hal.dll driver repair question

Between 11-14-2010 and 11-20-2010, my PC has suffered 7 blue screen crashes. I ran the BlueScreenView diagnostic--thanks to Bog for pointing it out to me--and it indicated all 7 crashes were apparently caused by the hal.dll driver in the Windows Vista operating system. I presume the hal.dll driver is corrupted and in need of repair or replacement. My PC has the Windows Vista OS automatic updates function activated and I've installed all updates to date except for those associated with Windows Live Essentials, which I do not use, and Internet Explorer (IE) 8, as I prefer IE 7 for its Favorites management.

I'd greatly appreciate answers and information related to the following questions:

1. What is the best approach to repairing or updating the hal.dll driver? Can I use the original Windows Vista OS install CD that was enclosed with my PC or should I seek an online source?

2. If I use the original OS install CD, can I activate the repair process inside Windows, or do I need to reboot the PC using the install CD and choose the "repair" option during the reboot process?

3. On a related topic, what is the function/significance of the hal.dll driver?

[I tried to find answers to the questions above using Google search, but I could not find them. Admittedly the answers may have appeared during the search and I simply overlooked them.]

Thanks for reading and any responses.

 

HAL.dll is the Hardware abstraction layer, it is the buffer between krnl mode and the hardware. If the bluescreen is random then it most likly a BIOS or driver issue. If the bsod is at bootup and the screen says HAL.dll is missing or corrupted then it would be necessary to repair the install. Up until XP, in the NT world drivers were called custom HALLs and drivers were used for DOS Based Windows OSs (ie - Win9x).

 

Jeff-

Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions. The BSOD is random and has not occurred at boot-up. Should I try to reinstall the hal.dll driver from the Windows Vista OS install CD or try to find it on Dell or the Microsoft site on the internet? When searching for the driver, do I look for "hal.dll"?

 

HAL.dll is a core part of the OS, it is what the "driver" typically interacts with. I would run the Problem Reporting APP and see if it can narrow down the issue. Like I said above it is usually a BIOS or Hardware Driver issue. Video drivers as infamous for this kind of BSOD. Have you recently updated the Video Card Driver? Also you may run the Memory Diagnostics on the Repair Option from Windows RE (That is the environment when you boot from the Vista DVD and go into Repair).

HTH,

Jeff

 

Jeff:

Thanks for your additional advice. Admittedly I didn't follow up on your advice for several days as the blue screen events seem to cease during that time. However, the blue screens have returned more frequently than before and I am currently reviewing my GPU drivers and installing the updated ones.

 

Jeff-

I finally updated my nVidia GPU driver and this seems to have rectified the blue screen crash recurrences. My update was delayed further by the Dell website's failure to allow downloads of updated drivers from its driver section and I had to go to the nVidia site to find an appropriately updated driver. Interestingly, the nVidia site lists 18 updated drivers for GPU, none of which corresponded to the updated driver recommended by the Dell driver update section. I contacted a nVidia tech staff person by live chat who advised me to obtain my updated driver from Dell, as Dell would know the most appropriate updated driver for my PC. When I told the tech person of my difficulty accessing the Dell driver site, she then spent a few minutes apparently reviewing the updated drivers and recommended an updated driver that was several generations behind the newest driver, stating that the newer drivers were not as stable as the recommended one. Anyway, I duly downloaded the recommended driver and installed it without problems last evening and the blue screen crashes, which had been occurring 2-3X/day, have not so far. Thanks much for your advice.

 

I'm glad that you were able to rectify the BSOD issue...like I said video drivers are infamous for this type of issue and nvidia and Vista are the worse...

Jeff