Missing hal.dll while installing Windows XP after Windows 7

I installed Windows 7 and then tried to install Windows XP. However whenever I'm trying to boot from a USB disk to install XP it says hal.dll is missing from my computer.

I have to restart the PC and am unable to install XP after having installed 7. My laptop's DVD writer is not working so I always boot from USB to install an OS.

I tried to delete all partitions and then reboot from the XP USB disk to install, but it says-

Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem.
Could not read from the selected boot disk. Check Boot path and disk hardware.
Please check the windows documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information.

How can I fix this problem?

2 Answers

I placed this here due to size. Missing or cannot find hal.dll when the XP boot.ini becomes corrupted or when a user is attempting to dual boot a computer. Your error message can occur.

This behavior can occur if any or some of the following conditions are true:

• The "Default" value in the "Boot Loader" section of the Boot.ini file is missing or invalid.
• Windows XP is not installed in the location specified in the Boot.ini file.
  • The Ntoskrnl.exe file is missing or damaged.
  • The partition path in the Boot.ini file is not set correctly.
  • General hardware failure.

From Microsoft:

To install XP after Win7, with 'how to perform a startup repair for Win7'. This is a link to 'EasyerCD 2.1'. Missing hal, dll.

Vista and Win 7 boot information:

Vista and Win7 do not have hal.dll files and the system is trying to boot of the xp overwrite. An installation disk/USB or a Win 7 'system repair disk' is required to reboot back to Win 7 where you can then overwrite the MBR (I have not found any 'system disk repair opps' for UBSs, but if you have the install or able to get one, you can use that) and then you can use the dual boot links.

• hal-dll-missing-windows-7-vista
• Win7 hall.dll missing or corrupt
• To make a USB installation flash stick

As long as your USB sticks have all the files, you should be able to do this.

SevenForums.com dual boot Win 7 & Win XP instructions. As outlined in the link:

1. from Win 7 create a partition to install XP
2. boot to XP and install to the new partition
3. from XP, fix boot loader
4. enjoy dual booting