Windows could not start... missing "hal.dll"

Unknown

Greetings everyone. My computer got infected with spyware recently, and after many unsuccessful attempts at getting rid of them, I decided to back up of all my data and format my hard drive. So I booted on my Gateway operating system CD that came with my computer, and followed the instructions to make a repair install. Unfortunately, after the format was complete and Windows XP was reinstalled, I get the following error when I start up:

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.

I thought maybe there was a problem when I installed windows, so I re-installed it again... same problem. Luckily I have an old backup computer which I can use in the meantime, so after doing some research, I found a guide on google that explains how to get rid of that error:
http://icrontic.com/articles/repair_windows_xp

However, even that did not work. When I got to the "BOOTCFG /REBUILD" part, I get an error saying:

Error: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chksk to detect any disk errors.

After doing the chkdsk command, it says the "The volume appears to be in good condition and was not checked." and after restarting, the error still appears.

At the end of the guide, it says:

If you believe your PC has affected one of these symptoms due to spyware or viruses, today’s fastest-growing PC nuisance, please do stop by our Spyware/Virus/Trojan Forum to receive first-class assistance in quarantine, removal and repair.

And so here I am. I was wondering if any kind individual could give me a hand, since I have absolutely no idea what to do next. I formatted my computer once before, and everything went well and I did not get that error. I would believe the spyware messed up my system, but after formatting it should have cleaned it out. Any suggestions?

My PC stats if it can help:

Gateway
Windows XP Home Edition
200GB Hitachi SATA Drive
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Processor 4200+
nVIDIA GeForce 7600
3 GB RAM...

DiasFlac

EDIT: Problem solved!! Please ignore this topic. I simply deleted the backup partition on my Hard drive, and re-installed windows. I would guess the virus/spyware somehow managed to find its way there, giving me that error.

chiaz

Glad to hear you solved the issue!

Since this problem is now resolved, I will move this thread over to the Resolved section.


See you around the forum.