Hal.Dll missing in Windows XP

What is hal.dll ?

Short for Hardware Abstraction Layer, HAL is an operating system programming layer that enables the operating system to operate with a hardware device. hal.dll is the dynamic link library file that implements the functionality of HAL.

When “hal.dll missing or corrupt” message appears, it can be because of damaged or missing hal.dll file. It can also be because of some wrong entries in boot.ini file in case you are using two operating systems on your computer. Also it can be because of improper BIOS entries of the disk drives etc.

Lets have a look on how this can be fixed.

Symptoms:

1. When you start your computer, you receive an error message similar to one of the following:

2. Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\System32\hal.dll

3. Please re-install a copy of the above file.

4. windows_root\System32\hal.dll missing or corrupt:

5. Please re-install a copy of the above file.

6. Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.

7. Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware.

Steps you need to follow to fix this error:

Step 1:

Check the boot device order in BIOS. For this follow the steps below:

• Restart your computer and keep pressing the Delete button on keyboard--> This will take you to BIOS screen.

• Go to Boot Menu in BIOS and verify that your hard disk which contains Windows installation is the topmost in boot sequence if you have more than one hard disk.

Step 2:

If the above step does not solve your problem, then you need to repair the boot.ini file. Click here to repair boot.ini file in windows xp

Step 3:

In most of the cases, Step 1 on checking the boot order and Step 2 on repair of boot.ini file will fix the problem. In case the problem is still there, you need to replace the hal.dll from Windows XP Boot disk.

• For this--> boot the computer with the help of Windows XP Boot CD--> select the repair setup

• On command prompt, type the command as below: 

          expand  x:\i386\hal.dl_  y:\windows\system32\hal.dll

Where x is the drive letter of your CD-ROM and Y is drive letter of your windows partition (usually c: )

Step 4:

Even after Step3 if you are facing a problem, then you need to run a repair setup of Windows XP.

Click here to run repair setup for windows XP

Step5:

If you are still facing the problem, then unfortunately your Hard Disk Drive has gone faulty, you need to get it replaced.