Hal.dll missing or corrupt after reboot

my roommates acer just threw up this message after he rebooted. I found this page goggling how to fix it.

http://www.compphix.com/corrupthal.html

however he never got a repair/reinstall disk when he got the computer. I have a XP pro disk, but he has XP home, and when I do what is on that page we do not get the repair option. what other ways are there to fix this without reinstalling from scratch?

 

Is it possible to access Windows? Can you boot in safe mode?

 

He most like won,nt be able boot at all you need to repair from the recovery console you need stander xp disk to do this or some way acess file system replace damage files

if have acess stander disk that just go thought guide you find to fix files

Also you might want to check hard disk at same time

 

It depends on whether or not this file is actually missing, or if the damage is worse.

Try this first.

Step 1

If you have a windows xp cd (yes, even your XP Pro), start the computer and boot with it and choose recovery console.

Then follow the instructions beginning at STEP 2

If you do not have a Windows XP CD, do the following


download RC.iso from the following link:

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/rc.iso

You need to burn this image to a CD and boot your computer with it--this is different than burning a file to a CD. If you do not know how to burn an ISO image, then download the following program to another Windows XP machine, install it.

make certain you download the proper installation for your version of windows. Open MY COMPUTER, choose HELP > ABOUT. Note the service pack and get the appropriate version of the iso burner power toy

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

After installation, reboot, then right click the RC.iso file you downloaded above and choose COPY IMAGE TO CD.

Then reboot your broken PC with that CD in the CD-ROM drive.

This will give you a recovery console to use to run

Insert the cd into the non-functioning PC



STEP 2

When boot begins, a windows setup will appear to start, but you will be taken to a recovery console.

You will need to select your windows installation by pressing a number, most likely 1

Windows will ask you for a password

If you have XP home, press enter...there is no password

If you have XP Pro, you need to enter the password you set when you installed your machine with XP Pro.

After entering the password, you will find yourself at a command prompt that looks like this

c:\windows

type
chkdsk /r
<enter>

follow the prompts, then when it is complete, remove the CD

type

EXIT

<enter>

the machine will reboot

Did that fix it?

 

"Hey, why is he suggesting this?" some might wonder...

In many cases, the file is not actually missing, instead, the file system is damaged to the point where it cannot locate the file. Running a chkdsk will repair the file system and sometimes permit windows to start normally

 

Here's a very simple way to access your roommate's drive. Remove his drive and slave it into your PC (for a laptop, get an external enclosure). Boot your computer and then edit your roommate's boot.ini file.

 

thanks guys but we found the problem. it was with the eve-online update that came out today

http://myeve.eve-online.com/mb/news.asp?nid=1689

 

Holy smokes....any program that accidentally deletes the boot.ini file would be permanently removed from my computer forever. That is gross incompetence in programming

 

Wow! Talk about not doing any beta testing before releasing an upgrade.