BleepingComputer.com: Missing or Corrupt File on Startup

I did that and restarted in normal mode. It still comes up:

"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.

Please re-install a copy of the file above."

In xPUD, navigate to the /mnt/sda2/i386 folder. Browse down to the following files:

hal.dl_
hal.in_

Note that both files end with an underscore. That is normal as they are compressed files. Copy these files to the USB drive.

In a working computer, create a New Folder in the C:\ folder. Label that folder TempFiles. Copy the above files from the USB drive to the TempFiles folder. Once done, open a command prompt (Click on the Windows 7 Orb, type CMD on the search box and press Enter. At the prompt type the following and press Enter after each line:

cd \
cd TempFiles
Expand hal.dl_ hal.dll
Expand hal.in_ hal.ini
Exit

You should now have four (4) files in the TempFiles folder, the compressed files and the expanded files. Copy the expanded files, Hal.dll and Hal.ini, to the USB drive.

In xPUD locate these files in the /mnt/sda2/Windows/System32 folder, and rename them to Hal.dll.vir and Hal.ini.vir respectively.

From the USB drive, copy the expanded files to the /mnt/sda2/Windows/System32 replacing thereby the files renamed.

Restart the computer in Normal mode. Let me know the outcome.

This post has been edited by JSntgRvr: 04 November 2010 - 11:58 PM

I followed your instructions and booted up normally. It still shows the same message.

Lets find out if we have Restore points available:

Download http://noahdfear.net/downloads/rst.sh to the USB drive

• Insert the USB drive and CD in the Sick computer and boot the computer from the CD again
  
• Press File
  
• Expand mnt
  
• Expand your USB (sdb1)
  
• Confirm that you see rst.sh that you downloaded there
  
• Press Tool at the top
  
• Choose Open Terminal
  
• Type bash rst.sh
  
• Press Enter
  
• After it has finished a report will be located at sdb1 named enum.log
  
• Plug that USB back into the clean computer and open it

Please note: If you have an ethernet connection you can access the internet by way of xPUD (Firefox). You can perform all these steps on your sick computer. When you download the download will reside in the Download folder. It can be found under the File tab also. You can similarly access our thread by way of this OS too so you can send the logs that way.

Please also note - all text entries are case sensitive

Copy and paste the enum.log for my review

This is what is located in the enum report folder:

872.0K Sep 11 2005 /mnt/sda1/Minint/system32/config/software
196 Nov 4 19:13 Boot.ini
16.8K Nov 4 16:51 driver.sh
62 Nov 5 09:35 enum.log
3.2K Nov 4 17:19 filefind.txt
52.0K Aug 10 2004 hal.dl_
103.0K Aug 3 2004 hal.dll
55.1K Nov 4 17:17 report.txt
3.0K Nov 5 09:30 rst.sh

Seems there are no restore points. In addition, there are no registry hives in the system.

Please run the command once again. Make sure it says Done! in the Open Terminal window, then post the contents of the enum.log for my review.

When you say "I recently tried to do a system restore on my computer", was that a System Restore to an earlier date, or a System Restore to factoring Settings?

I completed the previous command twice and this is all that will come up in the enum file:

872.0K Sep 11 2005 /mnt/sda1/Minint/system32/config/software
196 Nov 4 19:13 Boot.ini
16.8K Nov 4 16:51 driver.sh
62 Nov 5 21:23 enum.log
3.2K Nov 4 17:19 filefind.txt
52.0K Aug 10 2004 hal.dl_
103.0K Aug 3 2004 hal.dll
55.1K Nov 4 17:17 report.txt
3.0K Nov 5 09:30 rst.sh


I was performing a system restore to factory settings when it rebooted and displayed the missing or corrupt file

Quote

That explains everything. Once the Recovery starts, everything goes back to 0. During the process the hard drive is re-image. Since it didn't complete, parts of the the installation of the operating system were left out.

You must retry the Recovery Process once again and hope it finishes. If it doesn't, then there must be a problem with the Recovery partition, and in order to overcome this issue, you will need to contact the manufacturer and request a set of Recovery Disks. These are unexpensive.

Sorry to have learn this now. That would have save us some time.

I contacted the manufacturer and they told me I couldnt purchase the disks through them because I bought the computer before 2007. They said I would need to purchase a whole new Windows XP Operating system and to try Microsoft.

That really sucks.

Does attempting the Recovery to Factory Settings still fail?

This post has been edited by JSntgRvr: 06 November 2010 - 07:01 PM

Yes. I tried it again. It goes all the way through the process but when it boots up again it shows the "missing or corrupt file" message.

That is very unfortunate.