13" MacBook boots to hal.dll issue - Help!

I recently tried to install Windows XP using bootcamp, I read somewhere the section that bootcamp makes needed to be wiped or deleted, so it doesn't use the default structure. So I deleted the partition, I selected Windows to install to the new space. Although, it installed XP in the NTFS layout, and then refused to boot up, claiming hal.dll was missing.
Everytime I start the MacBook it boots to this screen, I have tried MANY commands for Windows through using the advice of others who have had this issue, but none worked. After trying and trying, it eventually claimed something had been corrupted. I cannot remove the disk and cannot get it to boot to OSX. I have tried CommandOF to try and get the disk out but nothing happened.
I have tried almost every thing I can think of, could someone please give me some advice and help me solve this?!
Thank you!

No joy unfortunately, it claims 'There is no floppy disk or CD in the drive', when there clearly is. I do not know the letter allocations of each partition or drive, so cannot try it another way.
Is there any way I can just get back into OSX and delete the Windows partition? I have really tried to use key commands on boot up but it just goes to the Windows partition.
Thanks,
Max

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Cant boot missing hal.dll file - HELP!

I have just installed my new MSI board, and I have a dreadful problem. I cannot get my computer to boot. It tells me that windows cannot start because the following file is mssing or corrupted: Hal.dll
In fact the file is there. I know this because if |I leave the windows install disk in the computer it boots ok. I have tried using the rebuild command from the recovery console, and the repair option, but so far it does not work.
Has anyone else had a similar problem? I had no problem with my old board, and so I thought it might be something to do with this new board. Are my settings incorrect?
I have SCSI as well as IDE drives, and I cannot tell if the boot.ini file is pointing to the right drive, but I suspect it is.
Please help!
Dan

hal.dll is a dll which interfaces your hardware to the operating system (Hardware Adapter Layer).
I don't know which operating system you are using, so I can't tell you the total answer to your problem.
When you boot from your hard drive (as opposed to floppy disk or cd-rom), it will always look for the initial hardware loaders ($ldr$, ntldr, etc) from the boot drive (normally "C") prior to looking at boot.ini. From there it will give you a choice of which operating system to load.
Incidentally, the loader is a dos based program so only knows about drives 1 & 2.
the easiest way to get the operating system on the second drive, is to use the install disk from windows by executing "cd-rom":/setup.exe from the start menu.
After removing the current version of the OS from the scsci drive, you may then install onto the scsi drive. Ensure that the scsi controller is enabled for booting, so it's BIOS is enabled.
Hope this helps.
kd1im (MCSE)

MOVED: Windows cannot boot because of missing/corrupt hal.dll! Help!

This topic has been moved to Operating Systems.
Windows cannot boot because of missing/corrupt hal.dll! Help!

Hi,
make sure you have disconnected all non-essential external devices (printers, scanners, external harddisk) prior to installing BootCamp Windows.
Leave only mouse, keyboard and display connected.
Make sure that your XP CD is either retail or OEM/systemBuilder version and not a manufacturer-bundled one.
Also make sure that the CD is 'clean' (no dust, no scratches, etc.).
Use the BootCamp Assistant to revert back to one single OSX volume.
Use OSX Disk Utility to Verify your harddisk and repair permissions.
Retry the XP installation from scratch.
Generally using NTFS is more likely to not getting the 'missing hal.dll' error.
Stefan

Boot Camp ****: HAL.DLL and other problems

Okay I am really frustrated, so if I come off like a jerk... well, I don't mean to, but my frustration is going to bleed into the tone of this post. Let me ask you not to reply that I have a bad Windows CD. I've been a gosh darn network administrator for over ten frakking years now, and I successfully use the same bleeping CDROM disk on dozens of other computers all the bleeping time.
Okay, now that I've got that off my chest, here's the situation: I have a Windows XP Pro CD with Service Pack 3 slipstreamed into it. I downloaded it from Microsoft. My organization has a Select Agreement with them, so we can do that. There is a winnt.sif file on it that automates a few things (such as entering the key number), but it allows me to do the partitioning and formatting manually.
If I leave the partition as FAT32, then when the Windows installer attempts to reboot into the GUI portion of the install, then it says, "Disk Error. Press any key to restart." Pressing keys does nothing, so I have to power it off.
If I format the partition with NTFS (tried both Quick and Full formats with the same results), then it finishes the text mode portion of the install, reboots, and tells me that I'm missing HAL.DLL.
I have tried several different sizes of partitions (partitioning with the Boot Camp utility... not the Windows installer), and been through the text portion of Windows install at least a dozen times. I have searched the Net, and failed to find a CD that would allow me to attempt installing Windows off my RIS server. I have burned new copies of my CD onto CDR and CDRW media. The only thing I cannot do is obtain an original XP CD since our organization isn't big enough to qualify for Microsoft to send us Select CD's (and my boss ain't gonna pay for a retail copy just so that I can run Boot Camp). And please don't ask me if I'm properly licensed to install Windows on my Mac. I know the Windows EULA inside and out. It's all legit.
Any help here would truly be appreciated.

Perhaps you need to use an XP cd with sp2 slipstreamed, install boot camp update 2.1, then SP3.
The following URL has a note: --> http://support.apple.com/downloads/BootCamp_Update_2_1_for_WindowsXP
Important: Installation of Boot Camp 2.1 is required before installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

Satellite boot and recovery disk issue, help please...

Hello,
Well here is the issue. My satellite is a few years old, all the sudden it quits booting. Gets to the starting windows xp mode then crashes and repeats the process. So I thought, well..I will just install my recovery disks..
Well, thanks to whatever reason, and its frustrating as anything..I get a wrong machine error. Wont allow me to install my recovery disks. Call toshiba, they say my warranty expired have to go pay a service rep.. Arrgh..
This was bought brand new and it is the correct machine..
Anyway..when I get wrong machine i do get:
Installation process aborted/failed!
A:/>_
I am assuming, there is something I can type there that will have it reconize my machine.. Any ideas?? Toshiba was no help. Or.. If you have a idea on how i can boot this thing without the recoery disks.
Thanks in advance..

HI jake,
you could install a full version of any supported MS OS!
When you go to http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/home.to you could look which OS are supported by Toshiba US!
Bye chris

Macbook to Panasonic Viera HDTV issues :( HELP!

Hi
I recently bought the correct cables to connect my macbook to the TV using HDMI. The macbook connects to the TV and I can see this because in the system preferences 'Display' Panasonic TV settings come up. The thing is there is no macbook picture on my TV. Please help. Ive been looking at it for hours!
Thanks in advance!

Depends on what input plug you'll be using on your TV. VGA, DVI or HDMI. You'll need a Mini DisplayPort adapter and a cable from that to your TV. Here's the various types of Mini DisplayPort adapters on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=min i-dvi&x=9&y=13#/ref=nb_sb_ss_sc_2_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mini+ displayport&sprefix=mini+displayport&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Amini+displayport
If you connect the MacBook using a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter you will probably need to use external speakers or a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack to RCA sound plugs connected to a stereo sound system if your TV doesn't have separate RCA input plugs or a 3.5mm stereo input plug for audio with the HDMI plug. The Mini DisplayPort to HDMI doesn't carry audio unless you have the Mid 2010 model 7,1 and there're no audio plugs on most TVs to work with HDMI since it's expecting audio with the HDMI.
With the Late 2008 model 5,1 Aluminum Unibody there is an adapter that uses the Mini DisplayPort and a USB port to combine video and audio to HDMI. It's only 2 channel stereo not 5.1 Dolby Surround.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802 &p_id=5969&seq=1&format=2

No luck installing Windows XP SP2 on Macbook hal.dll error

1. I partitioned 45GB with Boot Camp Assistant.
2. Loaded Win XP SP2 CD and started installation.
3. Formatted BOOTCAMP partition on NTFS Quick (Also tried NTFS normal [slow])
4. After it copies everything to the drive and reboots I get a hal.dll missing/corrupt error.
I have tried repartitioning dozens of times and have tried 3 different Windows CDs
Thanks for your help
Message was edited by: pesqair

Startup from the windows CD,
delete the 200MB sized partition and the Bootcamp partition.
Then make a new NTFS partition from the new space and install XP.
It's the 200MB partition that has something to do with boot record, Bootcamp does not recognize it's own partition as bootpartition!
Good luck installing windows!

Hal.dll error - HP Mini 1030 NR fails to boot following XP reinstall.

Following a reformat of the solid state HDD and subsequent reinstallation of XP from the recovery disc, I receive the following message: "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll" - I've tried multiple fixes using the "expand" (copy) command from the XP recovery disc to replace the .dll file as well as rebuilding the boot.ini file. Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Hi Paul - thanks for your suggestions...
The associated HP Mini 1030 utilizes a 16 GB SSD as its only drive other that a removable SD card. It has worked well within my home network for web based applications (streaming, MP3's, news etc.) in my kitchen for the last year. It was configured new with a no frills bare bones XP platform. I removed all extraneous programs except for a basic antivirus routine. Eventually however, the SDD became filled to capacity with security updates and other file allocation clutter typical of the XP platform and I started getting memory warnings.
As I've done with other XP machines, I reformatted the SDD and have attempted to reinstall the operating system using the associated recovery disc as supplied from HP. I consistently get the "Hal error" early in the bootup process and as a result, Windows will not launch.
I read through the MS links you included and have the following comments:
Suggestion #1 - Unless I'm missing something, I can't change the "computer type" in the control panel as the laptop will not boot to windows.
Suggestion #2 - Forcing a system Hal... would like to try this but am not sure what configuration I'm looking for with this type of laptop (Standard PC?).
Any other thoughts? thanks again for your help...

HT4628 My macbook pro doesn't connect to the Wi-Fi at home while my iPad connects to the same Wi-Fi. When I try connecting my macbook to my iPhone's personal hotspot, the internet works but the issue is connecting my macbook to the Wi-Fi. Please help!!

My macbook doesn't connect to the Wi-Fi at home while my iPad connects to the same Wi-Fi. When I try connecting my macbook to my iPhone's personal hotspot, the internet works but the issue is connecting my macbook to the Wi-Fi. Please help!!
I don't understand how to fix this and I don't seem to understand where the problem is coming from.

Let's try the simple approach first. Restart your router. Any change?

Hal.dll is missing after first boot after installing Windows

I've used Boot Camp Assistant to resize my existing Macintosh HD (even though I left 700GB free space on the disk in Disk Utility during setup; it would only allow me to resize an existing disk). I then let it reboot and started XP setup fine. Chose the correct partition and formatted as NTFS (since it's larger than 32GB), went through copying all the files successfully, and after it automatically rebooted, I get this:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
I've been following the documentation which is pretty thin when it comes to the actual install. It gives the impression "everything just works" but in my case it doesn't. How do you actually install Windows on a Mac and have it be able to boot after the apparently-successful installation process?

It may be my fault because I did a full format, and when it took so long, I rebooted, deleted the partition, and recreated it and told it to do a quick format. The instructions say not to create or delete a partition "other than as noted" in the picture or else I could lose my system partition. I didn't lose that but my problems might have been another result of my doings.

HAL.DLL problem, no fix yet. APPLE plz help!!!

It goes like this.
1. When attempting to install Bootcamp with a known good Windows XP SP2 installer, the Windows installer shows the disk selection screen, but not the formatting one (as showned in the installation instructions).
If I attempt to use as is, the installer goes directly to the installation process without properly formatting the disk. On restart, the Windows installation gives us a disk error.
2. At the disk selection screen, there is a way to delete the Bootcamp partition in the Windows installer, then recreate it and make sure it is properly formatted too. I tried both NFS and FAT32, the installer does its work without complaining. But at restart, I always get the HAL.DLL error...
And all this happens on a shiny brand new iMac, updated OSX10.5.2, no other software, nor Parallel Desktop installed...
3. Additionaly, the 32Gig selector seems to be rather imprecise. I get the FAT32 format option only when selecting a smaller than 30Gig partition size...
4. Maybe the bootcamp 2.1 upgrade would solve my problem, but the installers are only for Windows .exe file, and Windows doesn't work...
HELP!!!

Must have missed an exit somewhere....
I ran the Bootcamp partioning utility. Created two partitions, one for OSX and one of 28Gig for BOOTCAMP.
I dl the Gparted LiveCD thing, burnt it. Ran it... But then I could see only one partition. I reformated it in FAT32... I could install Windows. But then of course, my OSX partition was gone...
I have to reinstall OSX for the fourth time. Just hearing the word Bootcamp is kinda giving me nausea by now Can't imagine that I newbie could survive this without going nuts. Apple has got to put some user friendliness back into this process...
How about having the installer properly format the partitions, as well as partitioning it so we don't have to deal with this in Windows? (since, for some reason, the Windows installer doesn't want to)
I'll try to see what I missed that did delete my OSX partition.. And I'll reuse GParted since that's what got me closer to my goal so far...

Hal.dll error error message: here is the solution !

Thanks to endership for the procedure. For people who were getting the hal.dll missing file error message or for those who are wondering about the right way to install Windows XP SP2 with Bootcamp, here is the steps you have to follow.
1) First, get an original Windows XP SP2 cd and be sure that your CD is bootable and that you can access the recovery console in a repair function (not all the cds got the function, so be careful).
2)After, you go in Apple applications, utilities and you click on the boot camp assistant
3)If you got a Windows partition already created that is not working, resulting from a bad installation of Windows with bootcamp, just merge the two partitions (windows and mac os x) using the restore function.
4)Use 32 Go for Windows (default option) and be sure that your Windows cd is in the drive and launch the installation.
Computer will reboot in the installation program after that all the drivers has been loaded (the blue screen lasting about 5 minutes).
5)Once your are in the installation menu, just select the option that takes you to the repair console.
6)You will get a C: command line, sort of MS-DOS. Like mentionned enderfish, type "diskpart" to visualize the partitions created and be sure that the c: drive is labeled "bootcamp". Just return to repair console in the c: command line.
7)type the following command line:
FORMAT c: /Q /FS:NTFS
You will get a quick format of the c: drive in the NTFS file system. It will also probably work in FAT32, but I've never tried.
8)After that the format has been done, hit the POWER button to reboot.
9)You will be back in the installation menu; you'll also have to wait once again during 5 minutes for the drivers loading process.
10)Once you get in the installation blue screen, just choose the partition that has been created and choose to let the file system intact.
11)Windows XP will be copying install files on the HD, install Windows XP SP2.
12)Once, the installation is done and you entered in Windows (if you followed the instructions carefully), insert in the cd drive, the Leopard CD and install Windows drivers.
13)Reboot
14)Enjoy!
Message was edited by: Bert770

In my experience (because this happened to me), I found that it was a -user error- (mine). I reviewed Apple's instructions (which said to reformat the BOOTCAMP partition) and DELETED the BOOTCAMP "C:" partition (from within the XP installer) first. When you do this, it combines with partition with the "unused" 128MB partition that separates the Mac partition from "C:".
Apparently the 128MB partition really -is- used for something; probably to help redirect XP to the proper location to find hal.dll (which is why the file -even if repaired/replaced- continues to be reported as missing/corrupted). Even XP's automatic repair won't fix this issue (as it proceeds to copy -everything- anew and still fail upon reboot with the same error).
The answer seems to be "don't delete the C: partition". Instead, just select it, hit ENTER and, -in the next screen-, format the partition (Quick is OK). Everything proceeds properly at that point.
I just finished doing seven iMacs and tried quite a number of alternate solution (suggested here and elsewhere). The only thing that worked consistently was following Apple's directions!
By the way, once I got one Mac working properly (using FAT32 as I had only a 32GB partition and I wanted to have the PC partition appear on the Mac's Desktop if we booted into OSX), I imaged the partition and tried restoring it to another Mac on which I had only used BootCamp Assistant to partition the drive. Booting into XP produced the same hal.dll error. However, if I restored to a partition that had already had a successful XP installation done to it in the proper manner, this replacement of the partition's data with the image's data was successful. (I don't know why. I tried both a "master" image and a "compressed" image; only the compressed image worked and only as noted above.)
I'm not writing this to come off as a guru; rather, this is simply what ended up working for me and I thought others might benefit from knowing what mis-steps I took (and would then not follow in those mis-steps).
Barry

Error Message: Missing \SYSTEM32\HAL.DLL

Anyone familiar with this error message when booting into Windows XP on a Macbook?
This problem began when I attempted to setup multiple partitions for Windows, using the disk management utility for Windows XP:
"Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<windows root>\system32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file"
Before trying to make more partitions, everything ran A-OK.
Please advise if you have run into this.
Thanks,
Mbs

I have the same problem with bootcamp and parallels.
Replacing the dll does not help.
btw: at the moment it seems to bee that xp does not work with bootcamp at all.
After installation I get a drive error. Looking up the support pages it is suggested to format the bootcamp volume before installing xp.
I tried this with the xp-installer (ntfs format) and from parallels using the old DOS format command.
No method worked.
After trying to run the bootcamp-xp in parallels I finally got the dll-error.

Hal.dll error during/after Win XP SP2 installation

At the moment I'm trying to install Win XP (SP2) into a bootcamp partition. I have a Mac Pro with 4 HDDs.
HDD1: OSX
HDD2: free
HDD3: OSX Data (raid 1)
HDD4: OSX Data (raid 1)
The setup I'd like to have is:
HDD2:
(1) Bootcamp-Partition (NTFS ~75GB)
(2) Bootcamp-Scratch (NTFS ~150GB)
(3) Scratch (HFS+ ~250GB)
I partitioned the disk that way (with FAT32 instead of NTFS) and booted from the Windows install disk. The installer starts, reformats disk (1) to NTFS and copies data onto the disk.
After the first reboot it breaks with hal.dll error. The files are on the disk but boot.ini seems to be corrupt. The "bootcfg" command from the recovery console is not working - it only duplicates the wrong entry in boot.ini.
After the third non-working installation I tried to move the Bootcamp-Partition into the middle, OSX in front:
(1) Scratch (HFS+ ~250GB)
(2) Bootcamp-Partition (NTFS ~75GB)
(3) Bootcamp-Scratch (NTFS ~150GB)
Same error.
Any hints on howto do that? Or will I have to move the Bootcamp-Disk to the end? How to succeed in having the Bootcamp-Scratch as 'D:' in Windows if I swap those two partitions?
BTW: I succeeded to install WinXP on the same disk before. Back then I only had a 75GB Bootcamp-Partition on the disk (no other partition) and had the disk in Bay 3. But I moved it to Bay 2 because of performance problems in Bay3/4 (PIO-mode) and don't want to waste 400GB in the future .

First of all I believe this is not the right place to discuss the issue. This issue is related to the Windows operating system file corruption and I think the physical location of the hard drive is not the cause of the issue.
The hal.dll file is a system file which holds the hardware access layer information and linking the necessary components. This include the information about all the hardware resources for the operating system. What you had done to change the hardware configuration files in the boot.ini looks ok. Also you can try this link.
http://shanegfowler.wordpress.com/2007/01/10/missing-haldll-error-corrupt-bootin i-file-quick-fix/
Hope that helps you........

Hal.dll always the same problem but no real solution :(

Hello everybody,
i have been trying to install Windows XP Pro SP2 (original and I am sure of the version) with Leopard and Bootcamp 2.0.
Like several other users, i had the "error disc" problem when installing directly on the bootcamp partition (without formating) and "hal.dll" when deleting the partition (and making one with both 128Mo partition and my old Bootcamp partition) and formating after.
Like most of the users who had this problem, I can't choose to format the Bootcamp partition when i choose the partition (choosing a partition installs directly windows and i don't have the step where i can choosing the formating method...).
I tried with 3 different windows CDs and none of them allow me to use the Recovery Console (Pressing R) and to format.
I didn't delete Bootcamp's 200Mo partition, since I saw in several forums that sometimes it can have tremendous consequences.
How can I manage to install windows XP? Does Vista works better?
Thanks for your help!

Actually pr100, the Bootcamp instructions say specifically that you HAVE to reformat the bootcamp-created partition before installing windows. Here's the excerpt from the instructions:
"*Formatting the Windows Partition*
Even though Boot Camp pre-formats the Windows partition, this partition can’t be
used to boot the computer. You must reformat the new Windows partition using the
Windows installer."
But yeah, after re-partitioning and unpartitioning (using Bootcamp) about 10 times I finally did a complete (not quick or 'convert to') NTFS reformat from the Windows installer and that did the trick.
All my other issues, from no-boot from anything (not CDs, not 'option,' not anything) were fixed by resetting firmware with an unplug-and-hold-down-power-button, plug-back-in-and-hold-power-button-until-you-hear-the-firmware-update/reset-bee p. That first bit was a heart-stopper with the machine not responding in ANY normal configuration I could discover until the afore-described bit of unplugged firmware resetting. Just always booted to the black screen of blinking DOS cursor scariness. Next it appeared to be installing Windows but finally gave me nothing but the hal.dll error at startup. Very depressing considering the sketchiness and contradictory nature of most of the posts here about fixing hal.dll errors. Mine included above. After about 10 tries at various Bootcamp/Windows setup options I finally decided to go NTFS and that's what fixed it for me in the end. Good luck all of you. Hope this further bit of insanity helps you. There was no way I was going to delete the 'extra' partition (200Mb) or the new 'free space' (128Mb) that Bootcamp also created in its partitioning process. As recommended elsewhere here. I'm really clueless about the whole boot process but I'm sure that Apple could make things better if they wanted to.
Good luck, I hope you all manage to fix your issues and get XP or whatever running. Crysis was the only reason for my efforts and it's really paid off. Will be buying the whole game tomorrow.

13" MacBook boots to hal.dll issue - Help!

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