WinXP doesn't boot anymore - hal.dll missing or corrupted

[Peter Reiter]

Hi

Today i installed Mandrake 10.1 Community Edition (Linux), after a
dissapointment i wanted to boot WinXP again (i installed Linux on a seperate
partition), and now WinXP isn't working
I get this error:
Windows could not be startet, because the following file is missing or
corrupted:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
(translated from German by me)

How can i repair windows?
i don't know very much about the Windows XP Repair Console, i tried it
tough, but i didn't have enough rights

Then i tried to install a blank WinXP on another partition, but now this is
happening again, after the first reboot during the setup

can anyone help me?

Thanks,
Peter

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Please try the following link to Kelly's web page:

"HAL - Hardware Abstraction Layer"
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_h.htm

 

[Peter Reiter]

Will,

Thanks for the link, rebuilding the boot.ini file fixed my problem

Peter

 

[Will Denny]

You're welcome Peter.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Today i installed Mandrake 10.1 Community Edition (Linux), after a
dissapointment i wanted to boot WinXP again (i installed Linux on a seperate
partition), and now WinXP isn't working
I get this error:
Windows could not be startet, because the following file is missing or
corrupted:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
(translated from German by me)

That message is rather misleading. It happens because the boot.ini file
that tells the boot where to look for 'Windows' is damaged, so it is
looking for files in the wrong place - hal.dll just happens to be the
first one it looks for.

Set the BIOS to boot CD before Hard Disk. Boot the XP CD and, instead
of Setup, take the immediate R for Repair. Assume any password
requested is blank, and TAB over.

Use
Attrib -H -R -S C:\boot,ini
DEL C:\boot.ini
to delete the bad one
BootCfg /Rebuild

to search for Windows installations and make a new one