PC will not boot, hal.dll is missing or corrupt

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 13:16

My old computer has recently decided not to work. You turn it on and it gives you the message saying a file (hal.dll) is missing or corrupt and therefore windows cannot load.

I have experienced this problem before and been able to fix it by simply copying the file from the XP cd using the recovery console. However, on this pc (which isn't really used by me much) it asks for an administrator password when trying to use the recovery console, which i have no recallection of setting and no idea of what it might be. I have tried just pressing enter so the password is blank, and have also tried it as password, admin etc etc. but no luck

Is there any way i can access the console without the password, i've seen a few workarounds on the net but they all require you to have access to the pc and command promt / registry or an entirely different way on how to fix the pc. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Ascendancy · 27 Oct 2008 at 13:52

Could try downloading a linux bootdisk and wiping the admin password.

awaybreaktoday · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:01

What happens if you just hit return when being asked for a password?

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:02

how would i go about doing that?

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:03

awaybreaktoday said:
What happens if you just hit return when being asked for a password?

I've tried that, it says password invalid

Participant · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:05

Ascendancy said:
Could try downloading a linux bootdisk and wiping the admin password.

This has saved me several times. Download Linux Knoppix, burn it to a CD / DVD, then boot from it as you would Windows. It's basically an OS that runs straight from the disk and should allow you to see and retrieve all your files then format / replace hard drive.

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 14:07

ok thanks ill give it a go.

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 16:33

running knoppix on the machine now, however i can't copy hal.dll over to the system32 folder on my hard drive, it just says cannot copy. I've tried to copy it from the xp install disc and also by downloading it from dll-files.com and using usb stick, neither files successfully copy to the system folder. Any ideas?

I thought this would be a nice easy way to fix the prob, but instead ill have a go of getting rid of the admin password in knoppix and then trying the xp recovery console again.

Edit: how can you access windows registry in knoppix?

Participant · 27 Oct 2008 at 16:38

Have you added another hard drive to this PC or changed the boot sequence recently? If so, make sure the first boot device is the main HDD.

Other options (from google)

- Try running XP's system restore from the command prompt
- Replace the boot.ini file, which can cause hal.dll errors
- Do a XP repair installation

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 17:06

nope, not changed the pc at all, it just died. I have been trying to do a repair installation, but when i boot from the XP cd the repair option isn't there. I can only use the recovery console (which wouldn't be a problem if it didn't ask me for this stupid password).

I've also tried a registry fix that i found to disable the admin password on the recovery console using knoppix but the registry directory where the file that you need to change is located it no where to be seen in my registry.

How would i use system restore in knoppix?

Dano · 27 Oct 2008 at 17:11

The repair option in the XP installer appears once you have selected a partition to install to.

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 17:33

Dano said:
The repair option in the XP installer appears once you have selected a partition to install to.

yes i know, but once i select the partition windows is installed on all it asks is whether i want to format using NTFS, NTFS quick or leave it intact, IIRC there should be a screen before that asking whether i want to repair or fresh install.

Anyway, i have been able to disable admin password for the recovery console in knoppix using a little utility. I then tried to use a fix that i've used before sucessfully, typing this into the console:

expand d:/i386/hal.dl_ c:/windows/system32/hal.dll

BUT it says "unable to create file hal.dll" (and yes, ive checked that those are the correct drive letters and dir's)

WTTFFF!

Antar Bolaeisk · 27 Oct 2008 at 17:43

The reason the repair operation won't accept the blank password is because the service pack of the CD doing the repair operation doesn't match the service pack of the System. It's a right pain but you'll need to get an SP2 from somewhere to be able to perform the repair using the cd.

At least that's why it didn't work for me before.

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 18:18

i've got past the password now, do you mean the reason it could not write the dll file is because they are different service packs? I think the disc is SP2 but the pc is probably SP3 now.

Antar Bolaeisk · 27 Oct 2008 at 18:27

Nope, I don't know why it won't write the file, I was just giving a reason why the recovery console wasn't accepting the password for you originally. Sorry, i didn't read all the posts properly.

Have you tried trying to expand the file into a different folder and then moving it into the system 32 folder? Just in case there's some glitch trying to overwrite the old hal.dll

Samfau2 · 27 Oct 2008 at 18:35

thats a very good idea i should really have tried that, but ive given up trying to fix windows now. Just going to get whatever files people want off the hard drive by hooking it up to my main machine then giving it a fresh install. I think its due a cleanup, there was so much rubbish on there before it stopped working that im suprised it didn't die sooner. The rest of my family don't seem to give computers as much love and care as i do lol.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions anyway. It's nice to have a Knoppix cd now too, i've never used it before and thinking back it could've saved me quite a few times in the past.

fallbayuk · 28 Oct 2008 at 13:55

ERD commander is worth looking at too in situations like this