Hi, This is Saguis, my laptop don't start I only can see a message... "Windows cannot start (Windows Root) System32 hal.dll", and if I try the Safe mode the screen won't show anything, I have the Windows xp CD, but the laptop don't read it, shuold I do something else before?, or is thereanything else I need to do becase F8 don't let me do anything, I try all options and is not responding, What do I need to restart my computer?

There is this article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314477 If your laptop is running Windows XP and you have a problem with hal.dll, there really isn't a lot you can do. I usually end up taking out the drive and putting it in another system to see if I can pull the data off. Then I put the drive back and try to re-install Windows... The big problem I have seen with those things is that the corruption or deletion of hal.dll, ntoskrnl.exe or similar critical files is a symptom of a bigger problem. If you can get the system back up and running, I would perform an immediate backup of all your data and re-install your OS - this will reduce suspicions of a software issue. Continue performaing backups for the next several weeks - if it is a harward issue (I have seen hard disks cause this problem) then the problem will re-surface and you will have to track down which piece of hardware is giving you the trouble. Luck,

Hi, The error message "Windows cannot start (Windows Root) System32 hal.dll" could be caused by several factors. The most common ones are the hal.dll file under the path of "Windows Root)\System32 may be corrupted or missing and the improper hardware drivers. In order to further investigate this issue, please try the following steps to test a result: 1. First, disable any Anti-Virus program and BIOS-level Anti-Virus protection. 2. Make sure you have set your CD-ROM as the first priority boot device. You may refer to your computer manual for information on how to do this. 3. Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM and reboot your computer. 4. When you see "Press any key to boot from CD" on the screen, press a key to let the computer boot from the Windows XP CD. 5. When the computer boots from the CD-ROM, it checks your hardware and then prompts you with the following options. a) To set up Windows XP now, press Enter. b) To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R. c) To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3. 6. Please press ENTER. 7. Press the F8 key to agree to the Licensing Agreement. 8. You will see your current Windows XP installation is listed in a box and get the following options: To repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R. To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC. 9. Please press "R". 10. Then the setup program will repair Windows XP automatically. Note: After repairing Windows XP, you may need to re-activate Windows XP. Then please check whether the issue persists.

If you are running Vista, a work around is to have the CD in the drive, you will not have to boot from it, just have it in the drive and it will boot normally. This is what I'm doing right now, however I did finally download the hal.dll file but when I try to extact it into system32 (as the directions read), I am denied access (I'm the Administrator), so now I'm looking for a solution to the "access is denied" issue. Tinkerbeall

Simple, Just copy the boot.ini file from other computer or create a new boot.ini file by typing all scripts in a *.txt file and rename it in boot.ini. reboot the computer and see the result. While re-writing the boot.ini, be sure that in which partition the OS is. Sample boot.ini script as below: [boot loader] timeout=2 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS [operating systems] C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect N.B.: If you don't know the administrator password; connect the HDD to another PC as slave, make the boot.ini file manually. the make it master in its original machine. Enjoy.

Simple, Just copy the boot.ini file from other computer or create a new boot.ini file by typing all scripts in a *.txt file and rename it in boot.ini. reboot the computer and see the result. While re-writing the boot.ini, be sure that in which partition the OS is. Sample boot.ini script as below:[boot loader]timeout=2default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS[operating systems]C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdconsmulti(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetectmulti(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect N.B.: If you don't know the administrator password; connect the HDD to another PC as slave, make the boot.ini file manually. the make it master in its original machine. Enjoy. MBR was corrupted, not boot.ini...so why are you talking about boot.ini ???