i did something to my desktop and now it wouldn't boot because it is missing the "hal.dll" file from c?:\winnt\system32

i tried using linux knoppix on a cd to install a hal.dll file from my laptop to the c drive but i can not open the drives. nor write files onto my hard disk.

are there other solutions?
i need a linux that can

open hard disks
open floppy drives or usb drive support
write files onto hard disk

U are using Knoppix to recover yor windows instalation, that's OK.
But be more specific, in what format is yor windows partition , NTFS or FAT32 ?
If it is in NTFS you have to compile and install the drivers first (it's not a native
linux format), if it is Fat32 the icons for the partitions will be on desktop,
you right-click on the partition and choose change read-write mode to be able
to write to that partition
Also that error, "missing hal.dll" doesn't look very promissing.

yeah.. and writing to NTFS drives isnt very safe, Reading it is ok, but unless anythings changed recently that im not aware of, writing to an NTFS drive with *nix could mess up your file system

How about this? http://www.bitdefender.com/bd/site/pressce...u_id=25&n_id=58



This NTFS situation is really getting old now...

oh, my bad then sorry

Sorry StreetGames! That wasn't aimed at you!

I just meant that it's annoying we still have to go to these lengths to get NTFS write support.

ps. That's not to have a dig at the developers, either!

Isn't hal.dll something you could restore by going into your Windows CD and running a restore or whatever?