Win could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or
corrupt:

\system32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of
the above file."

Use the following steps to resolve this error:

Step 1: Opening a command prompt
This error prevents Windows XP from opening. This problem has to be
addressed from a command prompt environment.

Use the following steps to open a command prompt environment:

Turn on the PC and press the F8 key repeatedly when the first screen
appears.

The Windows advanced options menu appears.

Use the Up and Down Arrow and Enter keys to select Return to OS
choices.

Select Microsoft Windows Recovery Console.

NOTE: If "Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console" is not listed, restart
the PC with a Windows XP CD, Recovery Console CD, or Recovery Tools CD
in the top CD or DVD drive and open Microsoft Windows Recovery Console.
If a Windows XP Setup screen appears when using Recovery Console CDs,
press the R key to open the Recovery Console.

NOTE: If "Microsoft Windows XP Recovery Console" does not list and you
do not have a CD with recovery console, try the following:

Turn on the PC, and press the F10 key repeatedly at the first screen.

At the Recovery screen, click Advanced Options.

Press the Alt + D keys at the same time to open a command prompt window
and skip to step 5.

When the login prompt appears, press the number next to the windows
version (minint or Windows) and type the logon password. Try pressing
Enter if you do not know the password.

At the command prompt, type the following: diskpart

Press Enter, do one the following:

If a table of volume names appears, remember the drive letter next to
the main drive volume name and press the Esc key.

If a diskpart prompt appears, type list volume, press Enter, remember
the drive letter next to the main drive volume name, type exit when
done, and then press Enter.

NOTE: If the main drive volume name does not appear in the list, the PC
needs to be recovered. For more information, refer to Performing a Full
System Recovery in XP .

Step 2: Restoring boot.ini
Use the following steps to replace the boot.ini file with the backup
boot.ini file:

Type the following at the command prompt: X: (where X is the drive
letter).
At the prompt, type the following: ren boot.ini boot.in2

Press Enter

At the prompt, type the following: ren boot.bak boot.ini

Press Enter

At the prompt, type the following: exit
Press Enter

The system automatically restarts. If Windows XP does not open,
continue to the next Step.

Step 3: Editing boot.ini
If the steps above fail to resolve the error, use the following steps:

NOTE: The following steps use the recovery partition on the hard drive.
If the recovery partition has been removed, these steps will not work
and you should recover the PC using recovery discs.


Turn on the PC. When the initial logo screen appears, press the F10 key
repeatedly until a message about starting recovery appears.

At the Recovery screen, click Advanced Options and then press the Alt
and D keys at the same time to go to a command prompt.

At the command Prompt, type the following: diskpart

Press Enter and type the following at the diskpart prompt: list volume

A table of drive volumes and names appears.

Note the drive letter next to the main drive volume name.

Type the following at the diskpart prompt: Exit

Press Enter and type the drive letter followed by a colon (:) at the
command prompt. For example, D:.

Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: attrib -h -s
-r boot.ini

Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: boot.ini

The file opens for editing in Notepad. Edit the boot.ini file to read
exactly as follows:

[boot loader]

timeout=0

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons

NOTE: If your PC came with Windows XP Professional, edit the line
referring to Home Edition under [operating systems] to read as follows:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect

Save and Exit from the menu.

Type the following at the command prompt: attrib +h +s +r boot.ini

Press Enter and type the following at the command prompt: Exit

Click Quit on the recovery screen to restart the computer.