Cant start XP, missing or corrupr hal.dll 3

[bErEsTh]

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

-Started with what I believed was a virus. Everything was painfully slow. applications would unexpectedly quit to desktop.
-Tried running virus software would quit to desktop (*in safe mode too)
-Tried restoring to ealrier point, wouldnt allow me.
-went to msconfig, would quit several times. Finally I was able to uncheck what looked like things in startup that didnt belong.
-Reboot, got the error message
-Microsoft knowledge base was useless, (about dual boots, which this isnt)

-THIS IS OR NEVER WAS A DUAL BOOT! I have read online that this can happen. Bios is set correctly as far as I can tell. Only 1 hard drive and before this hard drive didnt seem to be issue at all. Thanks for any help offered

 

[bcastner]

I have yet to see Windows Update mess with boot.ini. You might ask yourself: "what possible interest would it have in this file?"

And, I have never seen Windows Update disable all services.

 

[REDROUTE1]

i encountered one problem where someone downloaded windows XP udates and after the restart all the automatic startup items were disabled. i checked services.msc and there was only one service and that was AUTOMATIC UPDATES and nothing else was enabled. this has happened only once so far if anyone has encountered any weird things like this plz post.

 

[bcastner]

Redroute1,

I do not doubt you, just have never seen it. One usefull resouce if you play with services is the Black Viper .reg to restore services to their defaults:

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/registry.htm

 

[REDROUTE1]

i will make a note of that link and research that a little more.but like i said this is a rare thing and has only happened once but i think he downloaded something else to cause this to happen.what do u think...

 

[bcastner]

I think, like your thoughts, that it was unlikely a Windows Update issue.

While I admire the Windows Update service, I just absolutely flat out do not let the service install any device driver upgrade. I do not mind the OS and IE patches, but I refuse to let Windows update apply drivers for my devices such as the LAN adapter or video.

 

[REDROUTE1]

i agree with you. i would rather manually pick the driver instead of letting windows hose itself by putting in a bad driver.neways i still run windows 98 and i have no problems what so ever and have the updates.i think spyware has taken a new step into altering peoples system files when spyware removal tools remove the programs from the registry which tie themselves to key system files.but i will have to investigate the issue a little more before making a precise accusation on that part of the deal.

 

[bcastner]

At least one part of your concern I discuss in faq779-4625 See of that discussion helps any of your concerns.

Best wishes,
Bill

 

[REDROUTE1]

well that is usually the first thing that comes to mind when there is a network connectivity issue.delete the keys and hope that it works.but sometimes it doesnt work and sometimes it does.its just depends if the system is hosed thoughly or not.but mainly i would like to find the reason that the boot.ini is being altered for no reason.a system that i have recently worked on had the corrupt HAL.DLL.i have read prev posts, kb articles, and faqs.all of them call for dual boot situation in which the ini file is corrupt or damaged.its not hard to fix but its kinda getting to me that there could be another reason for this failure in a key system file.

 

[bcastner]

There is some odd crap floating around the internet at the moment. A worm or trojan that edits boot.ini is not beyound the realm of the possible. (By default the file is a Hidden and System attributed file. But that is surely no big deal to a well written worm).

I am adding your comments to my little list of "odd things that may suggest a new malware problem."

It will go right next to my concerns about license authentication errors shown by several users in this Forum in the last month.

 

[REDROUTE1]

indeed.but my colleagues and i will keep a look out for this problem and let you all know if nething turns up on the virus and malware side of the issue.it just sounds to qwerky to be something that just happens just cause it does. gnight all and i will be back on tuesday.