unable to boot

My computer closed when unattended so I didn't see what caused the problem.

I am now unable to boot to OS, the reason for this, apparently, is a missing system 32 file (hal.dll)

At the moment I am using another hard drive with XP already installed to access internet

 

Are you dual booting?
Any way this may help

 

Hopefully, Paul's link will assist you.

But, failing that, a repair installation may be the easiest solution, especially if you have a fast internet connection. You would need to reinstall all the Windows Updates.

This may seem drastic, sort of like killing a housefly with a shotgun. But there are many times when trying to track down some small problem consumes far more time than the 39 or so minutes that a repair takes. And sometimes other problems get solved in the process.

But this does require the XP CD.

 

can I download the updates on one hard drive and then transfer them over to the drive with the boot problem

 

The short answer would be "no ". Not sure what you're thinking, but updates should only be applied to a system (generally) that is working well. They can compound already existent problems. In any case, the updates aren't just new files, but installed applications with complex registry components.

The machine needs to boot and run before updating.

So I guess Kelly's Korner didn't lead too far. Time for a repair? It would, we hope, get you back into Windows. All your installed apps and so on would be unaffected (provided, of course, that nothing goes wrong. I never had it fail in the 20 or so times I've done it).

 

Hell junohera,

Actually you could, provided you downloaded the updates from the MS Catalog site http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp?corporate=true Double clicking on them would install them.

In this case, I think Abraxas is right - fix the problem before complicating the issue further.

This is the way I do MS updates because I can save them. If I would have a need to either roll back the system because of a problem, or a reload, the MS updates are saved and can be re-applied in basically the same way software re-installs are done.

Regards - Charles

EDIT: Just re-read what I wrote: "Actually you could" install the updates. No, the OS would have to be running as Abraxas pointed out.