I have a system with 2 hard drives. One drive (D) is my Ubuntu 10.04 system and the other drive (C) is my Windows XP system.

When I boot, I get BIOS then GRUB. If I choose the XP selection I am taken to a Boot Loader that now longer works. I get an error saying: "Windows could not start because the following file is missing. <windows root> system32\hal.dll Please reinstall a copy of the above file.

Can I remove the boot loader and let Grub take me directly to the C:/windows? If so how?

If not, how do I fix this?

Can you boot into Ubuntu?
Is Ubuntu a new install?
Did you use the default installation for Ubuntu?
Have you been able to boot xp at all since Ubuntu installation?
Which drive (xp or Ubuntu) is set to first boot priority?

If you are able to boot Ubuntu, open a terminal and run the following command to get partition information and post it here: sudo fdisk -l(Lower Case Letter L in the command)

Also, if you can boot Ubuntu, find the file grub.cfg which should be in the /boot/grub directory abd post it here.

One thing I would try is use a live CD to copy hal.dll to where it is supposed to be ... unless the drive is corrupt, of course.

You need to follow TexMex's suggestion, as Windows isn't going to boot with a hal.dll.

Also, it might be an idea to run a full disk surface test via chkdsk, as there's a reason your hal.dll disappeared, and bad blocks are a potential cause. I think it's:

chkdsk C: /R

You'll need to run that from a windows boot disk, from the cmd console.

UPDATE: Thank you all for the help. I've got it working (sort of) by doing the following. I used Ubuntu to edit the Windows boot.ini file with language from a back-up boot.ini.



Now, I can load both Ubuntu and Windows. The process is BIO to GRUB where I can select either Ubuntu or Windows. If I select Ubuntu, it immediately loads it. If I select Windows it goes to a boot loader that has "default Windows" on it twice. The second one works. The first one does not.

My boot.ini reads:

[boot loader]

timeout=5

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

I don't know if I can eliminate the boot loader completely or how to eliminate the 2 "default Windows" that appear when I go from GRUB to the boot loader.

My configuration is now C: Windows XP, D: Ubuntu, F: (external HD) Windows XP and Backups.

Progress.