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.

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

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?

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?

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!

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.

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.