Hal missing or corrupt with new RAM

[fastrack1966]

I've had the familiar hal.dll missing or corrupt on starting XP SP1 on
a mainboard Name MSI KM2M Combo (MS-6738).
All I did was to take out the 1 Gig of SDRAM I've used OK for months
and fit a new 1 Gig DDR module.
A year or two back I had STOP errors through merely changing a RAM
module, the simplest upgrade usually, so I kept switching RAM until it
went with no STOPs. I resent having to reinstall an OS for a
five-minute RAM refit!
Obviously the hal error is caused by the new DDR module, since I'm now
using the old SDRAM. Is there a way around this apart from the dreaded
reinstall of OS? In the rare event the DDR could be faulty does anyone
know a non-windows DDR test utility please?
Amnesiac

 

[Alan Smith]

I've had the familiar hal.dll missing or corrupt on starting XP SP1 on
a mainboard Name MSI KM2M Combo (MS-6738).
All I did was to take out the 1 Gig of SDRAM I've used OK for months
and fit a new 1 Gig DDR module.
A year or two back I had STOP errors through merely changing a RAM
module, the simplest upgrade usually, so I kept switching RAM until it
went with no STOPs. I resent having to reinstall an OS for a
five-minute RAM refit!
Obviously the hal error is caused by the new DDR module, since I'm now
using the old SDRAM. Is there a way around this apart from the dreaded
reinstall of OS? In the rare event the DDR could be faulty does anyone
know a non-windows DDR test utility please?
Amnesiac

There are memory test utilities but they are not as good as a dedicated
hardware test unit. Ask your local computer repair centres if they have a
tester and get the job done properly if possible.

 

[fastrack1966]

Thanks Alan, this sounds as though it will be chargeable, I'll make
enquriies. I ran something called memtester all night and in 8 passes
it found no errors.
This suggests the Hal is unhapppy with my using a DDR memory slot I
guess
Amnesiac

 

[Kelly]

HAL=Hardware Abstraction Layer

How to Move a Windows XP Installation to Different Hardware
http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBJ/tip4800/rh4839.htm

Situations in Which Windows May Not Start in Safe Mode
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q199175

How to Troubleshoot Hardware Abstraction Layer Issues
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q237556

More information and a workaround here:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_h.htm#xp_hall.dll

--

All the Best,
Kelly (MS-MVP)

Troubleshooting Windows XP
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com

 

[frodo]

get and run memtest86+ to validate that the new ram is ok.

you did validate the new ram timings in the bios already, right? perhaps a
cmos clear is in order.

 

[fastrack1966]

Thanks each of you. The CMOS reset got everything started again but
then I blew the dust off the mobo manual:The DDR module is PC3200 and
the MSI6738 only supports PC2100. Found no less than four BIOS updates
from MSI that I was lacking but still no joy so
1) Reverted to SDRAM
2) Emailed the shop to see if theyll swap the PC3200 for PC2100.
Another odd thing that hardly helps, in Dev Mgr the Computer is listed
twice, as ACPI Uniprocessor and Standard PC. I'd like to uninstall the
latter since the former is what switches off the ATX power
automatically at Shutdown. Uninstall only appears on rightclicking the
ACPI entry, not the Standard PC?
Amnesiac

 

[frodo]

well, the pc3200 should work just fine in place of pc2100, it's just
faster than required.