hal.dll missing message during install

[edlight]

During Win XP Home Upgrade clean install, after a reboot, I got windows can't boot because system32\hal.dll is missing or corrupted. Starting from the CD again just gets the very beginning of setup.

-Ed Light

[ds1919]

Make sure you have BIOS set to boot from CDROM

Insert XP CD

Press "R" for Recovery Console

The screen will change to a command prompt. You should be asked which HDD you need to repair, and asked for the Admin password. By default it should be blank, so you can press the ENTER key. I had to remember my password from a year earlier, so make sure you know it if you need a password. Otherwise you will get an access denied answer..

At the command prompt type
expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll
This will (should) reinstall the Hardware Abstraction Layer OS back onto your folder.

It didnt work as a charm for me. I had to back out to the C:\windows folder and do it there, and then I did it in the C:\ folder. It finally worked....

If this isnt working for you, there are some very very good and easy other ways to fix this issue. I found many answers when I typed hal.dll missing in the google search engine