Hi, I have a weird problem. A little history.. I upgraded from XP to Windows 7 32 bit a few weeks ago. Everything was fine and then I decided to install Windows 7 64 bit. I got a copy of Win7Ult-SP1-x64-Feb2014. I was unaware of this groups existence at the time I did a custom install, did a quick format of my C: drive and proceeded to install. At the first boot I took the DVD out and then got the following:- "Please select the operating system to start Microsoft Windows XP Professional Microsoft Windows XP Professional" Selecting either of these results in an instant crash with the message:- "Missing <Windows root>system32\hal.dll" I spent hours searching for a solution but to no avail. I then tried to install again, but this time I left the DVD in and it worked! Now I have to leave the DVD in every time I boot or I get the above message. If I set my C: drive as the first boot option in the BIOS I also get the above error. My C: drive is a Samsung 250GB SSD partitioned in half with all my docs on the other half. Everything works fine apart from this problem - any ideas?
You're likely to get all manner of answers, but if it were me I'd get a fresh copy of the preferred OS via a link provided by this forum (verify the download is not corrupt), wipe my drive and reinstall windows. I suggest you do all that. When I searched on "Win7Ult-SP1-x64-Feb2014." the first hit was thepiratebay followed by other torrent sites. Few torrect sites, if any, are good places to get clean unaltered copies of Windows.
In technical terms, I think you "screwed up big time". Before anything else, copy your personal files/data to another drive. Then, if repair efforts fail and you have to do a clean install, you can restore your stuff.
Excellent point, but if he has 100% of his user data on the "other half", all he really needs to do is wipe the system drive partition (usually c: ) and install Windows onto it. Data in the "other half" partition will be undisturbed. After the installation, he can change the user data folder locations to his "other half" and be good to go. The suggestion to backup personal data is always a good one and multiple copies until the problem is sorted out is always a fine idea.