How does System32.dll file go missing?

Question

Ok, yesterday I woke up and turned on my computer to find a message saying

System32.hal.dll (I think that's right) is missing or corrupt please reinstall the file. (paraphrasing)

Well about 5 days before I downloaded a torrent that worked fine, no errors, scanned everything, nothing detected. But I don't see any other reason the file would go missing other than a downloaded torrent... so how does that file go missing? What can I do in the future to make sure that doesn't happen? (and don't say "stop downloading torrents")

Answer 1

Either:

1.If there was a virus in the torrent,it must of been new or your anti-virus failed to see it.

2.A virus entered your computer and deleted the file.

3.A virus must of gotten in your computer the day before and either deleted or corrupted the file.

4.The file might of been accidentaly deleted.

Answer 2

If you're going to run torrents, this is the risk you are accepting. There really isn't any way around it.



The best thing you can do to protect yourself however is to install AV (antivirus) software that constantly monitors your system in REAL TIME, such as PC Tool's "Spyware Doctor" with "Threatfire".



REAL TIME protection blocks viruses and other malware and warns you BEFORE it can install. Once installed, some of these viruses can be very difficult, if not close to impossible to remove--to get some of them off after installation may require reformatting your entire hard drive.



I understand there are some AV programs which are free, and do offer some real time protection, but they don't work as well as Spyware Doctor--which you do have to pay for--and I'll tell you why.



There is a nice little site on the internet called "novirusthanks.org" where you can scan almost any file with 24 different AV software programs, including the most well known free ones, to determine whether they are infected. It works very well, at least in theory.



The problem is that all the REAL hackers know about this site too--it's one of their very favorite places to go where they can test their all their virus and malware programs to find out what AV programs can detect them--and then use the information to rewrite their code until it is FUD, or FULLY UNDETECTABLE, at least by all 24 of those different AV software programs.



Spyware Doctor is NOT one of those 24 AV programs.



Best of luck!

Answer 3

Dll files are a part of vast library that contains code and data that is shared by many programs. This helps to produce speed and memory efficiency in your operating system by reusing the same code or file to run many functions by various programs. An error occurs when program aren't allowed to access this code.



Here is an easy to follow tutorial:

http://www.delete-computer-history.com/rundll-error.html

Answer 4

Not a big deal....! This situation occurs when setting up a dual boot situation with Windows 2000 and Windows XP (it may occur with other setups). After Windows XP's install routine has finished copying files, and is ready to boot to the GUI portion of SETUP, you may receive the above error.



One possible fix. So far, this has been traced to an incorrect BOOT.INI file. To gain access to the Boot.ini:



Go to Start/Run and type in: msconfig. Then go to the Boot.ini Tab. Or...Right click the My Computer icon/Properties/

Advanced/Startup and Recovery/Settings/System Startup/Edit.



How to Edit the BOOT.INI File in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q289/0/22.asp



This user had 1 hard drive, partitioned into C and D drives. His BOOT.INI file looked like this: (the erroneous lines are in "blue")



[boot loader]

timeout=1

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect



The 3 in the erroneous lines, above, points to the 3rd partition on the first physical hard disk. Since this user only had 2 partitions, this value was incorrect. Changing the value to 2, in both lines, allowed the user to complete Windows XP's setup.



The corrected BOOT.INI looked like this:



[boot loader]

timeout=1

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect



HAL - Hardware Abstraction Layer



HAL is Microsoft's abbreviation for the Hardware Abstraction Layer, the technology and drivers that let the Windows NT, 2000, and XP operating systems communicate with your PC's hardware. HAL is one of several features--along with the NT file system (NTFS) that replaced the much less secure MS-DOS--that make NT-based operating systems more secure and reliable than Windows 95, 98, and Me.



HAL prevents applications from directly accessing your PC's system memory, CPU, or hardware devices (such as video and sound cards)--a method that can prevent many device conflicts and crashes. Unfortunately, HAL sometimes also slows or stops DOS games and programs, which need to load their own memory managers or control hardware directly for better performance.



With HAL in the way, developers must rewrite or even abandon their older software in favor of newer, HAL-compatible versions. Microsoft has pressured hardware makers to provide or support technologies such as MMX, DirectX, and 3D graphics language OpenGL, all of which allow fast but indirect access to the advanced high-performance features of video, sound, and CPU hardware. Such access also makes for a better visual experience when using Windows for Web and productivity applications; improved graphics performance is evident all over Windows XP's new user interface.



XP also offers some new compatibility-mode features that let you run programs meant to run under earlier operating systems, but, frankly, most DOS-based and even some Windows-based games simply won't work with the new OS.



Tip: To see which HAL is currently installed, open Device Manager, and expand the Computer branch. The entry that

appears in this branch corresponds to the currently installed HAL.



HAL.DLL is Missing



Option 1:



Boot from your CD and follow the directions to start Recovery Console. Then:



Attrib -H -R -S C:\Boot.ini

DEL C:\Boot.ini

BootCfg /Rebuild

Fixboot



Option 2:



Boot from your CD and follow the directions below to start Recovery Console.



Insert the Setup compact disc (CD) and restart the computer. If prompted, select any options required to boot from the CD.

When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts; choose the repair or recover option by pressing R.



If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access from the Recovery Console.

When prompted, type the Administrator password. (if you didn't create one try pressing enter).



At the system prompt, type Recovery Console commands; type help for a list of commands, or help commandname for help on a specific command.



Most likely you will need to expand the file from the CD. The command would be expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32\hal.dll. Substitute d: for the drive letter of your CD. Once you have expanded the file type "exit" to exit the Recovery Console and restart the computer.



TIP: Recovering Windows XP using the Recovery Console



Update:



Shaun Gray (3/2005) states:



Let me review my experience / problem with hal.DLL with you all:



I Received a computer with win XP home sp2 that after uninstalling IML4, and Installing IML5, and rebooting. (IML being Imesh light)

C