good day.

I tried to install linux mandrake on my HD, containing already 2 partitions:
C: 18GB windows me
D: 18 GB windows xp.

I used to launch the os, by choosing it from the first boot menu.
But since I installed Mandrake linux, windows XP was unable to start, and prompts this message before rebooting:
hal.dll missing

I think that this in in relation with th partition numbre in boot.ini that needs to be changed manually.
Infact, while installing linux, I reduced the c: size to 10 GB, and then automatically partitionned the free space (8 GB) with the mandrake partitionning tool. I got then 3 new linux partitions between c: and d:

My boot.ini looks like:
[boot loader]
timeout=10
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal" /fastdetect


Any help would be welcomed
thanks

Hi there,

You've fallen prey to a problem that's quite frequent and stems from the way MS Wind**s handles partitions. Basically you have the jist of it - your boot.ini is outdated, windows numbers the partitions differently, and thus can't find the hal.dll (which is the first required DLL it tries to load, that's why that's a typical error message).

You'd think that you could tell it to use the partition it read the bloody boot.ini file from... but no.. it reads the file and then does something completely different.

Anyways - how to fix it. Basically, the easiest thing to do is to list all your partitions (or even more than you have) in the boot.ini file, like

_______
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal 1" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal 2" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal 3" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal 4" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(5)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professionnal 5" /fastdetect
________

Then reboot and try all the options one after the other, noting which one boots... afterwards delete all other lines from the boot.ini except for the working one.

Hope this helps.

P

Another possible solution to the problem is to boot the WinXP cd and then run the repair console and simply type bootcfg /repair

this may have worked for some...but i'm not sold on this working ...it never has for me.