Windows XP hal.dll still missing after replacement on clone HD

[mylarjorgen]

i cloned my hard disk using XXClone freeware which came up with no problems during the cloning procedure then rebooted and selected the clone drive. i got a report that hal.dll was missing so i booted as normal and downloaded it from dll-files.com unzipped it and copied it to my clones system32,rebooted and got the same message.
I have enclosed a screen shot and the version is 5.0.2168.1

any suggestions?

Thanks, Great site. (e-mail address removed)

 

[Adywebb]

I do not have knowledge of XXClone - but the error you are receiving can be for several reasons, the most common being the Windows boot.ini file.


Have a look at the possible causes HERE, and try the boot.ini repair suggested.

 

[mylarjorgen]

Ah, therein lies the rub my friend. the proccess you linked me to requires an XP install disk but i bought this old bucket second hand from a bloke who had a nice new Vista machine, and didnt notice the disk missing until i'd erased his number from my phone. hence the reason i am so desperate to clone my hard disk. a veritable mare of the night, huh.

Take note, all you second-hand PC buyers.

but many thanks for the speedy response.

any other ideas?

i do have an angle grinder though. Heh!

 

[Adywebb]

You can always borrow an XP disc from a friend etc and use that

 

[mylarjorgen]

would that work? i thought they had some kind of code thingummy so it would only work on 1 pc.

 

[Adywebb]

You won't be able to do an install from it - but you will be able to use the recovery console to attempt a repair

 

[mylarjorgen]

Nice one. whilst im here, could you suggest a really simple, non-techy version of linux to try. i would like to try a walk outside bluescreen land for a change but dont want to be out of my depth. i have a PIII 600 with 770Mb RAM and an empty 40Gb HD. no special usage requirements. i have only a basic knowledge of pc's.

cheers, <Ady edit: email addy removed for your own security>

 

[Adywebb]

Try Ubuntu 7.10 - it is simple and dead easy to setup and you can try it without installing first by running the live CD and having a play.

Installation

 

[mylarjorgen]

Damn Andy, is there anything you don't know?

OK try this one. its had me stumped for ages.
Here goes.
My old 2000 OS was a bit strange and did some odd things but one thing it could do that my new XP gadge cant is play some (Ahem) DVDs that i had converted to AVI's that i had on an old storage hard drive. Now, when i run them on this (and my old XP HD(sadly deceased due to a bout of No.4 iron disease), i just get the sound track (oh, oh, more etc.) and that patterny effect from the windows media visualisation thingy. This happens even if WMP is off and i am using intervideo WinDVD player. i know its not a corruption of my old (Ahem) movies because a/ they still play fine if i crank up the old 2000 disk and b/ i just downloaded a movie clip in avi format and the same thing happened again with both WMP and WinDVD.

Now that ones got you stumped hasn't it.

 

[Adywebb]

A couple of things come to mind - incorrect or lacking codecs/DivX, or your graphics card.

Are you using an Nvidia graphics card?

 

[Me__2001]

looks like ady has wondered off lol

this one i should be able to help with, sounds like you dont have the right codecs installed

go HERE and download one of the codec packs, it should sort you out

 

[Adywebb]

looks like ady has wondered off lol

I'm still here - and you're not quick enough

 

[mylarjorgen]

i looked in device manager under display adaptors and it says

S3 Trio 32/64

(i could switch off and pull it out if you need me to)

and it does show video codecs but im a bit unclear on that subject (as with many others, Heh!)

have enclosed another screen shot for you

relly do appreciate the help and sorry for calling you Andy Ady.

 

[mylarjorgen]

just searched the who lot for "nvidia" then "divX" and no results either time.

 

[Me__2001]

I'm still here - and you're not quick enough

got distracted by the missus mid post

 

[mylarjorgen]

heh! enjoy mate. thanks you guys, im going to reboot now to see if it has worked.

check out a site called fontgarden.com ??? (i think its archives you need) for some wicked phrases like the ones on Adys box-thingy (all technical stuff here you know) and thanks to "me" too. erm?

anyway will let you know soon.

 

[Adywebb]

i looked in device manager under display adaptors and it says

S3 Trio 32/64

(i could switch off and pull it out if you need me to)

No need, I know what you've got - and its really old

 

[mylarjorgen]

hi, got some good results. and some still veeery odd.

firstly, when i loaded up that allin1 codec pack, i did get a picture. Oh, Oh, YEEES, BUT, and its a big but, (lots of jokes, keep em to yourself) it (the film converted to AVI) still had fluid sound but the image refresh rate was about 1 truetime frame every 1.5 seconds. i'll try that again, the sound and picture were in sync but the visuals were only updated every second or so. i have 780Mb RAM so that shouldnt be the problem i think/hope.
next
when i ran a DVD on Intervideo, the same thing (as was happening before)happened which was, initially you get a smallish display screen in the middle of the monitor (as normal), but then it went sort of oblong and didnt expand to full screen (not normal) THEN, the cursor turned into a black square about 25mm x 25mm with at first 4 white lines running vertically then shortly after, 8 lines. When the cursor was over a coloured background the lines appeared dark, sandy brown but over tha black screen that was my DVD, they turned white. Please doc, can you help me? im a good man honest.
The Thick Plottens.
If you can understand any of this you are..... Hmmm..... possibly an alien.

 

[Adywebb]

I'm not an alien - but I'll hazard a guess


Your graphics card is really old and uses the stock drivers provided by Windows - I would suggest that it may not be up to the job.

When you say they run fine under 20000, is this dual booting on the same machine, or is 2000 on a different one?

 

[mylarjorgen]

No its a PIII 800 with half the RAM but im goint to swap over the cards now to see if it makes any difference.

It makes sense what you said because even tho the 600MHz is XP, the 800MHz had a different and maybe better card. By the cringe sir, i think you may have cracked it. Back soon. M