The dreaded "hal.dll" error

Drenlin

Drenlin

Active Member
Need some help with this one, guys. My church's computer had gone down.
It's a Dell XPS 400, with XP media center edition...SP3 I believe. For some reason they have a retail disc, even though the system came with it...

When it attempts to boot into windows, I get this version of the message:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file."

It happens early enough that I can't chose "last known good configuration" or safe mode...it happens as soon as windows attempts to boot. This also means I can't access Dell's repair partition.

When I boot from the install disk and chose the "repair" option, it goes straight to the command line. I tried fixboot and fixmbr, and neither worked.


If this makes a difference, it's not installed on a FAT partition for some reason...:confused:


So...yeah. I'm at a loss at this point. The easiest option would be to back the files up on an external using a live cd and reinstall it, but I need permission for that and out pastor is in Honduras...no way to contact him. So is there any way I can save this install?
 
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Have you thought about putting a small Linux OS, such as Puppy or DSL, plus the "hal.dll" file on a bootable CD, then booting from the CD and copying the "hal.dll" to the windows system 32 directory?
 
Tried it with slax...no luck. Didn't have proper permissions on that folder, and have no idea how to bypass it.

That file is system-specific anyway, though, if I remember right.
 
i had this problem with ntldr and had to use the recovery disk to copy said file into the correct directory and that allowed me to boot. Assuming Hal is your only problem try typing this in the command recovery console

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

obviously make sure the correct drive letters are used.


i did also have to play around with bootcfg in cmd and Fixboot after i copied it to sort the bootloader out.
 
^ Didn't work :(

I think the hard drive is going...when I look at the drive from another operating system, none o them can even open the "WINDOWS" folder. Comes up as corrupted.
 
^ The Windows folder doesn't exist anymore...I'm pretty sure this thing is FUBAR.

Also, just realized that the xp disc they have is a home premium upgrade disc, and the computer had XP MCE installed. Not only that, but the upgrade disc can't find the previous windows install.

I think I'm just going to find an .iso of the correct Dell disc...
 
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I wouldn't lose too much sleep about it. It's just the media you're after. They have a valid license for Windows to be on that Dell, you're just replacing the media. Something Dell would do if you called them, for a fee I assume.
 
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