ok i got a dual boot with c:\ for xp and d:\ for win 2000 i had some probles with the hal.dll i seemed to have fixed that but now i've read all this stuff of the net and microsoft and seemed to have mucked around and learnt a bit but now i get the message, windows coulnd not load. . . . blah blah Load needed DLLs for kernel so i read on microsfot ftp that i need to install hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe so i tired to copy them both from xp cd and win 2k cd, and copy from my working xp instalation to my win 2k system32 folder but the same message comes up i'm not sure if its a problem with my boot.ini which i thought i had sorted out, maybe not anyone help??

Hi mate, I had the same problem, make sure in your boot.ini there IS NOT anything which says /kernel=kernel1.exe or anything /kernel= DELETE IT! Then save and reboot, should be fine (You'll obviously have to remove the readonly etc from the file first) HTH, Thanks, Jim (can you email me if it works? - Thanks)

I am getting the same problem with Windows 2000. It started shortly after I fix a problem with a "...hal.dll is missing and/or corrupt..." error. IF anyone figures somethign out other than restorign to a previous backup and/or reloading let me know. I also already tried reloading ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll, without luck; and the boot.ini doesn't have any of those references.

Same here with XP Pro. Tried to join domain, rebooted and "slam": "Load Needed DLLs for Kernel". I've tried all the above with no luck. My boot.ini is clean, hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe expanded directly from the CD. I don't even have access to my product ID, without which I cannot get support from MS... Any help would be greatly appreciated!

it works so, i try to explain (iīm sorry my english is very bad) 1. you have to copy the halacpi.dl_ from the winxp cd (i386) to c:\windows\system32 2. copy from win2k cd (i386) the ntoskrnl.ex_ to d:\winnt\system32 3. then start ms-dos input (i donīt know how it is named in english) 4. go to c:\windows\system32 and typ> expand halacpi.dl_ myhal.dll 5. go to d:\winnt\system32 and typ> expand ntsokrnl.ex_ mykernel.exe 6. close ms-dos 7. open boot.ini (c:) 8. change the boot.ini to: [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /myhal.dll multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINNT="Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect /mykernel.dll 9. save and restart.