Win_root System32 Hal.dll missing or corrupt

Had a dandy today.  A client called saying that their computer would no longer boot.  When I asked them if there was any kind of error message, they read me the following:

Win_root\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt:

Please re-install a copy of the above file.

Sounds serious, huh?  It is.  When I arrived at the office there was an ominous “clicking” sound coming from the hard drive area of the computer. (cue scary music)  And we all know what that generally means.  Being optimistic, I decided to attempt the fixes outlined by Microsoft.  Here are a couple of ways they offer to attack this issue:

1. Start the computer by using your Windows XP CD-ROM. Press any key to boot from the CD.
2. After the setup files are finished loading press R to repair using “Recovery Console.”
3. In the recovery console, select the installation to log on to (usually number 1), then press ENTER.
4. Login to the Administrator account by typing the password for this account, then press ENTER.
5. At the recovery console command prompt, type the following command, then press ENTER:
   expand <cd-drive>:\i386\hal.dl_ <hd-drive>:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
   
6. Note: In this command, the <cd-drive> placeholder represents the drive letter of your CD drive, and the <hd-drive> placeholder represents the drive letter of the hard disk on which windows is installed.
7. If you receive a prompt to overwrite the file, press Y.
8. Type exit, and press ENTER at the command prompt.

OR

1. Start the computer by using your Windows XP CD-ROM. Press any key to boot from the CD.
2. After the setup files are finished loading press R to repair using Recovery Console.
3. In the recovery console, select the installation to log on to (usually number 1), then press ENTER.
4. Login to the Administrator account by typing the password for this account, then press ENTER.
5. At the recovery console command prompt, type the following command, then press ENTER:

   CHKDSK /r

   Note: You do not have to include the /p switch in the Chkdsk command-line because the /r switch causes the Chkdsk utility to locate bad sectors and recover readable information. This command implies the /p switch.

Neither of those methods worked for me, as this user’s hard drive was actually failing  and getting worse on each attempt to fix it.  (But, barring any failing hardware, I think the above fixes would work just fine.)

In terms of speed, trying to replace the file is the quickest option for fixing this error as it should only take you a couple of minutes. Should you want to try fixing with check disk, that option will take a bit longer.  If you have the time to wait, I might suggest the “check disk” option, as there are probably some other files that have gotten “corrupted” and this should fix them as well.

© 2009, Robert Owen. All rights reserved.