If you install Windows fresh yes. If you use it as a storage drive and not your primary yes. Those steps are used to fic the XP MBR to get it booting again.
XP MBR is this. It loads up. From there it looks for the NT
R file. Which points it to the NTDETECT file. That file points to the boot.ini file which then loads Windows.
This is all done in a matter of a second. So it is fast. If one of those files is missing or corrupt you will see a boot error message.
HAL.dll file is missing or corrupt is a error that is gotten often. That usually leads to the boot.ini file not pointing to the correct drive or partition.
If the NTDETECT file is missing you will msot likely see the hard disk not found insert system disk to continue message. As the NTDETECT file is the first step in the boot process.
If the NTLDR is missing you will see that error. NTLDR is missing is the error i am referring to.
Windows XP - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki
Check that and the Troubleshooting Windows XP to see the most common ways to fix the boot errors.