XP Boot Problems

[David Lyons]

I am having terrible problems with booting up XP and was wondering if
someone could help.

I foolishly amended the Windows boot.ini file with the intention of removing
a redundant boot reference and now the pc will not let get back into windows
xp - the error message i receive is :-

"windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll"

To get into the pc to repair/fix the file is impossible - it simply won't
let me in - even in safe mode - when i attempt to run the boot up disks for
XP i receive the following message just as the last disk finishes :-

"a problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent
damage to your computer

page_fault_in_nonpaged_area"

Can anyoen advise id there any way at all I can get into XP from here? Any
help would be wonderful.

I am not bothered about losing data - I just want to get into the computer
even if it means losing files that are on the hard drive.

Thanks in advance.

David Lyons.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Try the following link to MVP Kelly's web page:

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

 

[Alex Nichol]

I foolishly amended the Windows boot.ini file with the intention of removing
a redundant boot reference and now the pc will not let get back into windows
xp - the error message i receive is :-

"windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll"

That indicates that there is corruption of the boot.ini file (as a
result of your efforts). That tells the boot where to look for windows
components, and it is looking in the wrong place. Hal.dll just happens
to be the first file 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.
Give:
ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini
DEL C:\Boot.ini
(thus deleting the old one)
BootCfg /Rebuild