Need *gasp* *choke* Windows help...

[Praxis]

Well, after dual booting my other computer with Windows, windows decided to commit suicide.

If I select Linux from the boot loader, it works. If I select Windows, it tells me that <windows root>\system32\Hal.dll is missing or corrupt.

From Linux I can check out my Windows XP NTFS drive, but it is read only. Hal.dll is definitely THERE, and must be corrupted. However, since Linux sees NTFS as read only, I can't copy it from my other PC. I want to reinstall or repair windows, but it won't boot from the disk- I put the disk in, but it proceeds to the boot loader as usual, and selecting Windows gives me the same error.
DANGIT.

What do I do?

[DaveJB]

Have you checked your BIOS to make sure the CD drive is searched before the HD?

If it still doesn't work, nip to http://www.bootdisk.com and grab a Win98SE boot disk (you should be able to write one under Linux, but I can't check as I'm currently in WinXP), and use it to boot the system. Then, use the WinXP DOS setup tool to create some new boot floppies, then use these floppies to boot the setup program and do a recovery.

[Pu-239]

Have you checked your BIOS to make sure the CD drive is searched before the HD?

If it still doesn't work, nip to http://www.bootdisk.com and grab a Win98SE boot disk (you should be able to write one under Linux, but I can't check as I'm currently in WinXP), and use it to boot the system. Then, use the WinXP DOS setup tool to create some new boot floppies, then use these floppies to boot the setup program and do a recovery.

You can make the WinXP boot floppies under Linux with dd if=diskimage of=/dev/fd0

[phongn]

You might need to mess with your boot.ini settings to make sure that it is pointing to the right partition.

[Praxis]

Dave- yes, I've checked the bios.
phongn: It booted up fine before, I doubt Linux modified Windows' boot file...all of a sudden, hal.dll is corrupt.

I'll try a boot disk.

[Crayz9000]

Don't use the Windows 98 bootdisk advice. It won't work.

Do you have the XP CD-ROM? If so, you may be able to get your system back up and running. You could try booting to the recovery console from the XP CD, or you could boot to it from floppies. Then you could copy over hal.dll (you can copy to the hard drive, but not from).

[Praxis]

Which is what I said- it will NOT boot from the CD-ROM, for some reason, even though my BIOS is set to boot from Floppy, CD-ROM, and THEN hard disk.

I think I can build an XP boot floppy on my other (better) PC though, I'll try that.

[Crayz9000]

Yeah, that should work.

I don't know if the recovery console you can access by hitting F8 on boot (try that yet?) would function, since HAL.DLL is the Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer -- a rather critical part of the OS...

Ah. Speaking of, here's a little thing on hal.dll that might work.

[phongn]

Dave- yes, I've checked the bios.
phongn: It booted up fine before, I doubt Linux modified Windows' boot file...all of a sudden, hal.dll is corrupt.

No, Linux didn't modify it -- however, your partition structure may have changed. Also, what Linux distribution are you running? Newer kernels have a bug that can clobber the MBR and stop Windows from booting. See the Fedora FAQ for resolution;

[Vertigo1]

Make yourself a linux bootdisk if you haven't already, so you can still boot into linux later on. Then hop on over to bootdisk.com and get the XP bootdisk generator. Then boot off of the first disk and let it do its thing, etc. Once you get to the setup menu, goto the recovery console and type "FIXBOOT" (I think thats the right command...its been a while since I've needed to use the RC. You can always type HELP for a list of the commands.). Then restart your computer and you should be able to boot into windows directly.

Remember that linux bootdisk I mentioned? this is why I mentioned it.