Windows cannot boot because 'hal.dll' is missing or corrupt.

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:18 pm

So, yesterday I was playing Gears online and my mother says "why is your laptop rebooting?" and I'm like "wtf?" and I walk over to see that it's sitting on a 'failed boot' message (giving me the standard stuff the IBM bios always will when attempting to start the thing). I try rebooting, Ctrl+Alt+Del, and I finally get the thing to at least recognize that there is a hard drive in it.
The message I got was:
Windows failed to start because 'hal.dll' is missing or corrupt.
I logged onto the computer I'm on now and checked it out, hal is the Hardware Abstraction Layer Dynamic Link Library.
I'm sure there are more problems than just that, though.

Suggestions? I'm going to try and get a bigger HD (I have a 20gb, I'm getting a 40, oh boy...) I'm going to try and run the Windows CD's repair function, see what that does, just need to get one first...

The_Hushed_Casket · Post by **The_Hushed_Casket** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:26 pm

The Hardware Abstraction Layer has to do with your GPU and graphics drivers, that's all I know about that. I would say your best bet is to try to repair the installation with you Windows install CD or reinstall.

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 4:28 pm

Code: Select all

Windows could not start because the following file is missing
or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

I'll see what the 'repair' option on the XP disc does (as soon as I get it)

Scotch · Post by **Scotch** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:21 pm

Update cho drivers off microsoft or whatever website you bought your labtop from.

And is it the blue screen of death?

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:28 pm

Scotch wrote:Update cho drivers off microsoft or whatever website you bought your labtop from.

And is it the blue screen of death?

No. Why would I need to update my drivers?
How would I update may drivers? There was nothing wrong with the laptop when I was making a photomanip of SHOUTrvb's truck, and there was nothing wrong with it when I went to go play GoW. I haven't had a problem with the thing for at least 2 months. It just all of a sudden shutdown and died.
I'm thinking HD failure or, possibly, a virus of some sort that wreaked havoc on my windows DLLs.

EDIT:
Oh, and it's not the BSoD, it's a black-background, white-text, standard DOS message.

Scotch · Post by **Scotch** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:36 pm

I just say that and act like I know what Im talking about lol. SO UPDATE THEM DRIVERS

And I always used to get Blue screen of death when I played Guild Wars, So then I shut off automatic system shutdown on system failure, and it stopped shutting down.... "thumbs up"

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:01 pm

"Setup can not find a hard disk drive on your computer. (etc)"
Even does this with my new drive. IDE problem, maybe?

Code: Select all

 Windows XP Professional Setup
===============================

   Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.

   Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected
   to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware configuration is
   correct. This may involve running a manufacturer-supplied diagnostic
   or setup program.

   Setup cannot continue. To quit Setup, press F3

[cc]z@nd! · Post by **[cc]z@nd!** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:08 pm

dobule-check the cables and pin settings on the drive, and if you have any other HDDs laying around, try them, maybe you have a bad drive.

FleetAdmiralBacon · Post by **FleetAdmiralBacon** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 6:46 pm

It's a laptop - there are no cables to check. That's the big problem...

[cc]z@nd! · Post by **[cc]z@nd!** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:25 pm

sounds fun.... then it's either bad/dirty connectors, bad pin settings, or a faulty drive, unless i'm missing something....

VoiDeD · Post by **VoiDeD** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:11 am

Hello, HAL do you read me, HAL?

Affirmative, Dave, I read you.

Open the pod bay doors, HAL.

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.

xserre · Post by **xserre** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:19 am

ok this is what i do when i .dll file is missing or corrupt(i don't know if it works for windows but it did for halo &other games) i download my .dll files from http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?hal and just put em in the right directory i hope it helps

The_Hushed_Casket · Post by **The_Hushed_Casket** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:56 am

Well, again, he can't reinstall drivers or redownload .dlls because he can't boot into Windows.

Do you happen to have a Linux live CD of any kind? I would try booting that, if it can boot, try to mount the hard drive to see if it has any issues. If it can, it's probably a Windows problem. Otherwise it could be a hard drive issue.