[RESOLVED] missing or corrupted hal.dll

i'm not at work currently, but a co-worker tried to start my xp pc and got the error that the "hal.dll" file is either missing or corrupted.

i thought i'd arm myself before i arrive tomorrow and so am asking for advice here.

it's a dell machine and i don't think there is a physical disc with xp on it. just a restore from the D partition.

there IS a copy of norton's go-back running on that pc.

all the fixes i see assume you're already running windows but in this case, the error occurs on start-up.

any ideas? thanks in advance,

terry

1. Boot from a XP Setup CD and enter the Recovery Console.
2. Type the following four commands, pressing [Enter] after each:
   1. attrib -r -s -h c:\boot.ini
   2. del c:\boot.ini
   3. bootcfg /rebuild
   4. fixboot
3. That's all there is to it. Remove the XP CD and reboot.

I would run a hard drive diagnostic first.
If the drive fails, get as much data off as you can and then replace the drive.
If the drive passes, you can try doing software repairs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SpywareDr

1. Boot from a XP Setup CD and enter the Recovery Console.
2. Type the following four commands, pressing [Enter] after each:
   1. attrib -r -s -h c:\boot.ini
   2. del c:\boot.ini
   3. bootcfg /rebuild
   4. fixboot
3. That's all there is to it. Remove the XP CD and reboot.

---

as i said, i'm not at work and am not sure the pc (it's a dell) came with a setup cd. if it did, how do i enter the recovery console?

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixthe...s/rconsole.htm

i went to: http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html.

and followed the "download ultimate boot cd" link on the last line.

and then downloaded the "Ultimate Boot CD.exe" file.

now what?

just so you know, i'm at home on my vista machine. was in the ER sunday night and in hospital yesterday. too tired to go to work. but i thought i could sit at my machine and get as much done as i can here rather than trying to find a free machine at work to do all this.

thanks.

ps> i guess i'm wondering what this EXE file will do. if it creates a bootable CD on my vista machine, wont that be unusable on that other XP machine?

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and get the ISO file from one of the "Mirror Sites". (Click the little red down arrow icon to the left of "PC Babble" for example).

now i've downloaded "gimp_freely_d157195.exe".

am i supposed to RUN these files? i've done things like this before and ended up with hijacked browser, etc.

i am NOT an IT professional. just an office manager whose stuck with this pc job.

Try this:

1. Insert a blank CD in your CD Rom drive.
   
   
2. Download IsoBurner-Setup.exe from this page.
   
   
3. Double-click that file to install it, and then let it run the program when installed.
   
   
4. At the top of the ISO-burner program, on the right, click the button with "..." on it, browse to the UBCD ISO file you downloaded earlier and click it.
   
   
5. Now click the Burn button.
   
   
6. When the program is done burning the CD, it should pop out the CD for you.
   
   
7. Re-insert the CD and boot your computer from it.

successfully got your steps 1-7 done.

when it boots from the CD i get the DOS-looking page on http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/download.html.

there is no "recovery console" option. should i be following the "UBCD FreeDOS R1.50" option?

if so, and still follow your earlier commands ...

attrib -r -s -h c:\boot.ini
del c:\boot.ini
bootcfg /rebuild
fixboot

another question ... how does this whole process know what windows system i'm trying to repair?

thanks again,

UBCD5 is in my signature. That is for diagnostics, not the Windows recovery. Run the hard drive manufacturer's diags that match your brand of hard drive.

You will still need a Windows XP disc to run the recovery console.

Here's some examples of what Dell's Windows XP Home edition with SP3 (Service Pack 3) CD looks like, and XP Professional.

This doesn't mean it has to be from Dell though. As long as it's a Windows XP Setup CD of the same version as yours, ("Home" or "Pro", with no SP or SP 1, 2 or 3), it should work.

so after all this i STILL need a physical windows XP installation disc?

i don't have one.

i have a D partition that i can boot to to completely reinstall XP and thereby wipe all my software and data. this is what i'm trying to avoid.

i'm totally confused now.

why was i directed to create this UBCD?

going back to my post, i'm trying repair or re-create the HAL.DLL file that prevents my XP machine from booting up.

Re-read Post #11,

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dneilson

Re-read Post #11,

---

And post #3. You should run hardware diagnostics first. If the drive is bad, there is no sense wasting time trying to repair Windows. While you're at it, you can run Memtest86+ off of UBCD as well.

Like I said, UBCD is in my signature. I did not explicitly tell you to download it. However, it is a very handy tool to have.

Go back and look closely at Midknyte's first post in this thread.

http://www.SpywareDrGuide.com/Virtua...9;s_sig_01.jpg

So yes, in order to boot up into XP's Recovery Console you will need to boot your computer from a XP Setup CD.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zeszut

a co-worker tried to start my xp pc and got the error that the "hal.dll" file is either missing or corrupted.

it's a dell machine and i don't think there is a physical disc with xp on it. just a restore from the D partition.

---

i followed all the instructions i was given here and now i'm not sure why. what is this UBCD for, anyway?

can you all verify that i CANNOT fix this problem but must re-install XP from the D partition?

thanks

maybe midknyte should remove that from his signature. as he can see, it's confusing.

You're the first person to have a problem with my signature.

Like I said, UBCD is for hardware diagnostics. You should verify that the hardware (hard drive and ram) is good before you try fixing software.

If you still want to go ahead and try to fix the HAL file, you need to use an XP CD.

the problem resulted from you just posting a link without any actual reply. i just assumed the second link was just that ... a second link to follow.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by zeszut

maybe midknyte should remove that from his signature. as he can see, it's confusing.

---

You tell him. I heard he's humongous. Something like 6'9", 350 pounds of solid muscle, and meaner than a wet hen. ;)

Hah! Not quite that big... yet.

I'll see what I can do about my sig later. Right now, I'm dealing with an uncooperative Oracle/Redhat server. :(

In one of her moods eh? Best of luck. :)

praise the lord!

i arrived at work and, lo and behold, there IS a XP installation disc for my machine!

i got into the recovery console. it asked me which installation i wanted to log into. i typed "1" (for C:\windows).

i then typed in: attrib -r -s -h c:\boot.ini

and it said "invalid parameter".

any ideas?

thanks.

i typed "help attrib". should there be a "+" or "-" before the "c:\boot.ini"?

• The command:
  
  
  attrib -r -s -h c:\boot.ini
  
  removes the "Read-only", "System" and "Hidden" file attributes.
  
  
  
• The command:
  
  
  attrib +r +s +h c:\boot.ini
  
  adds the "Read-only", "System" and "Hidden" file attributes.
  
  
  
• The command:
  
  
  attrib c:\boot.ini
  
  will show you which file attributes are assigned to the "c:\boot.ini" file.
  
  Note that the "A" (Archive) attribute you might see with this command does not really matter in this particular instance because the DEL (delete) command you will be using next will work whether "c:\boot.ini"'s "A" attribute is either On or Off.
  
  
  
• The command:
  
  
  attrib /?
  
  will display all of the parameters that can be used with the "Attrib" command.

Note: The single space character you see between each of those parameters above is important. If they are missing, the command may fail.

i have the prompt:

c:\windows

i am typing the following:

attrib -r -s -h c:\boot.ini

and getting the folling messager:

the parameter is not valid. try /? for help.

am i at the wrong prompt?

ok.

i changed all the attributesindividually. deleted the boot.ini file.

when i tried "bootcfg /rebuild" i get the following error

faile to uccesfully scn disk for windows intallations

it suggets running chkdsk to detect any errors

which i am doing now

scan finished.

bootcfg /rebuild

get me:

scanning all disks for windows intallation
pleae wait, ince thie my take a while ...

*croses fingers*

rebuild i done

however, before i can type in fixboot, it is now asking me if i want to add installation to boot list (yes/no/all)?

what should i say?

i went ahead and said yes. removed CD. restarted.

now i just get a curser in the upper left.

dead drive?

going back to try attrib over again

rebuilding again

If you get the 'black screen' again, see if will it boot up in Safe mode.

1. Turn the computer off. Wait a minute or two and then turn it back on.
   
   
2. As soon as the BIOS loads, begin tapping the [F8] key on your keyboard. Do so until the "Windows Advanced Options" menu appears.
   
   Note: If you begin tapping the [F8] key too soon some computers display a "keyboard error" message. If this happens, simply restart the computer and try again.
   
   
3. Use the [Up] and [Down] arrows to highlight the "Safe mode" option and then press [Enter].

will do

f8 does nothing

during the bio load it does say ut f12 for boot options.

i did.

give me :

onboard sata harddrive
onboard or ub cd-rom drive
sytem setup
diagnostic

as my option

Run the "diagnostics" on the hard drive and see what it says.

"no problem have been found ... do you want to run the remaining memory tests? this will take about 30 minutes or more? continue? yes or no."

is what i get after tests