The Hal.dll-file lets the applications in "Microsoft Windows" communicate with your PC’s hardware. It prevents applications from directly accessing your PC’s memory, CPU, and other hardware devices, this feature is built to stabilize your operating system and prevent it from crashing.

The most common occurring error messages caused by problems with Hal.dll:

• "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."

• "Winnt_root>\system32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt: Please re-install a copy of the above file."

• "Cannot find \Windows\System32\hal.dll."

• "Cannot find Hal.dll."

The error messages stating that the Hal.dll-file is missing or corrupt usually appears in the start-up process of your PC. Windows has not fully loaded and started as it appears. There are different causes to why problems with Hal.dll generates. Some are: a damaged Hal.dll file, or the Hal.dll file has been moved or deleted. Another cause for errors with Hal.dll is a damaged or missing “boot.ini” file or a physically damaged hard drive.

One solution to your problems could be to download the Hal.dll file and re-install it in its intended folder. In which way your PC can locate it and maybe function normally.

Comments made by users:

S O L V E D !!!!compaq mini 110 netbook (110c-1040DX)had the same problem, tried EVERYONE's suggestions, (expanding hal.dll and ntoskrnl.exe from the install disk) (rebuilding bootcfg) all sorts of stuff, nothing worked. SOOOO i finally took matters into my own hands, and fixed it. it had nothing to do with hal.dll or any other files. here's what i did : 1. get to command prompt, through recovery console or bootdisk, whatever's clever. 2. type in " C: " then "EDIT BOOT.INI " i changed the settings under [boot loader] AND [operating systems] to read as follows: - [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="Microsoft Windows XP Professional " /noexecute=optin /fastdetectnote that wordwrap screwed up that last line, but you get the idea. FIXED! i couldn't believe it. i thought i was screwed i spent about 4 hours trying to get the little bastard to boot, and when i edited my c:boot.ini to look like above, it then booted up from the internal HD(i know, its not a HD, its flash memory but same diff to me) LIKE BUTTA ! i was very impressed with myself, as i could not find anyone in any forum who could help me out. so try that, friends, let me know if you got results.

I found a fix to the missing hal.dll that caused me to reinstall several systems. This time I managed to start the computer without a complete reinstall. All you need is a Windows XP Home or Pro cd. It can be sp1 or sp2. Yes a service pack 1 cd will fix a service pack 2 "existing" installation the way we are going to do it here. I can\'t say if a Home Edition cd would work with a Pro installation or vice versa. I haven\'t tried that yet. Anyway you will also need a boot disk. First step would be boot from the Windows XP cd (sp1 or sp2) and follow throught the steps untill you are asked what you want to do - "Install Windows" or "Fix Windows using the Recovery console?" Choose to install windows again. Follow instruction and when you get to the part that asks "what partition do you want to install it on" select the same partition you installed your previous Windows installation on. The basic idea here is you will be installing 2 operating sytems on the same computer and on the same partition. When you do - it will detect the previous installation and ask you how you prefer to install it. You'll have 2 choices and they are to install the new files to the existing "windows" folder (which will cause you to loose everything) or you can create another folder to install the fresh copy of windows. Don't worry we are not going to actually install windows we are just going to tell the computer we are and then we'll back out of doing it. As for now don't install it to windows but change the name to "windows2". Then confirm the procedure!! The cd will start going through the process of loading the drivers again for a full install and when it comes to the point that it says something like - "Windows has finished performing maintenance on you hard drive" then it will try to restart. Remove the cd and on restart enter the bios and disable the cdrom as a boot option. Exit bios and restart. The computer should start but if it doesn't put the boot disk back in and then it should start. After it starts you should not have to use the floppy to boot any more. Hal.dll has messed with me one to many times!!!!!! Good Luck - Don Ho

solution: TO recover the hal.dll file. Here's How: 1. Enter Windows XP Recovery Console. 2. When you reach the command line prompt (detailed in Step 6 in the link above), type the following and then press Enter: expand d:i386hal.dl_ c:windowssystem32 Using the expand command as shown above, d represents the drive letter assigned to the optical drive that your Windows XP CD is currently in. While this is most often d, your system could assign a different letter. Also, c:windows represents the drive and folder that Windows XP is currently installed on. Again, this is most often the case but your system could be different. 3. If you're prompted to overwrite the file, press Y. 4. Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC. Assuming that a missing or corrupt hal.dll file was your only issue, Windows XP should now start normally.

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