XP won't start up

[Joe Mc]

My computer won't boot up to XP. I had upgraded to XP from
Me about a year ago. I keep getting the following error
message:

Windows could not start because the following file is
missing or corrupt:

<windows root>system32\hal.dll

I tried booting the computer from the 6 disc XP boot discs.
Got all the way through this process, and put in the XP
upgrade CD, but nothing happens - system not reading the CD.

tried to boot off a Me boot disc, but no luck there either.

Checking the MS website, it sounds like this error
typically happens during an upgrade, not several months later.

Any thoughts?

thanks

joe

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Try a repair install as follows:
NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if
something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start
over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up,
you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive and you have an
actual XP CD as opposed to a recovery CD, boot with the XP
CD in the drive and perform a repair install as outlined below. If the
system isn't set to boot from the CD or you are not sure, you need to enter
the system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter set press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

When the system boots, a few screens into the process you may see a message
instructing you
to hit any key in order to boot from the CD along with a countdown. When
you see this be sure to
hit a key on the keyboard, if you miss this instruction and the system fails
to boot from the CD, it's too
late, you'll need to reboot and try again.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console. ***The selection you want at this screen is
"Setup Windows,"
NOT "Repair Windows Installation.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.

If you only have a recovery CD, your options are quite limited. You can
either purchase a retail version of XP will allow you to perform the above
among other tools and options it has or you can run your system recovery
routine with the Recovery CD which will likely wipe your drive, deleting all
files but will restore your setup to factory fresh condition.

 

[Joe]

tried your suggestion...

I tried to boot up from the XP CD. The computer would
start to setup XP, but would stop at the point where it is
reading the hard drive. The C drive was coming up as
either damaged, unformatted, or formatted in a manner which
XP didn't recognize. The prompt at this point was to
reformat, which I'm holding off on. The other interesting
thing is that during this setup process, it didn't
recognize any other versions of XP.

I tried to boot up through Me again last night also
(original OS). Again, it got only so far. As part of the
setup process, Me runs Scandisk, which kept running into
errors on the hard drive while reading the file alloc table.

thanks

joe

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Usually, a Hal.dll error as you described in your original post is simply an
indication the file is corrupt or missing. A repair install forces the
system to go through the hardware recognition process and recreate the
Hal.dll without the need to wipe the system and start over.

However, the issue you are having, indicates the reason you received the
error was the setup itself is corrupted and apparently from what you are
reporting is too damaged to be repaired. This means a reformat that you
should realize is going to wipe the drive and starting over with a fresh
install.

If you have a retail version of WinME as opposed to a customized OEM CD that
might not be recognized by XP setup, you can actually do a clean install of
XP and only insert the WinME disk when requested for proof of a previous
operating system.

Do understand, this procedure will cost you all information on that drive
but, right now, that is a moot point as the setup cannot be repaired though
there is the alternative of creating a separate partition, installing XP to
that partition and then trying to copy your data from the old setup to the
new one; this would require third party software such as Partition Magic,
www.powerquest.com, now owned by Symantec for the purpose of resizing the
original drive to create enough free space to use for a new partition
assuming you don't already have an extra partition already created that
could accommodate the installation of an operating system.

All other procedures, formatting, deleting and recreating partitions can be
done during XP setup as follows:
Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive, boot with the XP
CD in the drive. If it isn't or you are not sure, you need to enter the
system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter setup press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

A few screens into the boot process, if you see the message on the boot
screen to "Press any key in order to boot from the CD," do so.

After loading drivers and files, you should be taken to a screen with
the following:

To Setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.
To Repair a Windows XP Installation using Recovery Console press R.
To Quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

In your case, press ENTER.

Agree to the License agreement by pressing F8.

You will then be taken to a screen with two options.

To repair the selected Windows XP installation press R.
To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing,
press ESC.

This will bring you to a partition map where you
can delete, create and format partitions.
Select the drive you wish to format, delete the partition, then create a new
partition, format as desired and continue with XP installation.