hello all,

new user here. i have tried checking FAQ but no luck there.

i've got a dell latitude D510, 1GB RAM, 40GB HDD running XP SP2. Battery died so i replaced it. Laptop worked for 2 days then yesterday started GIVING a BSoD. Did chkdsk /r which normally works for me. System started booting then gave a message along the lines of 'Windows could not load COMCTL32.dll, re-installing the application may fix it'. I did a system recovery using the recovery console and now i get the "windows is starting up message then it just goes blank, i'm just left with a pretty blue screen and nothing else. I'd rather not reformat the system unless i absolutely have to, so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.Can you get to the advanced boot options screen (start tapping F8 as soon as the system starts to boot). If so, can you boot to safe mode?yes, SORRY, 4got to mention that i've tried booting to safe mode. All i get is a BLACK screen with "safe mode" round the screen and that's it. No desktop icons, i cant even get the start menu to pop up. it just sort of hangs there till i switch it offWell, let's try a repair install. Boot to the XP CD and choose the SECOND repair option. XP will install on top of itself. Done correctly, all programs and settings will remain as is. After you get back into Windows you'll have to go to Windows Update and install all updates. You should also install SP3.

Here's a step by step guide: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/topic/138-how-to-repair-windows-xp/Hi,

tried it twice but still the same result  You can try to download it....

http://www.dll-files.com/comctl32.zip?0VLlVFVLfR

you will need to copy it to your system32 folder after you unzip it.

Hello, downloaded the dll file but couldn't copy it to the Windows folder. Like i SAID, i only get a pretty blue screen but no log on screen. I tried to use safe mode with command prompt but i still couldn't get past the "safe mode" screen. No icons, no start menu, nothing. I was able to retrieve the data from the system so i ended up reformating . wish i could mark it as solved. thanks for the help.Sorry things didn't work out.

But you are up and running. Did you save your data off the drive?