Software & Apps > Windows How to Restore Hal.dll From the Windows XP CD Fix hal.dll error in Windows XP using the Recovery Console By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Facebook Twitter Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on June 21, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Windows The Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide What to Know With Windows XP CD: Insert CD and enter Recovery Console > enter command prompt > enter Y > restart.Without Windows XP CD: Boot from USB device with Windows XP ISO image > enter command prompt.Do not download a separate hal.dll file, which could be outdated, incompatible, or contain a virus. This article explains how to fix a missing or corrupt hal.dll error by restoring the hal.dll hidden file by using Recovery Console either with or without a Windows XP CD. The process for fixing hal.dll errors in Windows 7, 8, 10, and Vista is different. How to Restore Hal.dll From a Windows XP Disc To restore a missing hal.dll from the Windows XP Recovery Disc: Insert the Windows XP Recovery CD into your disc drive. Enter the Windows XP Recovery Console. When you reach the command line prompt, type the following and press Enter: expand d:\i386\hal.dl_ c:\windows\system32 In the expand command above, d: represents the drive letter assigned to the optical drive that your Windows XP CD is currently in, and c: represents the drive that Windows XP is currently installed on. The drive letters may be different on your computer. Spaces are needed between the expand command, the path to the optical drive, and the c:\windows\system32\ path. Type Y if prompted to overwrite the file. Remove the Windows XP CD and type exit, and then press Enter to restart your PC. Assuming that the missing or corrupt hal.dll file was your only issue, Windows XP should now start normally. Never download a hal.dll file from a DLL download website. The file might be outdated, infected with a virus, or incompatible with your system, which can cause even more problems. How to Restore Hal.dll Without a CD It's also possible to restore hal.dll without a CD or disc drive. Look for an ISO image of the XP Recovery Disc online and burn the ISO file to a USB drive. After you change the boot order in the system BIOS and boot from the USB device, use this command to copy the hal.dll file to the appropriate location on your hard drive: copy f:\hal.dll c:\windows\system32 Replace f: with the drive letter for your USB device. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit