Hal.dll missing or corrupt

[Guest]

I get a message after the bios screen comes up after I boot up my computer

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

At this point I press any key, and it does an auto reboot, I can hit F2 to enter setup, or if I hit F8 fast enough I can enter where you can go into safe mode etc. only it boot up in safe mode or any mode for that matter, it always goes back to that error message. I have changed the boot up options in the bios to boot from the CD, and I put my Windows XP Professional CD in, but it wont boot up, always goes back to the above error message

I am at a loss on what to do

the computer is a HP Vectra VE, Pentium III, 500MH

Can anyone give any ideas ? Tips? HELP? >.

Thanks
Ann

 

[Guest]

Correction: It will not** boot up in safe mode or any mode for that matter

 

[roger]

Hi Ann,


[...]

At this point I press any key, and it does an auto reboot, I can hit F2 to enter setup, or if I hit F8 fast enough I can enter where you can go into safe mode etc. only it boot up in safe mode or any mode for that matter, it always goes back to that error message. I have changed the boot up options in the bios to boot from the CD, and I put my Windows XP Professional CD in, but it wont boot up, always goes back to the above error message.

[..]

When you boot from the XP CD, you have to press any key in the first
five seconds or it will try to boot from the HD.

In the Microsoft Windows Recovery Console, select R for repair, and
then press Enter.
Select the installation number for the problem installation.
Type the password for the administrator account of that installation,
and then press Enter (It may be that no administrator password was
used, if so just press Enter)
You receive a drive:Windows> prompt, where drive is the drive on which
Windows XP is installed.

Then type:
bootcfg /list will show the list in boot.ini
bootcfg /rebuild will repair it.

More info:
Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=kb;en-us;Q314058

Good luck

 

[Guest]

I tried pressing any key but all it does it keep auto rebooting. I know with booting from the CD I should get a message that says "press any key to boot from cd" prompt, but I dont get that promt at all, I just get the error message that the file is missing or corrupt

I changed the boot up to boot from one CD Rom attempt and disabled the rest, I get a new message: Boot disk failure, insert system disk and press enter

However I know the XP Pro disk I have is a bootable disk, I used it on the computer Im using now a few days ago to reformat and reload XP

Im at my wits end

 

[roger]

Ann,

It appears it's having trouble reading the CD. Try cleaning it.
Or if you have a spare CD-ROM, swap it for the one you have.
It ought to boot from the CD

Good luck