Windows hal.dll problem

timwidlock

Posts: 6   +0
I have a legal, store purchased, full installation Windows XP Home Edition Operating System disk. I have used it several times to install and reinstall Windows XP onto my computer. I have 1 harddrive im using a labtop and just a regular CD drive.

I recently encountered a problem with my computer when I booting up, where I received an error message something to the effect "system32\hal.dll" was corrupt of missing. After countless attempts to repair it using my system OS disk, I decided I would just reformat. However, once I press the F8 on the licensce agreement, I receive the error that "Setup could not read the CD you inserted or it is an invalid Windows CD."

This is someone elses post but excat same problem as me. i saw on other guys post u guys posted links to other sites and info with the recovery console. for some reasons the recovery things arent working and the commands arent working properly. One thing different is that i started installing or formatting the nat w.e. and it froze. so i had to restart then i got the cannot read disk problem. im stuck and on other computer. loss of words will someone please help me please!!!!

Thank you in advance.
 
anyone please

please help guys its moms computer and i have to fix it im not computer stupid i know a lot about them im just stuck with this certain thing please help me.
 
Could easily be a failed HDD. Try running the installed test suite - there should be one possibly started by a certain function key at boot time - failing that, discover the HDD manufacturer and type (use e,g, Belarc advisor). Then download and run the manufacturers tests.

However, failure to read the CD could also mean corrupt or failed bios. At least examine the bios to see if it makes sense, and of course you need to set the CD as the boot device in order to reinstall. But do what you can to prove the HDD is ok first.
 
Testes HDD its good. something is wrong with the bios but im not sure what steps to take to figure that out. also anyone know a way to fix this using the recovery console i dont know any commands on there. i went to help and tried a bunch of commands idk. when my computer starts it goes to an acer screen cause thats brand i can hit f2 and go to bios. then after that screen it will (if cd in) boot from cd and doesnt ask me to push any button just boots to windows xp setup screen to either set up fresh copy or repair. if i dont have disk in it goes to DOS mode and says "Error windows operation system not found...." im soo stuck still thanks for trying gbhall
 
If you can get into the bios, what does it say about the drives? Can you see them - HDD and CD at minimum. You could try resetting the bios to 'standard' or 'safe' or 'auto' or whatever it offers.

Refer to this http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/missinghaldll.htm

Other things you could try.....

Since you have another PC, I suggest you could create a bootcd such as http://www.prime-expert.com/ebcd/ or http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html or any small Linux bootable CD distribution such as http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu

The objective is to boot off that CD (set bios to boot from CD first). Then you can examine the XP filesystem and see if it is readable or not. If it is, I would recommend copying anything that needs to be saved onto a USB stick, since when you reinstall (as you possibly will need to), you will destroy everything there.

You could also possibly run chkdsk /r for the HDD (I'm sure you can do that or something like that from most of those distros). If the HDD seems to be working, and chkdsk either reports no errors or corrects them, then you can try a 'repair in place' from the Windows install CD as in first link.
 
gbhall thanks im gonna try those but fyi i already know. when i run chkdsk it tells me they are errors and i need to do something else to fix them. i forget excatly but i tried the other command it said and it said not a correct parameter for something. but im gonna try the bootable cd and ill let ya know.
 
chkdsk /r is what you're after.

Save any data you want & get a new HDD, it's only gonna get worse & fail altogether
 
frag what do u mean save any data. i can't even get into the computer both partitions are deleted and there's no operating system on the labtop. im on a stupid mac right now lol. i have to fix this and i dont have money for a new HDD so i have to try. ive seen this problem fixed at other places just their ways didnt work for me.
 
Man, you're gonna have to bite the bullet & get a new HDD. They're not that expensive... Assuming it's a SATA 2.5" then a 500Gb is only $70 Australian. I dunno where you live, but I'd imagine 60 Euros? Probably less if you shop around.

Your Data MAY still be recoverable. Easist way is to get a 2.5" USB Hard Drive caddy like this: http://www.ple.com.au/?p=snapshot&inventory_id=368 , plug in the dying drive, hook it up to a PC or Laptop & see if anything is accessible, if not, try a recovery tool like Recuva http://www.piriform.com/recuva .

Obviously you'll need to install Windows, Drivers, Programs etc on the new HDD. Pain in the ar53, but it'll have to be done.
 
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