Question : Where Has the "HAL.DLL' file in XP gone?

hi experts.

i have searched the knowledge base but have only gotten some hints. Some hints that say I am really screwed.  I re-installed Win XP on the original but reformatted PATA HD. Somewhere during the installation process, when it tried to reboot itself to continue or if I try to reboot machine I get this error message.  "Windows cannot start because the following file is missing or corrupt.
<windows Root>\system32\hal.dll.  Please reinstall a copy of the above file."  

To begin with, this system would not boot, so I did all the hardware testing and decided this was a corrupt OS.   So from recovery console I did a chkdsk /r---Fixmbr---Bootcfg /rebuild. (remember,I am NOT an Expert, so do not yell at me)

this is a Gateway desktop which uses F11 to recover a system.
Something to do with the recovery partition may be causing a problem I think.  From F11,  I clicked yes, when asked if i wanted to do a factory system  restore.  Then it  did some changes to the Recovery Parrtition(deleted files).  Then it asked me for the restore CD.   I DO NOT HAVE ONE.  Imagine that--no warning from Gateway.  I only have MY OWN XP cd's.  I thought it was going to use a recovery partition, instead it needs a CD.  I messed up!!   Who knew?  When I realized that i screwed up, I decided to just reinstall XP with my trusty CD version.  

The QUESTION IS: How do I find and install hal.dll so---especially when I can get no farther than the above message?  Again>>> "Windows cannot start because the following file is missing or corrupt.  <windows Root>\system32\hal.dll.  Please reinstall a copy of the above file."  

Please remember, this is a brand new install, that supposedly has hal on the disk.  This is fresh installation with a disk other than the original, that works perfectly fine elsewwere.  it is  is the disk I ALWAYS use.  the problem is with this miserable Gateway.  i find them to be even more proprietary than Dell used to be.

thanks guys, in advance

Answer : Where Has the "HAL.DLL' file in XP gone?

start the install fresh.. format the drive.. exit the setup, now setup as normal
microsoft has this to sah http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320252.

What I think is happening is that the system is getting confused when you wiped the disk it is now looking for the o/s in the wrong place