old Documents and Settings folder, and on top of that, 2 infected files from the old windows folder that i could not delete have found their way into the new Winxp folder. So i'm on the verge of throwing this thing out the window.

Or better yet, just Format it.

her laptop is currently partitioned into 3 drives i believe.

-: Partition1 <EISA Utilities> 4997 MB (296 MB free)
C: Partition2 <ACER> [FAT32] 35409 MB (20205 MB free)
D: Partition3 <ACERDATA> [FAT32} 35911 MB (35900 MB free)

all of which combine to make her 80GB PATA HDD

Will a format Combine these 3 into one C: drive, or do i need these partitions?

[wannabe1]

Hello Infamous_Nate...

You shouldn't have to boot to Safe Mode to delete the old Windows folder, providing there are no files within it that are in use. The most common issue in deleting a directory is size...if the folder is too large it may not want to delete. However, you should be able to delete files and folders from within the old directory until it's small enough in size to delete directly.

To remove the boot options at startup will require editing the boot.ini file. Right click on My Computer and choose "Properties". Click the "Advanced" tab...in the "Startup and Recovery" section, click on the "Settings" button. In the window that opens, click on the "Edit" button. A notepad window will open (boot.ini)...copy the contents of that window and paste it here for us.

wannabe1

[Infamous_Nate]

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)partition(2)\WINXP
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\winxp="microsoft windows xp home edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows="windows xp media center edition (bootscreen)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer /KERNEL=kernel1.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows="windows xp media center edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer

[wannabe1]

Remove the lines of text shown in red below...then click "File' on the notepad toolbar and choose "Save". Close all open windows and reboot...it should load the Windows Home installation without prompting.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)partition(2)\WINXP
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\winxp="microsoft windows xp home edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows="windows xp media center edition (bootscreen)" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer /KERNEL=kernel1.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows="windows xp media center edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer

======================

What is the model and model number of the Acer in question?

No...formatting will not combine the 3 partitions. You can, however, delete them and then format the raw drive you are left with which will leave you with a single partition. You will be offered the option to do this as you begin the installation. The two additional partitions are Acer's Recovery Partitions and may be used to restore the machine to factory settings....if we can get to it to create the recovery disks.

You say you have infected files aboard. Those should be able to be removed with the help of our malware staff. If the machine is running and you have the data moved to the new (parallel) installation, we should be able to straighten things out without formatting.

[Infamous_Nate]

i believe the model number is Aspire 5100-3583.

i'll run a quick virus scan one more time si i can give you the exact location of the infected files.

the first time i ran the scan there were 30 infected files. 26 of them the antivirus software deleted on its own and did nothing with the other 4. 2 of those 4 i located myself and manually deleted, but the last 2 i cant find at all.

[Infamous_Nate]

awesome, the infected files are starting to breed....

the orignal 2 i could not find are here:

C:\Documents and settings\desktop\courtney\local settings\application data\mozilla\firefox\profiles\70ms4g73.default\cache\40af4954d01

the new infections are here:

C:\system volume information\_restore{CA1BC0BB-99F4-4A69-B616-A007F8B0F0EF}\RP2\A0000164.exe

[wannabe1]

Let's let the malware experts deal with the regenerating infection.

Please go to the Malware Forum and follow the instructions found there.

That will give you several steps that will help you clean up 70 percent of all problems by yourself...then post a hijackthis log in THAT forum. Be patient, the Malware Forum is a very busy place and a two or three day wait is not unusual. Do not reply to or bump your own topic. If it shows a reply it may be overlooked as one that is being worked on.

=====================

While in Windows, press the Alt and F10 keys at the same time, does the Acer eRecovery Management utility open?

Overall, how does the machine seem to be running?