Windows Won't Boot

[p_l]

*Somebody* at my house used my computer while I was away at work and now it won't boot anymore. I get the black screen with the message that <windows root>/system32/hal.dll is missing or corrupt and to reinstall it. Now, I did manage to find that file on another computer and copy it to a floppy, but my DOS skills are really rusty and I don't know how to go about copying it from the floppy to where it belongs. Help!

[ROF]

copy hal.dll c:\windows\system32

If this works, which I hope it does great, but you will find that some hardware allocations are incorrect, or further system files get corrupted by using another computers Hardware Abstraction Layer file. The proper way to correct this problem, if you can boot to DOS is to delete your Boot.ini and run your recovery console from the Win XP CD.

[p_l]

copy hal.dll c:\windows\system32

If this works, which I hope it does great, but you will find that some hardware allocations are incorrect, or further system files get corrupted by using another computers Hardware Abstraction Layer file.

So that's what hal stands for. I thought maybe I was experiencing some kind of 2001: A Space Odyssey problem.

The proper way to correct this problem, if you can boot to DOS is to delete your Boot.ini and run your recovery console from the Win XP CD.

Thanks, and exactly how do I do this, step by step?

Is it like this?

If so, which of these do I choose, and is there anything else I should know?

Recovery Console commands

The following commands can be used with the Recovery Console:

• Attrib

Changes the attributes of a file or directory.

• Batch

Executes the commands specified in the text file.

• Bootcfg

Boot file (boot.ini) configuration and recovery.

• ChDir (Cd)

Displays the name of the current directory or changes the current directory.

• Chkdsk

Checks a disk and displays a status report.

• Cls

Clears the screen.

• Copy

Copies a single file to another location.

• Delete (Del)

Deletes one or more files.

• Dir

Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

• Disable

Disables a system service or a device driver

• Diskpart

Manages partitions on your hard drives.

• Enable

Starts or enables a system service or a device driver.

• Exit

Exits the Recovery Console and restarts your computer.

• Expand

Extracts a file from a compressed file.

• Fixboot

Writes a new partition boot sector onto the specified partition.

• Fixmbr

Repairs the master boot record of the specified disk.

• Format

Formats a disk.

• Help

Displays a list of the commands you can use in the Recovery Console.

• Listsvc

Lists the services and drivers available on the computer.

• Logon

Logs on to a Windows installation.

• Map

Displays the drive letter mappings.

• Mkdir (Md)

Creates a directory.

• More

Displays a text file.

• Net Use

Connects a network share to a drive letter.

• Rename (Ren)

Renames a single file.

• Rmdir (Rd)

Deletes a directory.

• Set

Displays and sets environment variables.

• Systemroot

Sets the current directory to the systemroot directory of the system you are currently logged on to.

• Type

Displays a text file.

[ROF]

Use the startup with recovery option. This problem usually occurs in dual boot(multi-OS) systems, but has happened in single OS setups. make sure to boot from the CD. The setup will check all your hardware and give you the option of recovery. Follow the microsoft directions and you should be all set after it completes.

[thevoelk]

At the recovery console, type:

expand [cd-drive]\i386hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll

All in one command. That will expand the original, compressed hal.dll to the correct location. If you're lucky enough, you may be able to get away using the HAL from a functioning Windows install, with caveats:

1) Must be the same processor class (i.e P4, A64, etc)
2) Same drive type, IDE,SCSI, SATA
3) Same versions of Windows, preferably same Service Packs.

If your hard drive is formatted as NTFS, you can't use a DOS boot disk, since it can't read an NTFS partition, you'll have to use the recovery (command) console. It's similar to DOS, but not exactly the same.

[p_l]

caveats:

1) Must be the same processor class (i.e P4, A64, etc)
2) Same drive type, IDE,SCSI, SATA
3) Same versions of Windows, preferably same Service Packs.

1) no
2) yes
3) yes, no

So I guess I shouldn't try this?

[p_l]

No joy. Now it's telling me that ntoskrnl.exe is missing or corrupt, and to replace it. Could it be that my whole boot.ini is messed up? How can I fix it?

[p_l]

OK, I managed to copy that file, too, but now it says there is a software problem, and to report the problem as "load needed DLLs for kernel."

How far up the creek am I?

[guns1inger]

boot from the original XP CD. Choose to install windows XP. Point it to the partition you have windows on. It will detect that an installation exists and offer to do a repair install. This will replace the system files, but keep the registry and information regarding other installed software. Worst case, you may have to install updates/service packs again. I have used this technique to rescue many problem installations, and even to upgrade entire motherboard/graphics subsystems under a working copy of windows.