PCTech Forums

Is the PC and laptop networked together? Is the missing file on the old PC? If you have the file on the old PC and it is networked with the laptop then when you bootup the laptop select to boot into Safe Mode with network support. It will probably fail but if you get lucky the network connection will be made between the PC and laptop. If this happens you can copy the file from the old PC to the laptop.

There is an easy way to recover from the lost or damaged hal.dll file error
Microsoft has an article with step-by–step instruction on how to recover from this error.
You can read the article
If you have any trouble please post back here and I will walk you through each step.

I don't have a Windows XP CD. My PC was equipped with XP built in and the only recovery option I have is a recovery CD or the built-in factory reset, both of which return the desktop to it's original state.
See my previous posting 'New virus or just the old malicious sons of bitches?' for details.
This is why I was thinking of restarting with an old Windows 98 CD. But I'm wondering if I can use this procedure with the hal.dll file with the old CD. The only problem being that it specifically recommends not installing 98 if you have things to lose on your hard drive and it doesn't seem to be able to just run from the CD alone without some form of installation that's going to wipe stuff.

Does your laptop have an floppy drive?
If so then you can run the Recovery Console from the Windows XP startup floppy disks.
You can download the Windows XP startup disks through
The links at Bootdisk.com go to Microsoft’s site,
just make sure that you select the right windows XP version and service pack if you installed SP1.

Are these things supposed to work with floppy discs??? ???
These files are 4-5mb. I thought the highest possible data storage for a floppy was 1.44mb.

They are self extracting files, they will extract to 4 or 5 floppy disks.

Ah, so does it give you a disc prompt or something to tell you which one it wants?

That's confused me, Restek. I just used the six discs that the program created and I ended up being presented with about 3 options. One of which was to install Windows, but the most attractive option was to use the recovery console to repair a previous installation. I'd like to do this but it gave me the prompt........

1: C:\WINDOWS
Which Windows installation would you like to log onto
(To cancel, press ENTER)? _

.......at which point I stopped in my tracks.
But that's not what confused me. Are you telling me I won't be able to recover my files unless they all fit onto a floppy disc? Why not? Surely if I've recovered the previous installation, they'll be accessible and I can just keep them on my hard drive or burn a CD?
Can anyone tell me what to do at the command prompt?

At the command prompt type 1 (one) and then press Enter
At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press Enter.
At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press Enter.

You receive a message that is similar to the following:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1

[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)

When you receive this message press Y.

You receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter Load Identifier

This is the name of the operating system.

When you receive this message, type the name of your operating system, and then press Enter. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

You receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter OS Load options

When you receive this message , type /fastdetect, and then press Enter.
Type exit, and then press Enter to quit Recovery Console.

Yeeeeessssss!
Success! At last, I'm back on line. Thanks IMMENSELY! Gecko, Restek, you're angels! All praise to the bods at PCtechforums. The most important thing now is that I have a damn good idea of what to do should this kind of crap happen to me again!

You beauties........

Glad we got there eventually