Please Help Me!: Laptop Windows Question

[Lynn CC]

I think I ruined my DS's laptop that he has to take back to college tomorrow!

When I start it up it says...Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt...

Windows root/ system 32/ hal.dll

Please reinstall a copy of the above file...

Does anyone know what I should do?

 

[Barb D]

Do you have the installation CDs that came with the laptop, and does your DS have recent backups? You may need to reload from scratch. This happened to me once, and I wasted way too much time trying to fix it before I gave up and reloaded.

 

[Lynn CC]

Yes I have all the CD's that came with the laptop. I installed the wrong laptops CD's (I recetly got 2 new ones) on this one. I'm so confused right now, DS is furious!

 

[Barb D]

So does he have any irreplaceable files on there, or are you good to reload? It won't take long, and then he'll have a fresh start.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

First take a deep breath.

File corruption is common.

Locate the CDs that came with the laptop and install those.

If your son is saying he can fix it, back off and let him. Seriously.

 

[Lynn CC]

He says he's too busy reading, he's got papers due tomorrow and I have to bring him back later tonight. He's using his PC for the papers!

No he doesn't have any files on the laptop, it's new. DO I just put in all the discs that came with it and how do I go about starting to reinstall them?

 

[Barb D]

Yes, jus t put the first CD in, and it it should take it from there. It will only take a few minutes. You'll be fine.

 

[Barb D]

You may need to load software, too (MS Word, etc.)

 

[Lynn CC]

Thanks I'l go try it!

 

[Lynn CC]

I'm not sure what to start with?
These are the discs I have

Recovery CD Rom for the Windows XP Pro w/service pack 2
Device Drivers & Utilities + users manual
Wireless software
PC Cam Driver
Windows DVD 5
Nero Lightscribe
Bluetooth

I put in the 1st CD Recovery and nothing happened just that initial black screen that says it's corrupt.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Turn off the computer.

Put in the first disk. Turn on the computer. It should boot from there.

 

[Barb D]

Use the recovery CD.

ETA: Just noticed you tried that. Like the Captain said, put it in and then turn the computer off and on. It should start booting from the CD automatically.

 

[Lynn CC]

I did that but it I still get the page that says
Windows root/ system 32/ hal.dll

So he's going to take my laptop (we have a 2 hour drive tonight) .

I'll try the recovery CD later on tonight, if not I'll take his to the computer Geek Shop tomorrow in Boston to see what they can do.
Thanks for your help, I wish I knew what I was doing. What started all this is I was trying to install a bluetooth mouse. It worked fine until I did that!

 

[Pooh's Pal]

Oh no Lynn....I'm not laughing at you...I'm so sorry. But, I did the same thing when my DD came home last summer. I did something so bad, (don't even know what I did) but so bad that she had to send the entire laptop back to Toshiba! She was Soooooo mad at me, she was without her laptop for 6 weeks! I'll never touch her laptop again, in fact when she was home over the holidays, she kept it in her room the whole time! I only saw it the day she came home and when she left on Saturday, she wouldn't even let her poor Mom near it!!
Best of luck to you....I have no advice, sorry.
How's he doing his 1st year?

 

[drayke]

You say it's a new laptop? Call tech support for the laptop manufactor, they'll walk you through how to do the recovery.

 

[jfulcer]

A missing HAL (Hardware Extraction Layer) should be fixed with the recovery disk. You can read more here:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

 

[lucyanna girl]

I just finished re-loading this one yesterday. What kind of laptop is it? Mine is a Dell. They have a web-site that gives you step by step instructions on how to do it. It's not hard, just takes a little while. Good Luck!