informationweek.com — Have you ever run into a "Missing HAL.DLL," "Invalid Boot.Ini," or "Windows could not start..." message?That was when I learned about XP's built-in "Rebuild" command. It often can easily fix "missing HAL," "Invalid Boot.Ini," "Windows could not start..." and similar problems in just a minute or two.
Apr 17, 2006 View in Crawl 4
cnt2infinityApr 17, 2006
VincenzoF, you have no idea. If calling me a dips**t behind your monitor is all you can do then great. I applaud your efforts. And why yes, criticize my spelling and grammar, why not! Oh and vinny (if you don’t mind me calling you that) why the hell do you have a picture of a bullfrog on your profile? If anyone should be wearing a royal crown, it should be you. Just remember, all I said was he looked like a republican. Was that bad?? No, you simply jumped out of your cage and assumed it was. I read Fred Langa's articles all the time!! Maybe you should to gain some intellect.Now as Max Schreck would say to someone of your stature "IDIOT".
tylerlApr 17, 2006
FTA: The safest, surest way to resolve problems such as "Missing or corrupt HAL.DLL," "Invalid Boot.Ini," or "Windows could not start..." is to boot the PC from an XP Setup CD and use the pristine, uncorrupted files and tools there to effect repairs.This is incorrect (and dangerous). Boot.ini is customized specifically for your computer and no on-CD replacement exists. More importantly, there are multiple versions of most of the kernel code libraries, including and especially HAL, on the install CD. Each of these targets a different machine type (UP vs. SMP, ACPI vs. standard, etc.), but all get copied to the same library name on your computer (e.g. hal.dll). The only way to tell which file your computer has is to check your %WINDIR%/repair/setup.log file. For example, if you see the following in your setup.logWINDOWS/system32/hal.dll = "halaacpi.dll"then you need to get a copy halaacpi.dll instead, but still copy it to "hal.dll". In short, don't try to copy core system files from the CD unless you really understand what you're doing. Read Mark Russinovich's "Windows Internals" for more info.
cnt2infinityApr 17, 2006
VincenzoF, you are very original with your comments. I can see that you lack technical contributions and you have very much shown from your selective words that you lack intelligence. I also take it you are underage and assume the closest thing you have seen to vagina is your floppy disk drive.Some people prefer not to double-check their spelling and grammar, because intelligent people on this board (not VincenzoF) have the intel to correct it with their minds. But the idiots on this board (only VincenzoF) will use it against someone in a childish manner.VincenzoF, If you have ever paid attention to the political crowds in this world (VincenzoF, there are other countries apart from the US) they do differ in looks. For example yuppie type people do tend to wear shiny white shirts in casual environments and bright coloured trousers (pants as you are unfamiliar with other English speaking languages). You would not simple understand. In lamer terms, have you ever watched Golf? Yes, VincenzoF the clothes are different and so are the people. But I still doubt your brain will not comprehend anything said and you will simply reply with dumbass, stupid, yo momma!!! Which those words have me trembling in fear.
mongooseApr 17, 2006
What a coincidence. I encounted this problem a few days ago. I wasted 4 hours working on the problem, but I resolved it by essentially "tricking" my computer into thinking I installed a separate copy of windows.<a class="user" href="http://pcsupport.about.com/od/pcrepair/a/missinghal_dll.htm">http://pcsupport.about.com/od/pcrepair/a/missinghal_dll.htm</a>
kicksumApr 18, 2006
WTF...this is just like Microsoft. If you go to a command prompt (cmd) and type bootcfg at the command prompt the /rebuild switch doesn't exist???? No wonder it is a Little-Known command.
pjoyce1May 23, 2006
I tried to add MCE to my new ThinkPad T60 (wanted dual boot for testing) and encountered this error in the middle of OS install. /rebuild really helped me out. thanks!