January 11, 2008 10:15 AM PST
Problems installing Boot Camp under Leopard
Several users have reported problems installing Windows XP through Boot Camp under Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). In some cases, users are presented with the error "hal.dll (Hardware Abstraction Layer) Missing or Corrupt" or a simple "Disk Error"
MacFixIt reader Skip writes:
"I tried to install windows every way imaginable; convert the partition to NTFS, leave it untouched or delete it and create an NTFS partition and I am still unable to install Windows XP."
There are a few potential solutions to this problem:
- Reformat As described in Knowledge Base article #306504: "After creating a Windows partition in Boot Camp 2.0 in Mac OS X 10.5, then rebooting from the Windows XP installer CD, be sure that you format the Windows partition before continuing with the rest of the Windows XP setup process. Important: Do not use the option named "Leave the current file system intact (no changes)." In other words, for instance: use Boot Camp to partition the drive as FAT32, then follow the instructions to begin the Windows XP install, and when prompted, reformat the partition with the utility as FAT (FAT32).
- Update EFI In some cases, however, users are not being prompted to reformat. The problem may be out-of-date EFI. Make sure that you have the latest revision for your system, available from Apple's download page (search for EFI).
- Modify Windows XP CD As described by Apple Discussions poster Talez: check to see if there is a file named "winnt.sif" inside the I386 folder on the Windows XP CD. If it exists, follow these instructions to rebuild the Windows XP CD. Talez says "Skip steps 2 and 3 (since you already have SP2 built in) and remove the 'winnt.si' file from the I386 folder before going on to step 4."
Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.
Resources
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iMac, Intel, 17", 2.0 GHz, 2GB RAM, OS 10.5.1
OSX 10.4.11
Microdoze XP SP2 thru bootcamp
Creating partitions on most OSs is actually a two-step process--first, the partitioning utility initializes the partition/volume, then it (or sometimes another utility, in the case of Windows) formats it as a particular format (HFS, FAT32, NTFS, etc.). Mac utilities perform both steps in sequence, making you think it's all one process, but Windows utilities often divide the two processes in a way that makes it more obvious that it's a two-step. So, Boot Camp initializes the Windows volume, and the Windows installer later formats that volume as FAT32, NTFS, etc.
The terms used to describe each process (initialize, format, partition, etc.) are sometimes used interchangeably, especially in the Mac world, but actually have separate meanings, though "format" and "partition" are pretty similar, if not identical in some cases.
I was trying to shut down Windows, while it was launched via Parallels, but Windows wouldn't shut down--it would just restart. I couldn't even shut down OS X since Parallels wouldn't quit because Windows wouldn't shut down. So, I had to force-quit Parallels, which force-quit Windows. I did this a couple times with no bad consequences, and was able to boot into Windows directly after this, by selecting it in Startup Disk (and Windows was able to shut down properly when I was directly booted into it, not using Parallels), but about the third time I force-quit from Parallels/Windows, and then tried to boot into Windows directly, Windows displayed the message:
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 was about to try copying this file from another installation of Windows XP that I have on a PC, but then I decided to try booting into Windows using Parallels, to see if the same error would be displayed. It wasn't--Parallels started up Windows properly, except when the Windows desktop appeared, it was essentially frozen--most items wouldn't respond to mouse clicks, but many items would. I force-quit Parallels/Windows, tried booting Windows again via Parallels, and this time it ran OK (except for not being able to shut down). Then I tried booting directly into Windows, without using Parallels, and it booted properly. Something about rebooting into Windows via Parallels (regardless of the inability to shut down Windows via Parallels) fixed the hal.dll problem. I don't know enough about Windows to say what.
Regarding Macfixit reader Skip's attempt to install Windows after converting its partition to NTFS (instead of FAT32), just so everyone knows: OS X can read NTFS volumes, but can't write to them, since Microsoft won't license its writability by other OSs (though some third-party software can do it under Linux, etc.). Boot Camp itself has no trouble with NTFS partitions, since Boot Camp doesn't write to the Windows partition--only Windows does that. The only negative effect of using an NTFS partition that I can think of, is that when you're booted into OS X, you won't be able to drag things to the NTFS partition (though you could create a third partition, as FAT32, using Disk Utility (you can't do that with Boot Camp) to serve as a repository for items that you can drag to it while you're booted in OS X; or use an external FAT32 drive). The only Windows volumes that must be formatted as NTFS, are volumes larger than 32 gigabytes, and volumes intended to hold Vista. There are advantages to NTFS, vs FAT32, for Windows, so if you don't need to drag items to the Windows partition while booted into OS X, you might want to format any Windows volume on the Mac, as NTFS, of whatever size, and for any version of Windows. From what I understand (I'm no Windows expert), there's a "quick" method of formatting a volume as NTFS, which doesn't always work right, so choose the "longer" method. Sorry I don't know the details on that.
I spent a whole day and finally figured this out...
Before Leopard, I used to partition using Boot Camp Assistant, which creates a FAT32 partition, and then reboot into Windows, and then format the partition as NTFS and then run the install.
Note: The choice of NTFS vs FAT32 depends on your needs...FAT32 has only folder level permissions and can use a volume no larger than 32 GB. NTFS has file level permissions (better) and can use a larger volume size. Unfortunately, only FAT32 volumes are writable from the Mac side so file transfers are easier with FAT32 format.
Under Leopard, I was running into the hal.dll problem when I formatted the partition in Windows before installing. Instead, if you just install Windows from the CD on the boot camp created FAT32 partition, then choose Format (and NTFS quick format worked great), it works flawlessly and you won't get the hal.dll errors when Windows tries to boot up.
No idea what's going on under the hood, but this worked repeatably for me.
I got the "hal.dll"
when I had my external FireWire hard drive connected during the installation of BootCamp'd WinXP Pro.
I started the whole process again (without the external drive) and followed the instructions at the top of this page, and everything worked like magic (as expected).
and everything seems to be OK, ( I mean setting up ,choosing which partition to install in and formatting the HD ) but during the installation I got an error saying that [ It can't install the file named imjpnm.dic ] and escaping this part it continues the installation and after a while it says kind of same thing , not being able to install [ file setupapi.dll ] .
installation finishes ,windows reboots with XP start up screen but right after that there appears a blue screen with the following Text ,[ STOP : C000021a Unknown Hard Error ].
I tried to install it using Paralles but the results were exactly the same.
Is there anyone with the same kind of issue and/or are the any solutions !?
what causes it?
appreciate any help and solutions in advance!!!
Spec;
MacBook core Duo
Mem. 2GB
OS ; Leopard 10.5.2
Win XP Pro SP2 OEM
- by xbl_beast April 14, 2008 10:51 PM PDT
- wen i try to partition my hard drive so that i can install windows, it goes to a screen that says that i hav to restart my computer now
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(12 Comments)then after i restart it, i lose 15 GB of space to nowhere because it doesnt partition it and after i do dat i have to load up the mac os x disc and repair the hard drive cuz i get an error
any ideas? i would really like windows for gaming and parallels and vmware doesnt work