BleepingComputer.com: Windows Corrupt and trying to repair

I am trying to help a friend fix their computer. It is a newer Dell running Vista. I think she turned it off incorrectly and corrupted the Windows files. We have tried to use the windows repair on the install disk that came with the computer. It gave them a messages about a critical string missing I think. I ran it and it seemed to say it worked, but it did not fix it. I am running it a second time and it has been working for well over 12 hours. I can see the disk activity light give a short flash on a frequent basis. I am trying to decide if it is still doing something or has it crashed. I am trying to get it working enough to recover her files before we do a clean install. If the repair doesn't work I will put the HD in another computer and try to copy the files for back up. Do these newer Hard drives need to be terminated or set up to be slave drives? Does anyone have advice on how best to do this? Thanks

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No

After They shut it off and restarted it, at what part of the boot process does it hang up at?

I gave up on it. It seems that it will only run the repair if I boot from the windows disk. I finally just put the HD in my computer and backed up all the files and then restored the computer from the factory image. It works again. Thanks