pc crashed help

[cmac79]

a lil while ago my pc crashed which was no big deal it was time for areformat anyway. I got up this morning and it was down again....this is the message I get....Windows could not start because the following file is missing of corrupt:
(Windows root)/system32/hal.dll. Please re,install a copy of the above file........what do I do here? % put my disc in but I only get the reformat options..i wanna try to avoid a reformat if possible cause I have a few thongs I do not want to loose if possible

[cmac79]

haha things not thongs lol..typin on cell lol

[Full Speed]

Which OS is it?

[Arinoth]

Sounds to me for one reason or another the hard drive has lost or corrupted one of the boot up windows files. What version of windows are you running, if its Vista or Win 7 you can insert the cd/dvd and run an install repair. If its XP (if memory serves me right) then you have to reformat

[cmac79]

yea its xp pro...i was usin win7 but had some ram die on me a bit ago so I'm stuck wit 1 gig till I gets more which is why iwent back to xp...crap guess I gotta reformat grrr..had some stuff I been workin on for a week now that I'm going to loose...im gonna have to get me an external hd for stuff like this

[Arinoth]

Well dont go ahead and format just yet. If you have a second hard drive laying around (or pc) you could install windows ontop that, boot from that and well recover your files from your hard drive with the corrupt windows by making it a slave drive.

[bushwhacker]

You should have the option to do a repair installation.
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
I would first use the A43 File Management Utility on the BartPE bootCD & a USB flash drive to backup all the files one values.
Alternatively, put the A43 File Management Utility directly on a USB flash drive - boot from it and copy files to it.

[cmac79]

ty ty ty ty ty bushwhacker I went to the first link you posted and was able to boot up my pc and save all my stuff...ty ty ty ty ty

[b1lk1]

I know this is off topic, but I run 1GB of ram on my kids PC with Windows 7 and it runs great.

[_dangtx_]

nice t have it back up. did you try messing around with the hal or it just got corrupted? was trying to get sli work on my xfire mobo, as you may know theres a few methods, drivers or hal..dont touch the hal part ;)