(sorry, no caps)
running xp pro, system started freezing especially when on the internet, even though system is always on broadband w/ a router. updated all anti- software and scanned several times w/ avg8.5, superantispyware, malwarebytes, ad-aware, spybot. Nothiing detected. After a few days i was getting error msg at restart about normaliz.dll not being found. some research says that dll is a legit win file in system 32, but it does not show up anywhere in windows. my wallpaper loads but no desktop, clock or start button. can launch programs only from task manager. tried reinstalling xp, but system says no disk in drive (tried both drives and an external),even changed boot order in bios but cannot boot from cd. tried booting from floppy but cannot reformat ntfs from this. also downloaded the missing dll to usb drive where it shows up on my laptop, but when i move drive to the pc, that file does not appear. weird huh?,
cannot dismount volume that is running win, however lamely.
also tried several restore points, nothing.
just got win 7 and would like to install.
any ideas how to force a format? this pc is only a year old, and i used to be a techie but am ripping my hair out.