Hi, i just restared my computer, and i got this error message: Windows could not start because the following file is mossing or corrupt: <Windows Root>\System32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of the above file. How do i re-install a copy of it?, i noticed when i botted from the Windows XP CD and went to repair en existing installation (not using the recovery console, actually going through the installation but only repairing it) it only shown the Windows XP Media Center on on C: and not the installation i use which is F: (Windows XP Professional), earlier on today i did try to delete the C: partition as i dont use that windows xp installation anymore, it was the active partition, may that be somthing to do with it?
Oops! :doh: The C:\ drive contains the boot files for ALL of the Operating Systems on your computer. You will have to use the repair option on the CD
Ok... and repair what?, as i said i have no option for the installation i use, do you mean use the Recovery Console, or just repair the media center installaton on C: and it will get the file working again?
I noticed that when i typed bootcfg /rebuild in the recovery console, it only found the media center installation aswell, so that means the boot.ini might be corrupt, what do i do?!?!?!
XP instalation is probably NOT media centre edition, XP has probably misread it to be media centre i think that command actually rebuilds the boot.ini file try deleting C:\boot.ini then Code: bootcfg /rebuild Edit: i think there may be a problem with HWF, the first quote i made is not being displayed properly, i'll see what sniper says, maybe i made a mistake:doh:
i tried bootcfg /rebuild, wouldent complete, said it couldent scan coz of errors and i should use chkdsk, so i did, i dident find any errors, then it found 1 or more errors, but i dunno how to fix the errors. [ot]Sniper must be doing some work on HWF [/ot]
i'm not sure, typr Code: help for a list of commands, the way i would do it is: boot win9x from another HDD, then use scandisk but theres probably a better way BTW: whenever i got Hal error, i'd just reinstall XP over itself
Pressing R takes me to the recovery console, the bootcfg /rebuild dont work, i cant repair the installation due to the fact that it cant be found, in the boot.ini file the entry for both installations is there, so i dunno what was up, but pressing r did not work, the os is dead now i think.
Willz try one of the following, 1. Fix a corrupt Boot.ini As the Windows XP operating system begins to load, the Ntldr program refers to the Boot.ini file to determine where the operating system files reside and which options to enable as the operating system continues to load. So if there's a problem rooted in the Boot.ini file, it can render Windows XP incapable of booting correctly. If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because Boot.ini has been corrupted, you can use the special Recovery Console version of the Bootcfg tool to fix it. Of course, you must first boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console as described in #4. To use the Bootcfg tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type Bootcfg /parameter Where /parameter is one of these required parameters: * /Add--Scans the disk for all Windows installations and allows you to add any new ones to the Boot.ini file. * /Scan--Scans the disk for all Windows installations. * /List--Lists each entry in the Boot.ini file. * /Default--Sets the default operating system as the main boot entry. * /Rebuild--Completely re-creates the Boot.ini file. The user must confirm each step. * /Redirect--Allows the boot operation to be redirected to a specific port when using the Headless Administration feature. The Redirect parameter takes two parameters of its own, [Port Baudrate ] | [UseBiosSettings]. * /Disableredirect--Disables the redirection. 2. Fix a corrupt partition boot sector The partition boot sector is a small section of the hard disk partition that contains information about the operating system's file system (NTFS or FAT32), as well as a very small machine language program that is crucial in assisting the operating system as it loads. If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because the partition boot sector has been corrupted, you can use a special Recovery Console tool called Fixboot to fix it. Start by booting the system with the Windows XP CD and accessing the Recovery Console as described in #4. To use the Fixboot tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type Fixboot [drive]: Where [drive] is the letter of the drive to which you want to write a new partition boot sector. 3. Fix a corrupt master boot record The master boot record occupies the first sector on the hard disk and is responsible for initiating the Windows boot procedure. The master boot record contains the partition table for the disk as well as a small program called the master boot code, which is responsible for locating the active, or bootable, partition, in the partition table. Once this occurs, the partition boot sector takes over and begins loading Windows. If the master boot record is corrupt, the partition boot sector can't do its job and Windows won't boot. If you suspect Windows XP won't boot because the master boot record has been corrupted, you can use the Recovery Console tool Fixmbr to fix it. First, boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console as described in #4. To use the Fixmbr tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type Fixmbr [device_name] Where [device_name] is the device pathname of the drive to which you want to write a new master boot record. For example, the device pathname format for a standard bootable drive C configuration would look like this: \Device\HardDisk0
