Need help on Windows XP Home Edition?

Question

I have two computers at home. on one of the computers the last time I booted it, it says that the following file is missing and reinstall it and i am unable to boot my computer. the missing file is:
\system 32\hall.dll
Please tell where i can get a copy of this file.
Please Help

Answer 1

I solved the problem as followed
1: Open the boot menu
2: Change the boot sequence (boot from CD-rom)
3: Place the windows set-up CD (XP Home or Pro doesn't matter )
4: Reboot
5: Run the set-up and hit R for repair
6: Select your drive (in most cases C:\Windows) and hit 1
7: Fill in your administrator password (in my case I had none, hit enter)
8: Now the prompt field is visible
9: Type E:(or other letter depending on the letter of your cd/dvd)
10: When you see E:\ (then you are in the right folder)
11: Type the following: expand e:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hall.dll
12: It works if you see the notification that the file has been expanded
13: Reboot your computer
14: Now you can start Windows again
15: Suggestion do a system restore if possible two or three days before the error happened.

Good luck

Answer 2

Perform a repair install, you will not lose any data, but will need to reinstall patches again. Here is a good tutorial:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm