Hal.dll missing XP home OEM - no CD

[Guest]

I havw a Sony VAIO P4 running XP Home edition. Recently I connected my new Sony Camcoder to the PC . It asked to install some software called PIXELLA. I said ok despite a warning from Windows that that this software is not XP certified. Since it came with a new Sony Camcoder, I proceeded with the installation which worked fine. Problem was next time I started my computer, it told me that HAL.DLL is missing or corrupt. I tried F8 and safe mode Same problem. Tried F2 and reset Bios still same problem. It seems it is having a problem reading the C DRIVE. Since the XP came with the computer I do not have a CD. The Sony Recovery CD wants to reformat my drive wiping all my data
I called Sony they were no help Told me to Re-format.
Anyone knows what I can do?
Thank you so muc
Ali

 

[Guest]

Try to borrow a friends CD of Windows XP [same as your version Pro or Home]

Put WinXP CD in the CD drive and typing the following:

extract d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dl
where d is the drive letter for your CD drive and c:\windows is the installation directory of windows [these may be different on your PC

Rather than rebuild your PC and loose all your data, you can spend the mone on a full retail version of XP Pro Upgrade and upgrade your existing version by booting off the CD, should you not be able to complete the step above