missing hal.dll xp on hd

[Guest]

I just installed the vista beta yesterday in a dual boot with xp, but now if
I try to start xp it says something like <windowsroot>\system32\hal.dll
Missing or Corrupt Please Reinstall . The problem is I don't have the xp disk
because it is imaged on my hard drive. Is there any way I can reinstall the
file or fix the problem without the actual disk and without losing my files
that were already on my hard drive before the vista install?

Chris

 

[John Barnes]

You don't say how you are trying to boot, but if you are using the Vista
boot menu and select the legacy drive for XP, I would start by copying the
following 3 files to the root of the drive with the Vista boot file on it.
ntldr ntdetect.com and boot.ini You should then correct the entries on
the boot.ini file to reflect how you have set up your system and where XP is
located. You could get better info if you said how you are set up. IDE
SATA 1 drive 2 drives etc and which systems are on which partition number
of which drive.

 

[Guest]

I'm booting from what I think is called the boot manager. The options listed
on that screen are "An earlier version of Windows" and "Microsoft Windows
Vista." I just went into the Disk Management in Vista and found that the
partition where I thought the xp recovery was is now empty. Im guessing that
has something to do with the problems booting into xp. The hard drive is an
ide and I only have the one. It has three partitions, the original two that
were there when I bought it, that being what i think was the recovery
partition and the other being the primary for everything else, the third now
is the Vista partition. The xp partition was originally the C: drive but
after the vista install it is now the D: drive and vista is now the C: drive.
I was also thinking maybe the changing of the drive naming from the install
may have caused the problem. I'm pretty knowledgeable of computers but I am
definately not Microsoft certified. So if at all possible a quick walk
through of the fix would be greatly appreciatted.

Thanks a lot
Chris

 

[Jan Il]

Hi Chris

You might take a look at the information here and see if it will help:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_repair_a_missing_or_cor.htm

Your file may be corrupt, you might also try downloading a new file from one
of these sources. Be sure it is for the same Windows version you have.
http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?hal
http://www.5starsupport.com/info/dll.htm


Hope this helps.

Jan
MS MVP - Windows IE [DTS/AumHa]
Smiles are meant to be shared,
that's why they're so contagious.

Replies are posted only to the newsgroup for the benefit or other readers.
How to make a good newsgroup post:
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

 

[John Barnes]

Forgetting letters, I understand you have XP on the 1st partition, Vista on
the 2nd and the 3rd is empty.
You have 1 IDE drive
You are booting thru your Vista boot and have the entry for earlier version
Please note which partition is active, which partition (1 or 2) has the
Vista boot files, and if you have the ntldr ntdetect.com boot.ini files on
either partition which partition are they on. Look in your boot.ini file
and see if the partition for XP is correct. Should be partition 1 if I
understand your setup. Get your information from disk management. (control
panel/administrative services, computer management/disk management)
With this information we should be able to work out a solution.
I hope your computer came with a restore disk in addition to the repair
partition. If not, I do suggest you order one just to be on the safe side.
They usually are available for under $10.

 

[Guest]

The xp partition seems to be the active partition and from what it looks like
is the 2nd partition of 3(they aren't numbered in the computer management).
The vista partition looks like the 3rd partition and seems to contain the
vista boot information. The other files when I search for them are on the D:
drive which is the xp partition, but when i searched boot.ini it only found a
backup file on the D: named boot.ini.backup, but i think that is the file
because it contains the boot information for the 2nd partition. Also that
means it should be correct in being the 2nd partition. So what it looks like
is the empty partition is the 1st one the xp partition is the 2nd one and the
vista partition is the 3rd one. Should copying those files to the root folder
of vista fix the problem, and what is the folder that actually contains the
information used to boot with vista? I found a few folders that seemed to
contain boot information so I don't know exactly which folder to copy them to.

 

[John Barnes]

If you are lucky, restoring the boot.ini to the drive with the ntldr and
ntdetect.com files on it will give you a boot. Just to save steps, I would
also copy all three files onto the root of the Vista drive.
You put all files on the root of the drives. Nothing goes into the Vista
boot file.
That you got the error you got indicates it is looking to the right place
for the ntldr file but couldn't complete the process.

If you only have the Vista boot file on the 3rd partition and you are
booting into Vista, that must be the active partition (should be labeled
'system' in disk management)

Let me know what the results are as it may require 1 more step of
downloading VistaBootPro and adding a legacy system entry there.

 

[Guest]

I wasn't able to get back to the computer till now but, that didn't fix it
either. I downloaded vistabootpro and have been searching through message
boards and such to find some hope, without any luck. So if you or anyone has
any more ideas let me hear them. Oh and I also want to thank you for all the
help you've been, I just hope there is something to do to fix this without
having to buy anything else.

 

[John Barnes]

Just to review. You have 1 connected IDE drive.
You now have Vista on partition 3 and it is the system drive. XP is on
partition 2. Partition 1 is empty.
You now have a copy of ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini in the root on both
the XP and the Vista drive.
You have a Boot menu that has Vista, older version of Windows (XP) and the
new legacy XP system entry you added from VistaBootPro
With both 'XP' entries on the boot menu, older and legacy system, you get
the same message hall.dll missing or corrupt
Your boot.ini on both partitions shows XP on rdisk 0 partition 2

If the above are all correct, can we do one more test to see where you are
failing. Make a duplicate of the boot.ini entry on both partitions. Change
the descriptions on the new entries so you can identify them. Make the
second entry on both point to partition 3

This should cause you to get the secondary boot menu, and give a better idea
of how far into the boot process you get.

 

[Guest]

I checked and double checked to make sure everything was set up correctly and
it was. I created the second xp option through vistabootpro creating a second
option for it on the boot menu, and still get the same thing going into
either option. I tried what you said, duplicating the boot.ini in each root
location and configured them as you said. I also, just in case I wasn't
understanding correctly, configured them the other way around i.e. I made the
original boot.ini point to partition 2 and the new renamed boot.ini point to
partition 3, then I made the original boot.ini point to 3 and the renamed
boot.ini point to partition 2. Originally they both did point to partition 2.
But even after duplicating them and configuring the both ways I still got the
same thing trying to boot into either xp option. There was not any secondary
boot menu that ever came up so I'm guessing it just doesn't even get that
far.

Chris

 

[John Barnes]

Sorry we haven't made any progress. Thanks for all your effort.
If you still want to try other things until someone, hopefully Darrell
Gorter
from Microsoft, has other ideas,
The Vista partition (3) is the 'system' partition in disk management and has
the
Vista boot file on it. It is a primary partition. Partition 1 is empty. No
hidden files. Are you able to find the Windows\system32\hal.dll on your XP
partition? What version date and size is it?
Do you still have the DVD as first in boot priority in the BIOS
Do you still have the install DVD in the drive.
Do you have any ability to change the active partition except thru a Windows
o/s

If you have the ability to change the active partition, such as from fdisk
on a floppy, you might see what your results are from making the XP patition
the active partition. Don't do it if you don't have the ability to change
it back to the Vista partition from a floppy or other means such as
PartitionMagic bootable CD.
Could you copy your boot.ini file so we could see it?

The normal boot process of XP has the boot record call ntldr, which does a
couple of housekeeping type processes, calls boot.ini and should in your
case display the boot menu with more than one system on it. Then the
selected xp system should cause ntldr to run the ntdetect.com and using the
boot path look for and load the ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll files. Since it is
not looked for until the os is selected from the boot menu, it is confusing
that you are getting it when you are.

I could email you a copy of hal.dll if the versions match mine, but I think
I read somewhere that there are two versions that are selected from at
install time depending on hardware.

 

[Guest]

I just realized I had'nt told you earlier but it looks like the xp partition,
partition 2 is the one labeled system. I hope that wasn't stopping us the
whole time. I understand some of the labels but others I don't in disk
management. The labels after the xp(2nd) partition reads: (System, Active,
Primary Partition) and the vista(3rd) partition reads: (Boot, Page File,
Crash Dump, Primary Partition). Sorry I didn't say that sooner I just thought
I had. Partition 1 is empty and reads: (EISA Configuration). I can find the
file on the xp partition, but I also dowloaded a new one just in case that
would fix it, but it didn't. I deleted that one already but the original is
version: 5.1.2600.2180 the date modified is 8/4/2004 and it is 129 KB and 132
on disk it says. I do still have the dvd drive as first in boot priority. The
disk is not in the drive. I have used fdisk but that was in an A+ class like
two years ago and I decided to go a different way career wise, so I do have
some knowledge, but like I said haven't done anything like that in a while.
If I had to I would have to go the latter route being that I don't have a
floppy drive. It is a notebook that I'm using, I'm sure that doesn't make a
difference though. I do have partition magic though so if you could give me a
short walk through I'm sure I could accomplish it. This is what the boot.ini
of the xp partition:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
I'm guessing it doesn't matter because I made mention of it earlier but the
boot.ini file says it's a backup file. When I go into the properties of the
boot.ini file under file type it says: BACKUP file (.backup) and under the
details tab for the name it says: boo.ini.backup and under type it says:
BACKUP file. I'm guessing the labels in disk management were important
thought because the xp partition is already labeled the active partition.
Hopefully this helps a little more, and like I said I'm willing to do
whatever is needed. Also, would it be a simple fix if I had the disk?

 

[John Barnes]

Just a quick test. Copy the attached file to the root of your XP and Vista
drives. If the file shows up as 'Configuration Settings' instead of the
backup file you now have, rename your boot.ini file then remove the a from
the name of this one and let me know what happens. On the one you copy to
the Vista drive add a 3 to the description somewhere so you know which
boot.ini you have if the menu shows up.

I just realized I had'nt told you earlier but it looks like the xp
partition,
partition 2 is the one labeled system. I hope that wasn't stopping us the
whole time. I understand some of the labels but others I don't in disk
management. The labels after the xp(2nd) partition reads: (System, Active,
Primary Partition) and the vista(3rd) partition reads: (Boot, Page File,
Crash Dump, Primary Partition). Sorry I didn't say that sooner I just
thought
I had. Partition 1 is empty and reads: (EISA Configuration). I can find
the
file on the xp partition, but I also dowloaded a new one just in case that
would fix it, but it didn't. I deleted that one already but the original
is
version: 5.1.2600.2180 the date modified is 8/4/2004 and it is 129 KB and
132
on disk it says. I do still have the dvd drive as first in boot priority.
The
disk is not in the drive. I have used fdisk but that was in an A+ class
like
two years ago and I decided to go a different way career wise, so I do
have
some knowledge, but like I said haven't done anything like that in a
while.
If I had to I would have to go the latter route being that I don't have a
floppy drive. It is a notebook that I'm using, I'm sure that doesn't make
a
difference though. I do have partition magic though so if you could give
me a
short walk through I'm sure I could accomplish it. This is what the
boot.ini
of the xp partition:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
I'm guessing it doesn't matter because I made mention of it earlier but
the
boot.ini file says it's a backup file. When I go into the properties of
the
boot.ini file under file type it says: BACKUP file (.backup) and under the
details tab for the name it says: boo.ini.backup and under type it says:
BACKUP file. I'm guessing the labels in disk management were important
thought because the xp partition is already labeled the active partition.
Hopefully this helps a little more, and like I said I'm willing to do
whatever is needed. Also, would it be a simple fix if I had the disk?

Sorry we haven't made any progress. Thanks for all your effort.
If you still want to try other things until someone, hopefully Darrell
Gorter
from Microsoft, has other ideas,
The Vista partition (3) is the 'system' partition in disk management and
has
the
Vista boot file on it. It is a primary partition. Partition 1 is empty.
No
hidden files. Are you able to find the Windows\system32\hal.dll on your
XP
partition? What version date and size is it?
Do you still have the DVD as first in boot priority in the BIOS
Do you still have the install DVD in the drive.
Do you have any ability to change the active partition except thru a
Windows
o/s

If you have the ability to change the active partition, such as from
fdisk
on a floppy, you might see what your results are from making the XP
patition
the active partition. Don't do it if you don't have the ability to
change
it back to the Vista partition from a floppy or other means such as
PartitionMagic bootable CD.
Could you copy your boot.ini file so we could see it?

The normal boot process of XP has the boot record call ntldr, which does
a
couple of housekeeping type processes, calls boot.ini and should in your
case display the boot menu with more than one system on it. Then the
selected xp system should cause ntldr to run the ntdetect.com and using
the
boot path look for and load the ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll files. Since it
is
not looked for until the os is selected from the boot menu, it is
confusing
that you are getting it when you are.

I could email you a copy of hal.dll if the versions match mine, but I
think
I read somewhere that there are two versions that are selected from at
install time depending on hardware.

 

[Guest]

What attached file am I copying? Also when you say add a 3 to the description
do you mean add a 3 to the name or somewhere else?
Chris

Just a quick test. Copy the attached file to the root of your XP and Vista
drives. If the file shows up as 'Configuration Settings' instead of the
backup file you now have, rename your boot.ini file then remove the a from
the name of this one and let me know what happens. On the one you copy to
the Vista drive add a 3 to the description somewhere so you know which
boot.ini you have if the menu shows up.

I just realized I had'nt told you earlier but it looks like the xp
partition,
partition 2 is the one labeled system. I hope that wasn't stopping us the
whole time. I understand some of the labels but others I don't in disk
management. The labels after the xp(2nd) partition reads: (System, Active,
Primary Partition) and the vista(3rd) partition reads: (Boot, Page File,
Crash Dump, Primary Partition). Sorry I didn't say that sooner I just
thought
I had. Partition 1 is empty and reads: (EISA Configuration). I can find
the
file on the xp partition, but I also dowloaded a new one just in case that
would fix it, but it didn't. I deleted that one already but the original
is
version: 5.1.2600.2180 the date modified is 8/4/2004 and it is 129 KB and
132
on disk it says. I do still have the dvd drive as first in boot priority.
The
disk is not in the drive. I have used fdisk but that was in an A+ class
like
two years ago and I decided to go a different way career wise, so I do
have
some knowledge, but like I said haven't done anything like that in a
while.
If I had to I would have to go the latter route being that I don't have a
floppy drive. It is a notebook that I'm using, I'm sure that doesn't make
a
difference though. I do have partition magic though so if you could give
me a
short walk through I'm sure I could accomplish it. This is what the
boot.ini
of the xp partition:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
I'm guessing it doesn't matter because I made mention of it earlier but
the
boot.ini file says it's a backup file. When I go into the properties of
the
boot.ini file under file type it says: BACKUP file (.backup) and under the
details tab for the name it says: boo.ini.backup and under type it says:
BACKUP file. I'm guessing the labels in disk management were important
thought because the xp partition is already labeled the active partition.
Hopefully this helps a little more, and like I said I'm willing to do
whatever is needed. Also, would it be a simple fix if I had the disk?

Sorry we haven't made any progress. Thanks for all your effort.
If you still want to try other things until someone, hopefully Darrell
Gorter
from Microsoft, has other ideas,
The Vista partition (3) is the 'system' partition in disk management and
has
the
Vista boot file on it. It is a primary partition. Partition 1 is empty.
No
hidden files. Are you able to find the Windows\system32\hal.dll on your
XP
partition? What version date and size is it?
Do you still have the DVD as first in boot priority in the BIOS
Do you still have the install DVD in the drive.
Do you have any ability to change the active partition except thru a
Windows
o/s

If you have the ability to change the active partition, such as from
fdisk
on a floppy, you might see what your results are from making the XP
patition
the active partition. Don't do it if you don't have the ability to
change
it back to the Vista partition from a floppy or other means such as
PartitionMagic bootable CD.
Could you copy your boot.ini file so we could see it?

The normal boot process of XP has the boot record call ntldr, which does
a
couple of housekeeping type processes, calls boot.ini and should in your
case display the boot menu with more than one system on it. Then the
selected xp system should cause ntldr to run the ntdetect.com and using
the
boot path look for and load the ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll files. Since it
is
not looked for until the os is selected from the boot menu, it is
confusing
that you are getting it when you are.

I could email you a copy of hal.dll if the versions match mine, but I
think
I read somewhere that there are two versions that are selected from at
install time depending on hardware.

I checked and double checked to make sure everything was set up
correctly
and
it was. I created the second xp option through vistabootpro creating a
second
option for it on the boot menu, and still get the same thing going into
either option. I tried what you said, duplicating the boot.ini in each
root
location and configured them as you said. I also, just in case I wasn't
understanding correctly, configured them the other way around i.e. I
made
the
original boot.ini point to partition 2 and the new renamed boot.ini
point
to
partition 3, then I made the original boot.ini point to 3 and the
renamed
boot.ini point to partition 2. Originally they both did point to
partition
2.
But even after duplicating them and configuring the both ways I still
got
the
same thing trying to boot into either xp option. There was not any
secondary
boot menu that ever came up so I'm guessing it just doesn't even get
that
far.

Chris

:

Just to review. You have 1 connected IDE drive.
You now have Vista on partition 3 and it is the system drive. XP is
on
partition 2. Partition 1 is empty.
You now have a copy of ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini in the root on
both
the XP and the Vista drive.
You have a Boot menu that has Vista, older version of Windows (XP) and
the
new legacy XP system entry you added from VistaBootPro
With both 'XP' entries on the boot menu, older and legacy system, you
get
the same message hall.dll missing or corrupt
Your boot.ini on both partitions shows XP on rdisk 0 partition 2

If the above are all correct, can we do one more test to see where you
are
failing. Make a duplicate of the boot.ini entry on both partitions.
Change
the descriptions on the new entries so you can identify them. Make
the
second entry on both point to partition 3

This should cause you to get the secondary boot menu, and give a
better
idea
of how far into the boot process you get.

I wasn't able to get back to the computer till now but, that didn't
fix
it
either. I downloaded vistabootpro and have been searching through
message
boards and such to find some hope, without any luck. So if you or
anyone
has
any more ideas let me hear them. Oh and I also want to thank you for
all
the
help you've been, I just hope there is something to do to fix this
without
having to buy anything else.

:

If you are lucky, restoring the boot.ini to the drive with the
ntldr
and
ntdetect.com files on it will give you a boot. Just to save steps,
I
would
also copy all three files onto the root of the Vista drive.
You put all files on the root of the drives. Nothing goes into the
Vista
boot file.
That you got the error you got indicates it is looking to the right
place
for the ntldr file but couldn't complete the process.

If you only have the Vista boot file on the 3rd partition and you
are
booting into Vista, that must be the active partition (should be
labeled
'system' in disk management)

Let me know what the results are as it may require 1 more step of
downloading VistaBootPro and adding a legacy system entry there.

The xp partition seems to be the active partition and from what
it
looks
like
is the 2nd partition of 3(they aren't numbered in the computer
management).
The vista partition looks like the 3rd partition and seems to
contain
the
vista boot information. The other files when I search for them
are
on
the
D:
drive which is the xp partition, but when i searched boot.ini it
only
found a
backup file on the D: named boot.ini.backup, but i think that is
the
file
because it contains the boot information for the 2nd partition.
Also
that
means it should be correct in being the 2nd partition. So what it
looks
like
is the empty partition is the 1st one the xp partition is the 2nd
one
and
the
vista partition is the 3rd one. Should copying those files to the
root
folder
of vista fix the problem, and what is the folder that actually
contains
the
information used to boot with vista? I found a few folders that
seemed
to
contain boot information so I don't know exactly which folder to
copy
them
to.

:

Forgetting letters, I understand you have XP on the 1st
partition,
Vista
on
the 2nd and the 3rd is empty.
You have 1 IDE drive
You are booting thru your Vista boot and have the entry for
earlier
version
Please note which partition is active, which partition (1 or 2)
has
the
Vista boot files, and if you have the ntldr ntdetect.com
boot.ini
files
on
either partition which partition are they on. Look in your
boot.ini
file
and see if the partition for XP is correct. Should be partition
1
if
I
understand your setup. Get your information from disk
management.
(control
panel/administrative services, computer management/disk
management)
With this information we should be able to work out a solution.
I hope your computer came with a restore disk in addition to the
repair
partition. If not, I do suggest you order one just to be on the
safe
side.
They usually are available for under $10.

I'm booting from what I think is called the boot manager. The
options
listed
on that screen are "An earlier version of Windows" and

 

[John Barnes]

Yes to the description. Check where ever your newsreader shows attachments
and right click on the file and copy it.
OE shows it as a paperclip way over on the left.

What attached file am I copying? Also when you say add a 3 to the
description
do you mean add a 3 to the name or somewhere else?
Chris

Just a quick test. Copy the attached file to the root of your XP and
Vista
drives. If the file shows up as 'Configuration Settings' instead of the
backup file you now have, rename your boot.ini file then remove the a
from
the name of this one and let me know what happens. On the one you copy
to
the Vista drive add a 3 to the description somewhere so you know which
boot.ini you have if the menu shows up.

I just realized I had'nt told you earlier but it looks like the xp
partition,
partition 2 is the one labeled system. I hope that wasn't stopping us
the
whole time. I understand some of the labels but others I don't in disk
management. The labels after the xp(2nd) partition reads: (System,
Active,
Primary Partition) and the vista(3rd) partition reads: (Boot, Page
File,
Crash Dump, Primary Partition). Sorry I didn't say that sooner I just
thought
I had. Partition 1 is empty and reads: (EISA Configuration). I can find
the
file on the xp partition, but I also dowloaded a new one just in case
that
would fix it, but it didn't. I deleted that one already but the
original
is
version: 5.1.2600.2180 the date modified is 8/4/2004 and it is 129 KB
and
132
on disk it says. I do still have the dvd drive as first in boot
priority.
The
disk is not in the drive. I have used fdisk but that was in an A+ class
like
two years ago and I decided to go a different way career wise, so I do
have
some knowledge, but like I said haven't done anything like that in a
while.
If I had to I would have to go the latter route being that I don't have
a
floppy drive. It is a notebook that I'm using, I'm sure that doesn't
make
a
difference though. I do have partition magic though so if you could
give
me a
short walk through I'm sure I could accomplish it. This is what the
boot.ini
of the xp partition:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
I'm guessing it doesn't matter because I made mention of it earlier but
the
boot.ini file says it's a backup file. When I go into the properties of
the
boot.ini file under file type it says: BACKUP file (.backup) and under
the
details tab for the name it says: boo.ini.backup and under type it
says:
BACKUP file. I'm guessing the labels in disk management were important
thought because the xp partition is already labeled the active
partition.
Hopefully this helps a little more, and like I said I'm willing to do
whatever is needed. Also, would it be a simple fix if I had the disk?


:

Sorry we haven't made any progress. Thanks for all your effort.
If you still want to try other things until someone, hopefully Darrell
Gorter
from Microsoft, has other ideas,
The Vista partition (3) is the 'system' partition in disk management
and
has
the
Vista boot file on it. It is a primary partition. Partition 1 is
empty.
No
hidden files. Are you able to find the Windows\system32\hal.dll on
your
XP
partition? What version date and size is it?
Do you still have the DVD as first in boot priority in the BIOS
Do you still have the install DVD in the drive.
Do you have any ability to change the active partition except thru a
Windows
o/s

If you have the ability to change the active partition, such as from
fdisk
on a floppy, you might see what your results are from making the XP
patition
the active partition. Don't do it if you don't have the ability to
change
it back to the Vista partition from a floppy or other means such as
PartitionMagic bootable CD.
Could you copy your boot.ini file so we could see it?

The normal boot process of XP has the boot record call ntldr, which
does
a
couple of housekeeping type processes, calls boot.ini and should in
your
case display the boot menu with more than one system on it. Then the
selected xp system should cause ntldr to run the ntdetect.com and
using
the
boot path look for and load the ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll files. Since
it
is
not looked for until the os is selected from the boot menu, it is
confusing
that you are getting it when you are.

I could email you a copy of hal.dll if the versions match mine, but I
think
I read somewhere that there are two versions that are selected from at
install time depending on hardware.

I checked and double checked to make sure everything was set up
correctly
and
it was. I created the second xp option through vistabootpro creating
a
second
option for it on the boot menu, and still get the same thing going
into
either option. I tried what you said, duplicating the boot.ini in
each
root
location and configured them as you said. I also, just in case I
wasn't
understanding correctly, configured them the other way around i.e. I
made
the
original boot.ini point to partition 2 and the new renamed boot.ini
point
to
partition 3, then I made the original boot.ini point to 3 and the
renamed
boot.ini point to partition 2. Originally they both did point to
partition
2.
But even after duplicating them and configuring the both ways I
still
got
the
same thing trying to boot into either xp option. There was not any
secondary
boot menu that ever came up so I'm guessing it just doesn't even get
that
far.

Chris

:

Just to review. You have 1 connected IDE drive.
You now have Vista on partition 3 and it is the system drive. XP
is
on
partition 2. Partition 1 is empty.
You now have a copy of ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini in the root
on
both
the XP and the Vista drive.
You have a Boot menu that has Vista, older version of Windows (XP)
and
the
new legacy XP system entry you added from VistaBootPro
With both 'XP' entries on the boot menu, older and legacy system,
you
get
the same message hall.dll missing or corrupt
Your boot.ini on both partitions shows XP on rdisk 0 partition 2

If the above are all correct, can we do one more test to see where
you
are
failing. Make a duplicate of the boot.ini entry on both
partitions.
Change
the descriptions on the new entries so you can identify them. Make
the
second entry on both point to partition 3

This should cause you to get the secondary boot menu, and give a
better
idea
of how far into the boot process you get.

I wasn't able to get back to the computer till now but, that
didn't
fix
it
either. I downloaded vistabootpro and have been searching through
message
boards and such to find some hope, without any luck. So if you or
anyone
has
any more ideas let me hear them. Oh and I also want to thank you
for
all
the
help you've been, I just hope there is something to do to fix
this
without
having to buy anything else.

:

If you are lucky, restoring the boot.ini to the drive with the
ntldr
and
ntdetect.com files on it will give you a boot. Just to save
steps,
I
would
also copy all three files onto the root of the Vista drive.
You put all files on the root of the drives. Nothing goes into
the
Vista
boot file.
That you got the error you got indicates it is looking to the
right
place
for the ntldr file but couldn't complete the process.

If you only have the Vista boot file on the 3rd partition and
you
are
booting into Vista, that must be the active partition (should be
labeled
'system' in disk management)

Let me know what the results are as it may require 1 more step
of
downloading VistaBootPro and adding a legacy system entry there.

The xp partition seems to be the active partition and from
what
it
looks
like
is the 2nd partition of 3(they aren't numbered in the computer
management).
The vista partition looks like the 3rd partition and seems to
contain
the
vista boot information. The other files when I search for them
are
on
the
D:
drive which is the xp partition, but when i searched boot.ini
it
only
found a
backup file on the D: named boot.ini.backup, but i think that
is
the
file
because it contains the boot information for the 2nd
partition.
Also
that
means it should be correct in being the 2nd partition. So what
it
looks
like
is the empty partition is the 1st one the xp partition is the
2nd
one
and
the
vista partition is the 3rd one. Should copying those files to
the
root
folder
of vista fix the problem, and what is the folder that actually
contains
the
information used to boot with vista? I found a few folders
that
seemed
to
contain boot information so I don't know exactly which folder
to
copy
them
to.

:

Forgetting letters, I understand you have XP on the 1st
partition,
Vista
on
the 2nd and the 3rd is empty.
You have 1 IDE drive
You are booting thru your Vista boot and have the entry for
earlier
version
Please note which partition is active, which partition (1 or
2)
has
the
Vista boot files, and if you have the ntldr ntdetect.com
boot.ini
files
on
either partition which partition are they on. Look in your
boot.ini
file
and see if the partition for XP is correct. Should be
partition
1
if
I
understand your setup. Get your information from disk
management.
(control
panel/administrative services, computer management/disk
management)
With this information we should be able to work out a
solution.
I hope your computer came with a restore disk in addition to
the
repair
partition. If not, I do suggest you order one just to be on
the
safe
side.
They usually are available for under $10.

I'm booting from what I think is called the boot manager.
The
options
listed
on that screen are "An earlier version of Windows" and

 

[Guest]

I first tried booting into both of the xp options and then the vista option
and its all the same. I get the same message on the xp options and vista
boots like normal.
Chris

Yes to the description. Check where ever your newsreader shows attachments
and right click on the file and copy it.
OE shows it as a paperclip way over on the left.

What attached file am I copying? Also when you say add a 3 to the
description
do you mean add a 3 to the name or somewhere else?
Chris

Just a quick test. Copy the attached file to the root of your XP and
Vista
drives. If the file shows up as 'Configuration Settings' instead of the
backup file you now have, rename your boot.ini file then remove the a
from
the name of this one and let me know what happens. On the one you copy
to
the Vista drive add a 3 to the description somewhere so you know which
boot.ini you have if the menu shows up.

I just realized I had'nt told you earlier but it looks like the xp
partition,
partition 2 is the one labeled system. I hope that wasn't stopping us
the
whole time. I understand some of the labels but others I don't in disk
management. The labels after the xp(2nd) partition reads: (System,
Active,
Primary Partition) and the vista(3rd) partition reads: (Boot, Page
File,
Crash Dump, Primary Partition). Sorry I didn't say that sooner I just
thought
I had. Partition 1 is empty and reads: (EISA Configuration). I can find
the
file on the xp partition, but I also dowloaded a new one just in case
that
would fix it, but it didn't. I deleted that one already but the
original
is
version: 5.1.2600.2180 the date modified is 8/4/2004 and it is 129 KB
and
132
on disk it says. I do still have the dvd drive as first in boot
priority.
The
disk is not in the drive. I have used fdisk but that was in an A+ class
like
two years ago and I decided to go a different way career wise, so I do
have
some knowledge, but like I said haven't done anything like that in a
while.
If I had to I would have to go the latter route being that I don't have
a
floppy drive. It is a notebook that I'm using, I'm sure that doesn't
make
a
difference though. I do have partition magic though so if you could
give
me a
short walk through I'm sure I could accomplish it. This is what the
boot.ini
of the xp partition:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
I'm guessing it doesn't matter because I made mention of it earlier but
the
boot.ini file says it's a backup file. When I go into the properties of
the
boot.ini file under file type it says: BACKUP file (.backup) and under
the
details tab for the name it says: boo.ini.backup and under type it
says:
BACKUP file. I'm guessing the labels in disk management were important
thought because the xp partition is already labeled the active
partition.
Hopefully this helps a little more, and like I said I'm willing to do
whatever is needed. Also, would it be a simple fix if I had the disk?


:

Sorry we haven't made any progress. Thanks for all your effort.
If you still want to try other things until someone, hopefully Darrell
Gorter
from Microsoft, has other ideas,
The Vista partition (3) is the 'system' partition in disk management
and
has
the
Vista boot file on it. It is a primary partition. Partition 1 is
empty.
No
hidden files. Are you able to find the Windows\system32\hal.dll on
your
XP
partition? What version date and size is it?
Do you still have the DVD as first in boot priority in the BIOS
Do you still have the install DVD in the drive.
Do you have any ability to change the active partition except thru a
Windows
o/s

If you have the ability to change the active partition, such as from
fdisk
on a floppy, you might see what your results are from making the XP
patition
the active partition. Don't do it if you don't have the ability to
change
it back to the Vista partition from a floppy or other means such as
PartitionMagic bootable CD.
Could you copy your boot.ini file so we could see it?

The normal boot process of XP has the boot record call ntldr, which
does
a
couple of housekeeping type processes, calls boot.ini and should in
your
case display the boot menu with more than one system on it. Then the
selected xp system should cause ntldr to run the ntdetect.com and
using
the
boot path look for and load the ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll files. Since
it
is
not looked for until the os is selected from the boot menu, it is
confusing
that you are getting it when you are.

I could email you a copy of hal.dll if the versions match mine, but I
think
I read somewhere that there are two versions that are selected from at
install time depending on hardware.

I checked and double checked to make sure everything was set up
correctly
and
it was. I created the second xp option through vistabootpro creating
a
second
option for it on the boot menu, and still get the same thing going
into
either option. I tried what you said, duplicating the boot.ini in
each
root
location and configured them as you said. I also, just in case I
wasn't
understanding correctly, configured them the other way around i.e. I
made
the
original boot.ini point to partition 2 and the new renamed boot.ini
point
to
partition 3, then I made the original boot.ini point to 3 and the
renamed
boot.ini point to partition 2. Originally they both did point to
partition
2.
But even after duplicating them and configuring the both ways I
still
got
the
same thing trying to boot into either xp option. There was not any
secondary
boot menu that ever came up so I'm guessing it just doesn't even get
that
far.

Chris

:

Just to review. You have 1 connected IDE drive.
You now have Vista on partition 3 and it is the system drive. XP
is
on
partition 2. Partition 1 is empty.
You now have a copy of ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini in the root
on
both
the XP and the Vista drive.
You have a Boot menu that has Vista, older version of Windows (XP)
and
the
new legacy XP system entry you added from VistaBootPro
With both 'XP' entries on the boot menu, older and legacy system,
you
get
the same message hall.dll missing or corrupt
Your boot.ini on both partitions shows XP on rdisk 0 partition 2

If the above are all correct, can we do one more test to see where
you
are
failing. Make a duplicate of the boot.ini entry on both
partitions.
Change
the descriptions on the new entries so you can identify them. Make
the
second entry on both point to partition 3

This should cause you to get the secondary boot menu, and give a
better
idea
of how far into the boot process you get.

I wasn't able to get back to the computer till now but, that
didn't
fix
it
either. I downloaded vistabootpro and have been searching through
message
boards and such to find some hope, without any luck. So if you or
anyone
has
any more ideas let me hear them. Oh and I also want to thank you
for
all
the
help you've been, I just hope there is something to do to fix
this
without
having to buy anything else.

:

If you are lucky, restoring the boot.ini to the drive with the
ntldr
and
ntdetect.com files on it will give you a boot. Just to save
steps,
I
would
also copy all three files onto the root of the Vista drive.
You put all files on the root of the drives. Nothing goes into
the
Vista
boot file.
That you got the error you got indicates it is looking to the
right
place
for the ntldr file but couldn't complete the process.

If you only have the Vista boot file on the 3rd partition and
you
are
booting into Vista, that must be the active partition (should be
labeled
'system' in disk management)

Let me know what the results are as it may require 1 more step
of
downloading VistaBootPro and adding a legacy system entry there.

The xp partition seems to be the active partition and from
what
it
looks
like
is the 2nd partition of 3(they aren't numbered in the computer
management).
The vista partition looks like the 3rd partition and seems to
contain
the
vista boot information. The other files when I search for them
are
on
the
D:
drive which is the xp partition, but when i searched boot.ini
it
only
found a
backup file on the D: named boot.ini.backup, but i think that
is
the
file
because it contains the boot information for the 2nd
partition.
Also
that
means it should be correct in being the 2nd partition. So what
it
looks
like
is the empty partition is the 1st one the xp partition is the
2nd

 

[John Barnes]

Did your new boot.ini show as a system configuration file?
Starting to get low on options, but if you would like to try another couple
of easy changes.
1. Change the partition number in the boot.ini from 2 to 1 (a small chance
that the first partition is not visible) Try on both XP and Vista
partitions, though your previous post indicates that the XP partition is
your system partition. If no change with that, try one last test before it
is necessary to do more risky activities. 2. First on the XP drive rename
the ntldr file and test. You should now get the message that the ntldr is
missing, not the hal.dll message. If no change, rename that one back and
rename the one on Vista and test. At least we will know which drive we are
using the xp boot files from.

I first tried booting into both of the xp options and then the vista option
and its all the same. I get the same message on the xp options and vista
boots like normal.
Chris

Yes to the description. Check where ever your newsreader shows
attachments
and right click on the file and copy it.
OE shows it as a paperclip way over on the left.

What attached file am I copying? Also when you say add a 3 to the
description
do you mean add a 3 to the name or somewhere else?
Chris

:

Just a quick test. Copy the attached file to the root of your XP and
Vista
drives. If the file shows up as 'Configuration Settings' instead of
the
backup file you now have, rename your boot.ini file then remove the a
from
the name of this one and let me know what happens. On the one you
copy
to
the Vista drive add a 3 to the description somewhere so you know which
boot.ini you have if the menu shows up.

I just realized I had'nt told you earlier but it looks like the xp
partition,
partition 2 is the one labeled system. I hope that wasn't stopping
us
the
whole time. I understand some of the labels but others I don't in
disk
management. The labels after the xp(2nd) partition reads: (System,
Active,
Primary Partition) and the vista(3rd) partition reads: (Boot, Page
File,
Crash Dump, Primary Partition). Sorry I didn't say that sooner I
just
thought
I had. Partition 1 is empty and reads: (EISA Configuration). I can
find
the
file on the xp partition, but I also dowloaded a new one just in
case
that
would fix it, but it didn't. I deleted that one already but the
original
is
version: 5.1.2600.2180 the date modified is 8/4/2004 and it is 129
KB
and
132
on disk it says. I do still have the dvd drive as first in boot
priority.
The
disk is not in the drive. I have used fdisk but that was in an A+
class
like
two years ago and I decided to go a different way career wise, so I
do
have
some knowledge, but like I said haven't done anything like that in a
while.
If I had to I would have to go the latter route being that I don't
have
a
floppy drive. It is a notebook that I'm using, I'm sure that doesn't
make
a
difference though. I do have partition magic though so if you could
give
me a
short walk through I'm sure I could accomplish it. This is what the
boot.ini
of the xp partition:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
I'm guessing it doesn't matter because I made mention of it earlier
but
the
boot.ini file says it's a backup file. When I go into the properties
of
the
boot.ini file under file type it says: BACKUP file (.backup) and
under
the
details tab for the name it says: boo.ini.backup and under type it
says:
BACKUP file. I'm guessing the labels in disk management were
important
thought because the xp partition is already labeled the active
partition.
Hopefully this helps a little more, and like I said I'm willing to
do
whatever is needed. Also, would it be a simple fix if I had the
disk?


:

Sorry we haven't made any progress. Thanks for all your effort.
If you still want to try other things until someone, hopefully
Darrell
Gorter
from Microsoft, has other ideas,
The Vista partition (3) is the 'system' partition in disk
management
and
has
the
Vista boot file on it. It is a primary partition. Partition 1 is
empty.
No
hidden files. Are you able to find the Windows\system32\hal.dll on
your
XP
partition? What version date and size is it?
Do you still have the DVD as first in boot priority in the BIOS
Do you still have the install DVD in the drive.
Do you have any ability to change the active partition except thru
a
Windows
o/s

If you have the ability to change the active partition, such as
from
fdisk
on a floppy, you might see what your results are from making the XP
patition
the active partition. Don't do it if you don't have the ability to
change
it back to the Vista partition from a floppy or other means such as
PartitionMagic bootable CD.
Could you copy your boot.ini file so we could see it?

The normal boot process of XP has the boot record call ntldr, which
does
a
couple of housekeeping type processes, calls boot.ini and should in
your
case display the boot menu with more than one system on it. Then
the
selected xp system should cause ntldr to run the ntdetect.com and
using
the
boot path look for and load the ntoskrnl.exe and hal.dll files.
Since
it
is
not looked for until the os is selected from the boot menu, it is
confusing
that you are getting it when you are.

I could email you a copy of hal.dll if the versions match mine, but
I
think
I read somewhere that there are two versions that are selected from
at
install time depending on hardware.

I checked and double checked to make sure everything was set up
correctly
and
it was. I created the second xp option through vistabootpro
creating
a
second
option for it on the boot menu, and still get the same thing
going
into
either option. I tried what you said, duplicating the boot.ini in
each
root
location and configured them as you said. I also, just in case I
wasn't
understanding correctly, configured them the other way around
i.e. I
made
the
original boot.ini point to partition 2 and the new renamed
boot.ini
point
to
partition 3, then I made the original boot.ini point to 3 and the
renamed
boot.ini point to partition 2. Originally they both did point to
partition
2.
But even after duplicating them and configuring the both ways I
still
got
the
same thing trying to boot into either xp option. There was not
any
secondary
boot menu that ever came up so I'm guessing it just doesn't even
get
that
far.

Chris

:

Just to review. You have 1 connected IDE drive.
You now have Vista on partition 3 and it is the system drive.
XP
is
on
partition 2. Partition 1 is empty.
You now have a copy of ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini in the
root
on
both
the XP and the Vista drive.
You have a Boot menu that has Vista, older version of Windows
(XP)
and
the
new legacy XP system entry you added from VistaBootPro
With both 'XP' entries on the boot menu, older and legacy
system,
you
get
the same message hall.dll missing or corrupt
Your boot.ini on both partitions shows XP on rdisk 0 partition 2

If the above are all correct, can we do one more test to see
where
you
are
failing. Make a duplicate of the boot.ini entry on both
partitions.
Change
the descriptions on the new entries so you can identify them.
Make
the
second entry on both point to partition 3

This should cause you to get the secondary boot menu, and give a
better
idea
of how far into the boot process you get.

I wasn't able to get back to the computer till now but, that
didn't
fix
it
either. I downloaded vistabootpro and have been searching
through
message
boards and such to find some hope, without any luck. So if you
or
anyone
has
any more ideas let me hear them. Oh and I also want to thank
you
for
all
the
help you've been, I just hope there is something to do to fix
this
without
having to buy anything else.

:

If you are lucky, restoring the boot.ini to the drive with
the
ntldr
and
ntdetect.com files on it will give you a boot. Just to save
steps,
I
would
also copy all three files onto the root of the Vista drive.
You put all files on the root of the drives. Nothing goes
into
the
Vista
boot file.
That you got the error you got indicates it is looking to the
right
place
for the ntldr file but couldn't complete the process.

If you only have the Vista boot file on the 3rd partition and
you
are
booting into Vista, that must be the active partition (should
be
labeled
'system' in disk management)

Let me know what the results are as it may require 1 more
step
of
downloading VistaBootPro and adding a legacy system entry
there.

The xp partition seems to be the active partition and from
what
it
looks
like
is the 2nd partition of 3(they aren't numbered in the
computer
management).
The vista partition looks like the 3rd partition and seems
to
contain
the
vista boot information. The other files when I search for
them
are
on
the
D:
drive which is the xp partition, but when i searched
boot.ini
it
only
found a
backup file on the D: named boot.ini.backup, but i think
that
is
the
file
because it contains the boot information for the 2nd
partition.
Also
that
means it should be correct in being the 2nd partition. So
what
it
looks
like
is the empty partition is the 1st one the xp partition is
the
2nd