That's the DLL for XP's
Hardware
Astraction
Layer. Protects the OS from flaky harware incompatibilities etc. Perhaps to do with the fact that the hardware database has changed.
My XP Pro has two
both dated 20 Aug 2002.
One is 76 KB and the other 99 KB.
It's almost certainly a registration problem to do with "PerfLIB" in HKEY_Local_Machine\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\009.
KB320252 This is the problem described. Here's an extract:
SYMPTOMS
When Windows XP Setup restarts your computer during an upgrade from Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) or when you are installing Windows XP on a hard disk with no previous operating system, you may receive the following error message:
Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt. Windows root\system32\hal.dll.
Please re-install a copy of the above file.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem:
Restart your computer, select the Cancel Windows XP Setup option (if it is available) in the Windows Advanced Options menu to uninstall Windows XP, and then run Windows XP Setup again. If this problem is resolved, skip the remaining steps. If your drive does not contain a previous operating system (the option to remove Windows XP is not available), or the problem still occurs the second time you try to upgrade to Windows XP, continue to the next step.
If you are upgrading from Windows 98 or Windows Me, restart your computer, and then select the Cancel Windows XP Setup option in the Windows Advanced Options menu to uninstall Windows XP. If you are not upgrading from Windows 98 or Windows Me, skip to the next step.
Start your computer with a Windows 98 or Windows Me Startup disk, type sys c: at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.For additional information about how to make a Windows 98 Startup disk, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
296532 How to Create a Windows 98 Startup Disk
For additional information about how to make a Windows Me Startup disk, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
267287 How to Create a Startup Disk in Windows Me
Start Windows XP Setup again.