fresh install, missing file won't let me load windows 2

[Konglow]

Just did a fresh install of Win Vista Ult. Came time to boot up and I never made it to Windows. Instead it ends up at a prompt saying the following; Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: <windowsroot>\system32\hal.dll.

Can't get into windows so how do I remedy this? This is where I got stumped.

WIN Vista Ultimate 32.
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Dual PCIe.
AMD Athlon 64X2 6000 Dual Core 3.7
Kingwin Mach 1 600watt MA1S.
OCZ Platinum XTC 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (4x1024MB).
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320Mb XXX DDR3 PCI Express w/Dual DVI & HDTV Out (Retail).
Acer 24" HD P249w(Dual Monitors).
Maxtor 2HD = 1 Terabyte

EI 5.2

 

[gavm99]

You can try and replace the hal.dll file using your installation DVD, you can do this from the recovery console.

Does safe mode work?

Is the hard drive defiantly ok?

Gavin Moorhouse

http://www.lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk

Check out my blog

http://www.thelucidview.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/lucidblog

 

[firewolfrl]

Usually when I get those errors it is hardware related
• Is your copy of Vista a legal copy? Not a burned disk?
• Some DVD drives just have issues and crap out and don’t read. I keep a couple for that reason to install if there is a bad drive
• Bad ram will cause errors and missing files. If you can use the native ram tester on the vista DVD
• Ram timing and voltage set wrong will cause this error and Windows will not install.
• Other hardware issues such as hot CPU and faulty motherboard will create the issues
• Unplug and re-plug back in everything connected to the power supply including motherboard. Loose contacts can do this. Also do all the input plug ins to all the drives
• NO USB’s plugged in
• Try just one stick of ram it see it you have stablility

OK I used to have a ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe MB. (Still do…My son is using it)
• Go into the BIOS and then you have to set manually the voltage for your ram to 2.1 volt. Then you need to leave all the timings at default for now to see if you achieve stability.

Did you upgrade the BIOS? I had to use an old version because ASUS changed the BIOS and made it so when you do any changes in the BIOS to the ram voltages …it goes back to default 1.86 volts and ram timing when the system boots…even though the BIOS says you are in manual settings.
OCZ ram wants 2.1 volt – 2.4 volt for stability. Also you need to run the voltage up on the Northbridge(NB) to at least 1.4 volt. Four sticks of ram is a lot on the system.

Do call OCZ support and tell them what is going on…they have the motherboard specs and can walk you through the custom settings for your ram to achieve stability

http://www.ocztechnology.com/support/

Go to the ASUS forum and look at your motherboard forum. They will talk a lot about what BIOS flash is a stable BIOS and allow changes

http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=1&model=M2N32-SLI+Deluxe&SLanguage=en-us

I went away from ASUS because of these issues and more. I now use Foxconn for myself and my customers

The Error you are getting is because the system is not allowing 16/32bit functions to read the hard drive. Corruptions of the data occur and you will have error upon error till you figure the cause.

I do not think this is a bad hard drive issue at all

 

[linney]

There is a lot of good information in "firewolfrl's" reply.

A few things that I can add include asking about the history of this machine and why you needed to do a clean install in the first place?

Was there any "hiccups" during the Setup phase and did it complete successfully, including any rebooting during Setup?

Are you dual booting on this machine?

Do the Setup logs tell you anything?

Windows Vista setup log file locations

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927521#appliesto

Did you try the Startup Repair option from the DVD?

Startup Repair is a Windows recovery tool that can fix certain problems, such as missing or damaged system files, that might prevent Windows from starting.

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...809f-ed90-415f-a83f-89b42108b3551033.mspx#EFF

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...d+hal.dll+vista+-xp&btnG=Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

 

[firewolfrl]

hey Linney,
I think he may have issues even getting to anything on that MB till he gets a hold of OCZ and sets the ram in the BIOS.

Good questions to ask by the way.

Those MB's also have issues where if there is the newer BOIS it works great with quad core CPU's but give multiple errors with the Dual core CPU's
I had that headache when I used a new BIOS flash for a quad core and then pulled that CPU and used a dual core for my son...I even had the hal.dll issue. the only way could fix it was going to an old BIOS that I knew was stable.

the Reason the Dual core BIOS and the Quad core BIOS have issues...the quad core addresses the ram different and pipes it one channel per core. The dual core pipes the ram 2 channels per core. the BIOS has issues with the newer BOIS with a Dual core in the fact it is designed for the Quad core and pipes the ram wrong and greats the instabilities. I use the original BIOS the MB came with and it works great with the dual cores but does not work with a quad core

As for the Hal.dll it could be as simple as the NTFS boot-sector is not intiallized...but I don't think this is the issue


Linny asked a great question...Why did you have to redo the system?
Was it working before you started the process?
Were you having errors in your windows?
a good example is if you had an unusual amount of Errors with Windows Explorer/Internet Explorer...this is common with ram issues and timing and also with wrong BIOS with Dual core vs Quad core

 

[Konglow]

The problem started days, a week, ago with the mouse freezing up and having to wait for it to continue working. This was intermittent but worsened in time. Changing out the mouse didn't resolve this. Then it started showing the above missing file upon boot but didn't do all the time. At times it booted Win fine and the next it gave me the error. My frustration peaked when I could no longer get passed the error. It seemed that I had no choice but to reinstall.
I thought about it overheating and found way too much buildup around the CPU. I cleaned it up but still no go. That's when I decided to reinstall Vista. I changed the boot device to DVDRom for fresh install and then back to hard drive but still got the same error. This is when I came to TekTips for some advice.
As per advice I was going to check BIOS values when I stopped by to recheck my boot procedure. I found that my boot drive had somehow changed. I corrected this and to my surprise the newly loaded Vista came up. Why this changed I don't know. Now i'll install hardware and see if all still works.
I thank you all for your assistance because I wouldn't have found the problem if I hadn't been following up on the suggestions you offered.

WIN Vista Ultimate 32.
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Dual PCIe.
AMD Athlon 64X2 6000 Dual Core 3.7
Kingwin Mach 1 600watt MA1S.
OCZ Platinum XTC 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (4x1024MB).
XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320Mb XXX DDR3 PCI Express w/Dual DVI & HDTV Out (Retail).
Acer 24" HD P249w(Dual Monitors).
Maxtor 2HD = 1 Terabyte

EI 5.2

 

[firewolfrl]

that is great...there is an issue where those MB's run the CPU hot. the mouse freezing up is an issue that redoing the OS may not solve...its only a temporary fix.
hot harddrive will lock up the mouse too