Missing or corrupt Windows root\sysem32\hal.dll

[prosthotoothist]

Hello all,

First of all, I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit installed and here is my current situation: I purchased a Samsung EVO 850 1 TB SSD recently and got it installed without any significant problems. However, I have a problem when trying to change (in the BIOS) from Ide to AHCI so that I can get the best performance from the new drive. I have gone into the registry and changed the following: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/msahci/Start from (1) to (0).

After doing this I changed the pciide from (1) to (0). Then I rebooted and went into the BIOS and changed the setting from Ide to AHCI and saved/exited and waited for booting to finish. It didn't happen, instead this message appeared: "Windows root\system32\hal.dll is either missing or corrupted and Windows cannot continue". I have lost count of how many times I have tried everything that I can find to do to correct this problem. I have used the original Windows DVD to try to correct the problem. In trying this approach, I found that the disc does not have SP1 on it, but I did install it later from a download. When checking the properties of the computer, it indicates that SP1 is installed.

I bought a program that allows one to find certain files on the Windows 7 DVD and copy them to a disc or USB stick. When I successfully found and copied the hal.dll file off of the DVD, I compared the size of it to the one listed on the "C" drive under Windows and there is a difference in their sizes. I have assumed that it probably is a results of the original file having been replaced during the SP1 installation.

I have thought about deleting the file on the "C" drive and replacing it with the one from the original DVD, but knowing that this is a very important booting file, I got scared and have not done it. This fear has led me here to seek advice about what I should do.

Some might suggest that I do a clean reinstall of Windows, but for me that is just not an option. This machine is used for many different things: 3D modeling and animation, all kinds of music programs, video editing, graphics, and general computing so there are a multitude of programs installed and many of these have very difficult and time consuming configurations that can result in days of work to recreate.

I have thought about uninstalling SP1 to see if this would change anything, but when searching in Windows updates, there is no indication of SP1 having been installed. Since there is a code for updates, I found the one for SP1 on the Microsoft site, but it is not listed in the updates. This does not make sense to me, but I am not a computer expert, so my confusion keeps growing!

By the way, I read on a forum that after changing the settings in the registry, you should shut down and reboot and give Windows a few minutes to make any changes that it needs to do. Then shut down and reboot again, this time going into the BIOS and changing from Ide to AHCI. I tried this and it made no difference in the problem still persisting.

By now, I am quite frustrated, so any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[carnageX]

Did you install the AHCI drivers prior to changing the registry key?

 

[prosthotoothist]

CarnageX,

No I did not. I read somewhere that doing that before changing the registry would result in a BSOD.

Tom

 

[carnageX]

Changing the registry key before installing the drivers should result in a BSOD.

If you change the reg key / BIOS option before installing the SATA/AHCI drivers...how's Windows supposed to know what drivers to use?

 

[Joe C]

Windows 7 does not have native AHCI drivers?

 

[prosthotoothist]

Joe C,

If Win 7 does not have native AHCI drivers, then how do you get them? Many places on the internet have indicated that they are a part of Win 7, but you have to indicate that you want them installed when you initially install Windows. This issue is getting so confusing because there appear to be so many direction from which people try to solve the problem.

I really appreciate everyone's responses, but how do I get past the Ide interface for the SSD that is not doing even close to what its performance is supposed to be.

CarnageX,

I have read many places that if you change the (1) to (0) in the registry (and NOT in BIOS) before installing the drivers, then when Win boots, it will "see" the change and install the drivers.

Thanks,

Tom

 

[carnageX]

Windows 7 does not have native AHCI drivers?

If you don't install Windows 7 as AHCI initially, it "deactivates" or skips the drivers (can't remember which).

So then you need to install your chipset/AHCI drivers from the mobo manufacturer (e.g. Intel's Chipset utility).

 

[1etherer]

Without config regedit, what I did was simple.. Id reboot into safe mode then restart and enter bios and switch from IDE to AHCI and that worked for me.. I done this when switching from HDDs to SSDs had this problem come up ALOT! Hope this works for you too..

Windows 7 does disable AHCI drivers when first installing but my solution did work for me, not sure why..

 

[prosthotoothist]

Hi i2D,

I took your suggestion and reverted the registry settings that I had changed back to the (1) that they were originally. I then booted into safe mode and restarted and entered the BIOS and switched from IDE to AHCI. It did not work because Windows said that the "Windows root\system32\hal.dll file was missing or corrupted and Windows could not continue". Following this, rebooting in various forms resulted in a dreaded screen saying that Windows had shut down the computer to prevent damage .............. After many tries, I got a good boot and have not tried again to change anything for fear of a permanent non-booting situation.

Again, thanks for your suggestion,

Tom

 

[1etherer]

Hi i2D,

I took your suggestion and reverted the registry settings that I had changed back to the (1) that they were originally. I then booted into safe mode and restarted and entered the BIOS and switched from IDE to AHCI. It did not work because Windows said that the "Windows root\system32\hal.dll file was missing or corrupted and Windows could not continue". Following this, rebooting in various forms resulted in a dreaded screen saying that Windows had shut down the computer to prevent damage .............. After many tries, I got a good boot and have not tried again to change anything for fear of a permanent non-booting situation.

Again, thanks for your suggestion,

Tom

Sorry I did not know you are actually missing the HAL file, just do a startup repair as this should replace they Hal file, then after try my method again.