Dual boot hal.dll file trouble

[john7838]

Hello,

I am trying to dual boot XP pro and Backtrack.

XP works fine and BackTrack has been installed to an ext2 partition.

I changed the boot.ini file to contain an option for backtrack but when I select this on boot it says:

"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."

Therefore as it works without the boot.ini changed, the boot.ini file is the problem.

Please could someone give an example of what the boot.ini file should look like.

This is what I have so far:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
c:\lilo.mbr="BackTrack 3"

Thanks
John

[robin_bga]

What is BackTrack 3 and that is a very wrong code, i think that is linux, if so, then u should know that Windows can NOT boot linux, its linux to boot Windows and linux, secondly, Linux uses fstab and any mbr (eg lilo, grub) not boot.ini, third, linux doesnt use c:\ it uses /dev/hdx or /dev/sdx, so the most easy way to do it is, after installing you xp and its fully functional, install you other OS, then u will get questions to on whether to configure you mbr or not, unless that is another type of windows, that i dont know of.

Cheers
Robin

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

I've never used the Windows bootloader to load Linux so can't offer much help. It's generally much easier to install GRUB or LILO to the MBR and dual boot using one of them, but if you want to boot using the Windows bootloader, here's a HowTo that might help:

How to dual-boot Linux from Windows NT/2000/XP

Do let us know how it goes.

[john7838]

Okay thanks for replies.

Would you say that I need to create an additional boot partition - if so then what size?

[oz]

Okay thanks for replies.

Would you say that I need to create an additional boot partition - if so then what size?

No, you don't have to keep a separate /boot partition unless you just want one, or need one for some special reason. I rarely ever make one for my own use.

If you should decide to make one, about 50 MB should be big enough in most cases.

[john7838]

I have now copied the lilo.conf to the c:\ whilst in backtrack 3 live - should have done this before.

Boot.ini remains the same.

Does this sound okay?

[barjas]

Hello,

I am trying to dual boot XP pro and Backtrack.

XP works fine and BackTrack has been installed to an ext2 partition.

I changed the boot.ini file to contain an option for backtrack but when I select this on boot it says:

"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."

Therefore as it works without the boot.ini changed, the boot.ini file is the problem.

Please could someone give an example of what the boot.ini file should look like.

This is what I have so far:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
c:\lilo.mbr="BackTrack 3"

Thanks
John

I got the same problem , but every thing went ok after i manually copied lilio.mbr to the C:/ drive