New XP Issues

James Quillian · Post by **James Quillian** » 4 Jan 2015 11:32 am

After overcoming the blue screen issue described in a previous thread xp has stopped booting up.

There is an error message that says the following file is missing or corrupted.

system32/hal.dll

The file is in place. I have replaced the file with a new one but the error message still comes up and xp still won't boot up.

Any ideas?

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 4 Jan 2015 12:11 pm

I suggest that you re-install Windows XP.

I had the same problem last week, and ended up having to reinstall the operating system, the Office Suite, and a lot of my software. But don't allow it to format your main drive if you have anything that you want to save there or on your desktop. I did that once a long time ago and lost a lot of work.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Jan 2015 2:27 pm

I Googled you error, and there are numerous web pages for it. Try this one. If you want to search further, just Google

There is an error message that says the following file is missing or corrupted.

system32/hal.dll

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320252

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Jan 2015 2:33 pm

Something happened like this to me several years ago. I seem to remember that I was able to get the file from Microsoft. You say you replaced the file with another one. Where did you get the new one? I copied the file I needed from another computer and it didn't work.

Try searching Microsoft's site for the file. It would be a whole easier and safer than re-install Windows (which would probably also work if you are careful and don't format the disk as mentioned).

If you had a spare hard drive you could put in your PC, you could install Windows on there and then go snag that file and paste it in when you put your regular hard drive back in.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 4 Jan 2015 3:21 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:...If you had a spare hard drive you could put in your PC, you could install Windows on there and then go snag that file and paste it in when you put your regular hard drive back in.

That's what I did years ago. Now I have the operating system on the smaller disk and programmes and files on the other disk. But all my photographs and music projects I keep on a external hard disk, and I back them up on an identical hard disk. Apart from feeling safer that way, it means that I can work on the same files in my home office or down in my music den in the sub-basement. I also keep all the memory cards that I use in my digital cameras and never use them twice. Then I copy them onto the external hard disk, but I shall always have the originals in case of emergency.
My grandfather always used to call that sort of activity "belt and braces".

James Quillian · Post by **James Quillian** » 4 Jan 2015 4:35 pm

A second hard drive was my first choice. I have about ten of them and one of them even uses a modern cable.
It doesn't take much for me to get in over my head with this stuff. It plugs in but it doesn't show up even when I run a partition program. I should be getting power because it plugs into and extension off the power cable that powers the main drive.

Getting the second drive to work is my next project.

Richard Sinkler wrote:Something happened like this to me several years ago. I seem to remember that I was able to get the file from Microsoft. You say you replaced the file with another one. Where did you get the new one? I copied the file I needed from another computer and it didn't work.

Try searching Microsoft's site for the file. It would be a whole easier and safer than re-install Windows (which would probably also work if you are careful and don't format the disk as mentioned).

If you had a spare hard drive you could put in your PC, you could install Windows on there and then go snag that file and paste it in when you put your regular hard drive back in.

Scott Duckworth · Post by **Scott Duckworth** » 4 Jan 2015 5:45 pm

James, that's what started my ordeal! Good luck!

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Jan 2015 5:46 pm

I'm like Alan. My desktop has two 500gb drives. The first one houses the operating system and programs that I can easily reinstall if necessary. My laptop has a 750 GB external drive that stores both programs and data. I also have a 2TB external on my desktop that i use strictly for backup of both my laptop and desktop.

James Quillian · Post by **James Quillian** » 7 Jan 2015 8:38 pm

Scott Duckworth wrote:James, that's what started my ordeal! Good luck!

There is a good chance I will pay someone to install the second drive and do it right.

I bought 2 of these old Dell boxes for $75.00 for both. Each has one 1 gig drive that seems brand new.

So, if I have to pay somebody $50.00 to get one of them set up right, I won't go to the poor house.