Trying to boot I get error message saying <windows root> \system32\hal.dll file maybe corrupt please reinstall, how do I do this from the command line? Thanks DaveB

Hi Dave, You can try getting a fresh copy of that DLL from the XP CD. HTH M2

Try a repair from teh CD. If not: If you've got a Win 98 boot disk use that. Get the dll file you need and put it on a clean floppy. Boot using the floppy. At the A> prompt type C:\ to get you to the C: drive. Then go to where you want to be. Type CD\windows\system32 To check you are in the right place type dir /p That should ginve you a pageful of files. in the system32 directory. Press Enter to scroll down and see if you can spot the hal.dll file. Make a note of its size (about 131kb). Put the floppy with the new dll file in the drive. Type copy *.* That should copy all files into the system32 directory. So if you only have the one file on a clean floppy it saves having to type in the file name. Remove the floppy and try it. Good luck!

Isn't the hal.dll file in a cab file or compressed on the CD?

Also what do you do after opting for the repair option, all you get is a c prompt - what command should I use and what's the form it should take? Dave

The following is from sft-cyber.com This is the Windows "Hardware Abstraction Layer" file and is specific to the individual computer and its hardware. 1. Access the recovery console 2. Try running bootcfg/ rebuild from the console 3. Try Start>Run>CMD. sfc/sfc.exe with the original Win XP disk in place The system file checker (sfc) tool scans all protected files to verify their versions and repopulates the %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache folder with correct versions, as described above.

hoi polloi, Well, not quite. C:\ [enter] will not get you to the C: drive. This will: C: [enter] But instaed of going through all those gyrations and copyiny a:\*.* which will get you command.com and whatever else is not hidden, just stay at the A: prompt and: copy /b hal.dll c:\windows\system32 [enter] While we're at it, the straightforward way to find out what directory you're in, if the prompt is not set to something like $P (and why wouldn't it be?) is to: CD [enter] M2