PC taking 35 minutes to boot - dll error?

Last night I shut my PC down normally and today it is taking at least 35 minutes to boot into Windows, and then won't run anything while the hard drive stutters like crazy. I have had a couple of error messages both saying that msvcp71.dll wasn't there... one with lvcomsx.exe and one I didn't write down.

I downloaded the msvcp71.dll file from site when I googled the problem and burnt it to CD. I booted my PC into safe mode (only took 15 minutes) and I could access folders/my computer etc normally. I pasted the .dll into a temp folder and tried to paste it from there into windows/system32 but it stuttered for two minutes and then gave me a cyclic redundency error. Trying to delete/modify/view the original file in the system32 folder causes the PC to stutter again for at least two minutes, then give me another cyclic redundency error.

I use zone alarm pro which I had to shut down for about half an hour yesterday. PC's an AMD64 3000+ with 1.5gb ram running Win XP sp 2.

What's going on? I can't find anything useful on the web. Can anyone help before keyboards/fists are broken?

Cheers!
Edit/Delete Message

 

you sure msvcp71.dll goes in C:\Windows\System32? What exactly does the error say?

And i presume you have a logitech mouse?

 

Sounds like your hard drive is in serious trouble. It is likely that it has many bad sectors. If you were getting HD errors while using a recovery cd, your hard drive may be toasted. Use a use a live cd to recover your data, and buy a new hard drive.

 

Yes, I have a Logitech mouse. I think that program is just one that gives it extra functions for something.

Someone on another forums suggested downloading the Seagate diagnostic utility so I’m going to do that and run it from a CD so hopefully that will help.

My HD’s not cactus yet… I can still access all the data in safe mode and hopefully burn it to DVD. I don’t want to spend cash on a new HD when this one’s only seven months old. Before I dustbin it I might try a total re-format. So, on that note, how do I actually format my hard drive from safe mode?

Thanks!

 

You dont even need safe mode! All you need to do is click here and hope to god that your computer has a floppy drive!

ps. Make sure you follow EVERY bit of instruction. (Apart from the ones where it is not relevant like your OS)

 

What is this "floppy drive" of which you speak?

No, I don't have one. I decided that when spening $1700 on a new PC, I'd save $10 by not buying one. What could I ever possibly need one for again?

 

to reformat this way...

 

So if I don't have a floppy drive, how do I totally format my hard drive in order to install win xp fresh from CD?

 

there is article somwhere that on that link to use CD ROM instead. Do you have floppy drive?

 

No, I don't have a floppy drive. The Win XP CD just stops responding.

I am starting thinking that the HD is in fact trash. However, I'd still like to give the reformat a go. Last time I had to format a hard drive, I was in DOS and I used format c: ... is there simple way to format a HD any more?

 

Yes. Go to my link. there is a section on bootable cd to format if you dont have floppy.
If you cant find my link, or are unsure what i mean then here is the link:

HERE​

 

You said earlier that the xp disk froze!

once you erase everything, what are you going to do after that? You will need to put an OS back on, and if can't get xp to work, either you buy another OS, another comp, or move to linux (mostly free (some versions aren't, but most are), but requires a bit more computer skills then windows)

 

What more skill can linux possibly require?

 

not much more, but I know that use need to be able to use the command line to do certain things like installing programs. (Depends which version you get)

 

command line is a piece a cake for me. Is the command line different to windows? or generally the same?