Re: Missing or corrupt file message at boot attempt !

[Lance Joiner]

Try this link..
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

"Sam" > wrote in message
...
> This message appears on my Dell Dimension 4500S while attempting to boot.
(I'm running Windows XP Pro with all the patches and updates available.)
> "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."
> My computer is 18 months old and has been running justg fine with no
indication of a problem. Turned the 'puter off on Tuesday evening and the
above message appeared Wednesday morning.
> Dell tech tells me my only option is to "repair" or re-install the
operating system and lose some data.....Can anyone tell me of another option
that will not cause data to be overwritten ?

[roger]

Hi Sam,

Boot to the XP CD, go to the recovery console:

More information about the recovery console:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3b307654
How to use the Recovery Console

bootcfg /list wil show the list in boot.ini
bootcfg /rebuild will repair it, this is the command you need.

Good luck


On Thu, 11 Mar 2004 15:11:07 -0800, Sam
> wrote:

>This message appears on my Dell Dimension 4500S while attempting to boot. (I'm running Windows XP Pro with all the patches and updates available.)
>"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."
>My computer is 18 months old and has been running justg fine with no indication of a problem. Turned the 'puter off on Tuesday evening and the above message appeared Wednesday morning.
>Dell tech tells me my only option is to "repair" or re-install the operating system and lose some data.....Can anyone tell me of another option that will not cause data to be overwritten ?