[ddelta]

It would sound like any other missing hal.dll incident but I assure you it is not...

I recently bought a Dell Inspiron 9400 (Intel C2D T7400, 2GB DDR2-667) and it came with Vista Home even though I had requested XP pro. Luckily I had Xp pro, so I installed xp pro and during reboot it came up with Windows cannot start blah blah blah missing or corrupted file - hal.dll

Okay, I've been through this before. So I put in the OS disk and it won't even start up keeps going to the same file is missing message.

I've even tried using the dell restore cd, vista os cd but I can't get past that missing file screen. Can't get into safe mode or anything... nothing just that missing file black screen.

I tried booting from usb drive and that didn't work either and I can't jump from floppy because it doesn't have one!

[ddelta]

I've also tried Kelly's korner but still can't even get into safe mode or dos mode it just won't boot from cd

[The Hound]

So does your machine now have both Vista and XP?

[ddelta]

I believe xp because It finalized the install before reboot and then that's when I got the message. But there's no way of telling really as it won't let me pass that screen

[The Hound]

Did you uninstall Vista first, or just install XP...

[ddelta]

vista was preinstalled I just installed xp pro

[The Hound]

According to the Micro$oft Knowledge Base:

"Creating a multi-boot configuration that includes Windows Vista

To create a working multi-boot configuration, install the oldest version of the Windows operating system first. Then, install each newer version in order. Every new Windows version preserves backward compatibility for starting earlier Windows versions.

To create a multi-boot configuration that includes Windows Vista, you must have at least one partition for each earlier Windows version that you install. Follow these general guidelines:
• Create at least two partitions. Use one partition for the Windows Vista installation.

Note If the partition for Windows Vista is already formatted, make sure that it is formatted by using the NTFS file system. However, we recommend that you use one of the following methods:
• Create the second unformatted partition.
• Do not create the second partition and leave the space as free space. Instead, create the second partition during the Windows Vista installation."

This might be more a question for the Vista experts...

[ddelta]

k I'll try that, thanks

[The Hound]

I flagged this for the moderators--I think they'll move it to the Vista forum. Good luck.

[ratch2002ca]

I spent most of the day trying the ideas found here and elsewhere by google to solved the booting problem. Finally I read the Vista uses different boot tools. I booted using the Vista upgrade DVD and selected Repair and it worked. Boots fine now.