Problems

[Pontifex Maximus]

Well, yesterday when I was installing updates for vista my power surged. When I tried to restart my computer I got the following:

globalroot\systemroot\system32\ESQULpgnqncmpvvxmcodmrvgeueieddoqrylnx.dll is either not designated to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program againusing the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support.

Then my computer locks up and promptly stops responding, so even if I knew what the devil the error message even means, it seems unfixable. This will probably mean a trip to geek squad, but before I do, does anyone have a starting point for me to try and address this problem on my own?

I <3 vista.

[Wheelchair]

It's not Vista fault your power surged, XP would have done the same.

Now, on topic.

You'll need to reformat, it's not hard, just find your Vista disks.

If you don't have any, ruh roh. lol.

[Freddie]

Before you start reformatting and spending money at geek squad (WTF they actually charge? When do I get paid? I must due a small windfall!!!) try running the repair utility on your Vista disc first. Set your BIOS (press delete or one of the function keys when your computer starts to access the BIOS) go into advance settings and set the boot priority so your DVD/CD Rom drive is accessed first, insert your Vista disc and follow the on screen steps.

[Pontifex Maximus]

I did exactly as you prescribed,Freddie, and things worked fine until it said my disc could no be read. (I just opened it out of the package!) It told me to hit ctrl alt delete, which I did, and it still can't be read. I restarted the process and got the same results. I'm just going to have to take it in it seems...

Computer: 2
Ryan: 0

[Freddie]

I did exactly as you prescribed,Freddie, and things worked fine until it said my disc could no be read. (I just opened it out of the package!) It told me to hit ctrl alt delete, which I did, and it still can't be read. I restarted the process and got the same results. I'm just going to have to take it in it seems...

Computer: 2
Ryan: 0

It can't be read? More like it can't write to your hard drive, the chances of a brand new disc being unreadable are remote but it does happen. If you have friends disc you can borrow do so (you can use your own licence key) and double check, if you get the same error then it looks like you may need to format or your hard drive was damaged by the power surge.

For the cost of a call to some support line your better off buying a cheap 2nd hard drive of ebay and installing Vista on that then you can access your old hard drive and from there and backup everything but try it with another disc if you can.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Whatever you do don't take it to the geek squad, they have been known to completely lie about things to make you buy a new computer.

[Simetrical]

You might want to invest in a surge protector! If you get a power surge while the system is being upgraded, you're inevitably going to have some difficulties. In theory the OS developers could work out a system where it will still boot no matter when it's interrupted, but in practice it's tricky to get that right.

I would think there'd be some way to fix this without a full reinstall, but I don't know enough about Windows to say. In theory, you should just have to make sure all the necessary system files are in the right places. The configuration is probably okay, or so I'd think.

If your disk couldn't be read, I'd assume either your disk is busted, or your computer is busted. See if the disk works in another computer. Could the power surge have damaged your hardware? I don't know enough about hardware to say.