Threw on new motherboard and got missing hal.dll error... 1

[snayjay]

Long story short, I'm fixing a comp for a friend... troubleshooting told me his motherboard needed replacing so we got a new motherboard and on bootup I get the dreaded missing or corrupt HAL.dll. Now after researching this error I found that it is usually a problem with dealing with dual boot systems or installing a new harddrive. Well neither are the case right now... same harddrive and only 1 OS is loaded. So I read that the HAL.dll is made by 5 other dll's during OS installation and that the HAL.dll really just points to different dll's that operate certain things (some hardware, some software)... well this leads me to believe that I can't just copy a HAL.dll from my computer and put it in his as we have different hardware starting with the motherboard. So is there anyway to fix this error other than reformatting his harddrive and reinstalling windows? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance,

Snay

 

[Freestone]

A Windows installation can sometimes handle hardware changes if the changes to a motherboard's chipset are close. It is usually okay going from Intel to Intel but changing chipsets (Intel to AMD, nForce to either, UIntel to nForce, etc.) is usually met with less than optimal results. In your case, hardware differences between the motherboards were too much for Windows to handle.

The first thing I suggest before any repair is to backup any data your friend deems irreplaceable. Saves that embarrassing situation where you try to explain those pictures one valued so much are long gone to the bit bucket in the sky. An image of the hard drive prior to fixing goes a long way to backing up data. Software such as Acronis True Image or Symantec Ghost are just two products that will create images.

The next step in to try an in-place upgrade, also known as a repair install. There are NO GUARANTEES that this will fix the problem, hence my advice to backup data prior. Search the web with terms "xp in place upgrade" or "xp repair install". You will find many hits, many having step-by-step instructions. I am assuming you are dealing with XP. Here's Microsoft’s page:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

 

[snayjay]

You are right it is XP.

Thanks for the info.

1 question though, if Windows XP is loaded on that harddrive, can I install it as a slave drive and pull the files from it? This way I can drop the files on my computer, reformat his harddrive... reload XP and transfer the files back.

Snay

 

[edfair]

You could do that. But the reinstall of XP is also going to require the reinstall of all programs. And there may be things that won't get transferred.
It might work better to back the files up like that, then do the repair install. Even better would be to do the image, or even to burn the critical stuff to CD/DVD so he has an off drive backup.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[Freestone]

That should work. You may have to take ownership of files in folder under \Documents and Settings\ in order to retrieve them.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

After transferring his files to yours, there is no reason not to try the repair install first, other than a little time. If it works, you'll need only to reinstall all updates and the backed up files. Installed programs will still be there and will not need to be reloaded. If it doesn't work, the reformat and reinstall is always available.

 

[BadBigBen]

This may be of some interest to you aswell...

How to replace the motherboard on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, or Windows 2000

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824125

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[snayjay]

Freestone, edfair, BigBadBen... thanks for all the comments. I'll let my friend decide as it's his data. More than likely I'll let his wife borrow my laptop till he returns (another month) and let him deal with his data. We're military and he's deployed, his wife uses the comp for Skype and email, so hopefully my laptop will work for the next month. I'll try those options if he wants, but I would really hate to lose something. Anyway, thanks again for the advice.

Snay