What is the proper order to run the Fixboot, Fixmbr, and BOOTCFG/rebuild commands?

[Abenaki]

Hello there, I have a HP laptop which is installed with Windows Vista and Windows XP on it. I used the Partition manager 8 application to change the size of the partitions and now when the system starts it gives an error saying "hal.dll missing on the system". A friend of mine suggested that I should run fixboot and fixmbr commands on the system but he does not know the order in which they are to be executed. Does anybody here know What is the proper order to run the Fixboot, Fixmbr, and BOOTCFG/rebuild commands? Please help.

[Devasis]

According to me there is no particular order to follow for running the different system tools. Whenever I want to run the following system tools, I usually use fixboot for fixing all the boot records and then use Fixmbr to fix all the master boot records. After running these two system tools, you can run bootmgr. I would suggest that you do the same. Thanks in advance.

[Solomon]

To solve the Hal.dll problem you can use the restore partition. All the HP systems have a drive configured for restoring the operating system. Hence run the recovery disk from the recovery partition and let the procedure complete. Once the procedure is complete, let the system boot and check if the same problem persists or not.

[MrChris-]

The fixmbr command writes a new master boot record while the fixboot command writes a new system partition boot sector and the bootcfg command just fixes up your boot.ini configuration. Hence there is no particular order in which the commands are to be run. You can also try and repair the windows installation on the system and see if the problem is solved. You will require the recovery disk or the installation disk of Windows operating system installed on the laptop.

[Calvin K]

If the laptop is new, then you can contact HP customer support and get the required help. As you have changed the partition size on the hard drive, it must have changed the boot sectors on the hard drive due to which the system is not booting up. The service center technicians will be able to take the back up of the data and make a fresh installation of Windows operating system. Hence take the laptop to the nearest service center and get it serviced.

[Abenaki]

As suggested I tried booting the system using the installation boot disk for the Windows operating system but none of the Fixboot, Fixmbr, and BOOTCFG commands work when the system is booted up from a Windows Vista installation disk. Is there any other alternative solution? Please help.

[Lillebror]

As the installation disk for the Windows is not working I would suggest that you download a PE environment. There are many PE environment applications which are available. BartPE is a common application which can be used to repair the current installation of the Windows operating system. Using the PE environment will solve your problem.