hal.dll corrupt/missing?

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ZollyMonsta

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#19830 3-Mar-2008 09:38

I went to launch my email this morning and got a BSOD (too quick to actually be able to read).
Upon restarting I get a message saying that hal.dll is missing or corrupt.

I've left the PC doing a disk check via recovery console. There's a command I found mentioned online which is supposed to rebuild the boot.ini... Will this fix this problem?

Just wondering why this would suddenly happen?

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chiefie

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#114292 3-Mar-2008 10:02

What OS is this? what version/copy of hal.dll to use depends on what system it is. There's Unicore, Multicore, ACPI etc...

From google search, you'd find quite a few links on how to restore HAL.DLL.

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ZollyMonsta

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#114296 3-Mar-2008 10:05

I'm running Windows XP Home Edition SP2

I'm going through these steps at the moment on this page

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/missinghaldll.htm

The system restore step won't work, it cant find the program (perhaps as I have System Restore disabled?)

I'm trying Step 2 at the moment, though It's come back and told me to run chkdsk first (left that running before I came to work).

It's very strange.. PC was left running overnight.... Try to open email (Thunderbird) and I get the nice BSOD :(

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chiefie

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#114297 3-Mar-2008 10:20

it is very very rare for HAL.DLL to get corrupted. I have only dealt with this once or twice and it's largely due to the hard drive's crapping out.

The instance you get it all back running, do a full backup of the files and documents you need, just in case.

If worse comes to worst, install a ghost/secondary copy of Windows and boot onto that new installation (either on same HDD or another HDD) and salvage your documents off and reinstall. Do this only if it is the very last resort.

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ZollyMonsta

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#114300 3-Mar-2008 10:27

It's a new PC (New from November 2007) so I'll see what the dskchk says. If theres a fault on the Hard drive then
it will be under warranty. Will see what the dskchk comes up with and take it from there.

I have a secondary hard disk so if I manage to get into windows I'll backup my data to that drive.

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Nightwyrm

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#114324 3-Mar-2008 13:11

I just had this with my work Dell laptop. After some internet-searching and running diagnostics, it was determined that the HDD was knackered.

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ZollyMonsta

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#114327 3-Mar-2008 13:33

lugh:
I just had this with my work Dell laptop. After some internet-searching and running diagnostics, it was determined that the HDD was knackered.

I've left the PC doing a long-scan using Seagate for DOS. Hopefully it will find errors (so then I at least know thats the problem). I note the windows folder is now gone but the contents appear to be under 'found' folders on C: drive (perhaps dskchk did this).

The next thing will be to get the 'my documents' data off (can still see it in the C: drive). I can copy it to the other sata drive in the machine, but unsure of the commands to do that. Need to copy the entire 'documents and settings' folder (including sub-folders) to the other drive. Any ideas?

That's two PC failures (brand new Nov 2007) in the space of a week.. Probably just bad luck :(

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chiefie

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#114340 3-Mar-2008 14:47

the quick and recommended method is install another copy of Windows XP (with same SP if possible) then copy and paste from the old drive to new location, that way, the LFN and other metabits are copied too. You can also use NTBackup to backup the whole folder structure.

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ZollyMonsta

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#114342 3-Mar-2008 15:09

I've been told to reinstall Windows.. but do not format the disk. That way 'My Documents and Settings' should remain
intact. Correct? :)

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dnb4life

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#114432 3-Mar-2008 20:59

ZollyMonsta:
I've been told to reinstall Windows.. but do not format the disk. That way 'My Documents and Settings' should remain
intact. Correct? :)

i'm pretty sure this is wrong. if you install windows on a partition it will always want to format it before installing windows. this will wipe your documents and settings. easiest way around this is to just backup your username folder that contains all your documents and favourites. also remember anything on your desktop will be wiped too unless you back it up via that username folder.

ZollyMonsta

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#114452 3-Mar-2008 21:52

dnb4life:
i'm pretty sure this is wrong. if you install windows on a partition it will always want to format it before installing windows. this will wipe your documents and settings. easiest way around this is to just backup your username folder that contains all your documents and favourites. also remember anything on your desktop will be wiped too unless you back it up via that username folder.

yeah I didnt risk it. Ironically I bought Acronis True Image last night (luckily backed it up to cd first and made boot cd).
Used the boot cd to copy archive of the files to D drive, then extracted it to a backup folder. Doing a complete format and re-install now. Will make an image when all updates done (just in case). I did a full scan of both hard drives using UBCD, no errors found. Likewise a memory scan did not find a memory fault.. so it may have been a virus. Time to ditch AVG. I've heard avast have a free edition (poor here....)

Cheers,
Grant

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chiefie

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#114458 3-Mar-2008 22:15

you can reinstall windows to the same partition in the sense of "repair windows installation", which then it will replace any corrupted files. Now the problem with this is, if your system has SP2 and you reinstalled using SP1 or RTM, then you'll get discripancy with different file version. So unless you have integrated Windows version with same SP as the installed version, or has created a slipstreamed copy to reinstall from; otherwise, install to another partition or as new windows installation to do a ghost/secondary copy to do backup and file salvaging process.

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ZollyMonsta

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#114464 3-Mar-2008 22:36

Thanks Chiefie..

Is windows XP SP2. Just finished the install now, including over 90 windows updates (thank goodness for broadband!)

Now just a matter of loading my programs back on (after making an image of course)

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weblordpepe

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#115588 9-Mar-2008 19:05

I only get hal.dll errors when I have been booting between devices, or swapping a drive from master to slave, or generally mucking around with hard drive configuration.