Corrupt or Missing hal.dll Computer Want Boot

[nasttcar]

I cannot get one mof my home computers to boot. I get a statement saying the following file is missing or corrupt: windows root:\system32\hal.dll

This is happening on an eMachines unit running XP Pro.

I don't have a boot disk.

The computer I am working from right now also has WinXP.

How do I resolve this problem?

I do not want to reformat the hard drive.

Your help is very much appreciated.

The problem could have been caused by one of several factors:
- Uninstalled Music Match 7.1 and iPOD relationship and clicked yes when it said files could be common do you want to delete.
- Panda Antivirus caught a downloaded virus. However, no files were clicked on.
- Installed Music Match 7.5 and new iPOD. Upon reboot is when problem happened.

Having owned computers going all the way back to an Apple IIe and just about anything in between I feel pretty stupid not being able to resolve this problem.

Again, your help is greatly appreciated.

John

 

[loup garou]

When you say you don't have a boot disk, do you mean you don't have an XP cd? In order to repair this, you need to boot off the XP cd, enter recovery console and type:

expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll

Where d: is your cdrom. Then type exit to exit the recovery console, remove the CD and restart. Should solve your problem.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Did you recently Update to SP1?

If you have the WinXP CD, you can boot from it
into the Recovery Console (select 'R').

You can also try this:

Download a Bootdisk:
Bootdisk

The use this to correct the problem:
PowerQuest: Using the CHKBTINI Utility to Fix the BOOT.INI

 

[nasttcar]

Ok, I made the 6 disks from the site you mentioned, however, when I reboot with disk 1 in a:\ drive I get Disk I/O error.

I know the a: drive works because I put an old Win98 boot disk in the drive and it read it. However it setups the drive c: as a virtual drive and will not read any program on the CD rom except a DOS program, or the NTdetect file on the 1st floppy of the 6 I made above.

Any more ideas?

Thanks, John

 

[loup garou]

Did you try the recovery console?

 

[LiLithTecH]

Sorry. Should have been a little more specific.

I did not mean for you to download the XP setup disks.

You mentioned you didn't have A Bootdisk.
If your drive is formated FAT32 then the Win98 disk will do.

Boot from that and run the CHKBTINI file.

If your drives are formated NTFS, then you will need a bootdisk
like NTFSDOS to be able to access the partition.

 

[ukiro]

Please excuse me for this not-the-least-bit-helpful post, but I just can't resist:

Anything going wrong with a computer involving the word HAL calls for a quote from 2001 - A Space Odyssey: "I'm completely operational, and all my circuits are functioning perfectly."

 

[Sephiroth]

Maybe I'm way off base, but does your computer boot up fine and then when loading Windows it gives that message?

If so, you may want to try to enter in Safe Mode. If you can do that, then you may be able to locate the hal.dll on the current computer you are on and copy it over.

This process has been hit & miss for me. But it is fairly painless.