bobok Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I have a Vaio desktop pre-installed XP Home Edition that suddenly wouldn't boot into Windows. All boot options brought me back to the same screen so I tried the single boot disk method which instead brought up the "hal.dll is missing" message. Since the comp didn't come with an XP setup cd I then tried the 6 floppy method which got me into the recovery console. I did bootcfg /rebuild and added to the boot list but when I restart it, it asks me to choose an OS (one is blank and the other is "Windows XP Home Edition"). Whichever one I click, just brings me back to the black boot option screen that I had before. Is there anything else I can try or will I have to reformat/re-install?ANY help would be greatly appreciated. I don't have money right now to have it looked at.Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 Follow the instructions exactly, and you should be able to get a working system again.When did this first occur? (please take your answer to this question into account when choosing a restore point.)http://forums.windowsforum.org/index.php?showtopic=15213 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobok Posted January 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 It happened about two weeks ago but strangely after a normal shutdown rather than a crash.I tried the method in the link but when I try to copy from the repair folder, it says it can't find the file. Is it possible that there isn't a repair folder? Also my OS is Japanese so maybe it has a different filename/in a different location? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 Hello, and welcome to the forum.No, the system folders are the same on English Windows and Japanese Windows. However, there is a possibility that the Win XP Home edition is different than the Pro edition.You wrote that your Vaio did not come with a Windows CD-ROM. If that is so, your install files could be somewhere on your HD?[Added] I don't know if the System File Checker can run against installation files on HD - anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobok Posted January 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 HiI made sure that I downloaded Home Edition for the floppy set so unless language is an issue, I can't think why the repair folder isn't there. If, as you say, there isn't a difference, how would I go about searching through the HD from the recovery console?- On a sidenote, there is an option using one of the F keys (can't remember which one - I tried them all) to restore the system to how it was when I bought it. I think it was called Recovery Wizard or something. If all else fails and I were to do this, would I lose all pre-installed programs as well as my data and settings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted January 25, 2006 Report Share Posted January 25, 2006 You probably would loose all data. This is a recovery process provided by the manufacturer. On most systems, it will perform an unattended re-install of windows, restoring it to factory defaults.The method I link to works for XP Home or Pro, including SP1 and 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobok Posted January 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 Ok, I found the installation files using dir (turns out the "repair/system" file is called system.bak for me) and did everything else in the link no problem. Got into windows, looked different but most of my data seems to be there, copied the restore point files etc. but now I'm just back where I started. Same reboot option screen and if I use the single bootdisk, same "missing or corrupt hal.dll" message.Could I have done something wrong in the process?Is is possible to get a new hal.dll file somehow? (without XP cd)Thanks for the help so far. Any suggestions?- I haven't tried fixboot or fixmbr because I don't know what a bootsector is and I heard they can mess things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 "hal.dll" is supposed to be in C:\WINDOWS\system32 - you don't have it there?There are many DLL download sites, but these are usually outdated. Also you probably need the Japanese version DLL. I will send you a PM how I can make a Japanese version of the XP-SP2 DLL available to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobok Posted January 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 SUCCESS!!Went through the process again, found the SP2 folder and just copied the hal.dll into System32 over the old one before I restarted. Changed the restore point and now everything's back to normal! Thanks so much for all your help - it saved me a lot of hassle and money!(Now I know why some people stick with earlier versions of Windows) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Can I recommend that you make a full backup of your system using a proprietary backup program so that in the future you can re-install everything as it was in about 20 - 30 minutes.OK, it will cost a few £, $, € or ¥ but it will save you all of this hassle :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.