A geeks guide to Windows XP HAL Replacement

Here is an article (step-by-step guide) on how to keep a single image for Windows XP deployment, across HAL types, also known as HAL Replacement. Sample scripts for detecting the HAL type from WinPE and update sysprep.inf with the correct info is provided with this article (provided AS IS). The scripts are now (2008-10-01) updated with support for both WinPE 2005 and WinPE 2.1 as well as Windows XP SP3 (which works with HAL slightly different than XP SP2). Support for SCCM 2007 was also added. Download sample scripts http://www.deployvista.com/Repository/tabid/71/EntryId/38/DMXModule/396/language/sv-SE/Default.aspx This script updates sysprep.inf with correct HAL Type The Reference (master) image should have an Advanced ACPI HAL type. This script assumes the following files are being present in C:\Drivers\UniProcHAL hal.dll (Rename from halaacpi.dll to hal.dll) ntkrnlpa.exe ntoskrnl.exe

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How to update the HAL without reinstalling windows

Heres some tips for upgraders!

You require the Devcon utility for this, unpack it to a folder, then navigate to the folder its in using Command prompt (command prompt on context menu PowerToy is handy for this)

How to enable APIC without repair installing windows
in device manager you will notice that under computer type it says Advanced Power and Control Interface PC.. this is a standard single processor HAL driver without APIC. to upgrade to the APIC driver you input the following:

devcon sethwid @ROOT\ACPI_HAL\0000 := +acpiapic_up !acpipic_up
devcon update c:\windows\inf\hal.inf acpiapic_up

after this, enable APIC in the bios if you haven't already, and reboot twice so windows can update the device and irq tables, it should now say ACPI Uniprocessor PC in the device manager

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OfflineSysPrep, Offline sysprepping of Windows XP/2003

Usage of SysPrep Offline :

• For SysPrepping a Windows XP or 2003 32-bit partition that is hardware independent (yes, hardware independent!) while offline (yes, a non-booted Windows partition!)
• For SysPrepping a Windows XP or 2003 32-bit partition that is hardware independent while booted in Windows but with a partition/drive to sysprep attached and assigned a drive letter (ie a non-booted WinXP/2003 partition).
• You can use an unattended solution by locating sysprep.inf in the \userfiles\ directory of the OfflineSysPrep plugin or in the \userfiles\ folder of the Windows version.

Using OfflineSysPrep :

1. From 'Select Drive to SysPrep' options, select the XP/2003 partition/drive you want to sysprep (you are only presented with those that have boot.ini in root to cut down options);
2. From 'Select User Profile from Drive', select a user account;
3. Select a HAL update option from those listed;
4. Optionally select a path to be recursively scanned for inf drivers for pnp to detect. Fixed drive letters will be altered to %SystemDrive% (eg 'z:\sysprep\drivers' will be altered to '%SystemDrive%\sysprep\drivers') so it is advisable that the path to be specified is one which is located on the offline system's %SystemDrive%. File scanning recursion is performed internally or by SetupCopyOEMInf. SetupCopyOEMInf is used if the 'Advanced' option 'Complete OfflineSysPrep operations without running sysprep.exe' is selected. If sysprep is to run, internal search function will be used. However, if it is desirable to not have sysprep itself perform the pnp (ie, 'PnP/Detect non-plug and play hardware' will not be selected from sysprep's interface), then select 'Use SetupCopyOEMInf (if not selecting sysprep pnp)' from the 'Advanced' options;
5. Optionally specify 'Advanced' options by clicking 'Advanced' and then the desired options from those listed;
6. Click 'Apply';
7. Now use SysPrep as usual, which should automatically start.

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How to switch Windows XP HAL _BACK_ from Standard PC to ACPI (the clean way)

 
Awh man… a whole bunch of bad information on the internet about this. You don’t need to re-install the OS. Hell, you don’t even have to hack (and hence, un-sign) the hal.inf or machine.inf files. Using a little knowledge of the way Device Manager identifies devices (and hence, locks them into their supported hardware IDs), you can trick it into allowing you to “update” to the ACPI HAL and kernel.
Of course, on an unsupported system, this may just BSOD you forever, then you’ll be pretty much hosed since your ntoskrnl.exe, ntkrnlpa.exe, and hal.dll will have been replaced with ACPI versions – something “Last Known Good configuration” will not help you with. So BE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN your system supports ACPI mode (e.g. “oh crap, I switched to Standard PC and now I can’t get out!”) before changing this.

Not even gonna give that “omg registry editing is dangerous” BS, because every geek should know their way around the registry. But this is another good place to mention: you could f’ing hose your system if you do this. I’m actually in the process of re-installing Windows on the PC I tried this on right now, because it’s a 266MHz Pentium II laptop with 64mb RAM, originally Win95, far from ACPI. The most recent BIOS update (in 2001) provided ACPI compatibility, so I figured I’d give it a try. Since it was installed with the Standard PC HAL (no ACPI), it installed all its hardware support under that key. So, it just BSOD-looped me (0x7b, curiously enough – couldn’t find the HDC driver?), and since 64mb isn’t enough to load MiniXP, and the HDD is too old to work with a USB-adapter, I’m screwed. Meh, I just installed it an hour ago anyway.

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How to Create Windows 8 Recovery Disc

 

This post will show you how to:

1 – Create a Windows 8 Recovery Disc (CD or DVD).
2 – Create a Windows 8 Recovery Flash Drive.


Recovery media will help you troubleshoot, fix, refresh Windows 8 in the event of a problem.

Create a Windows 8 Recovery Disc
*Note – To use the recovery disc you need recovery media that matches your architecture (32-bit or 64-bit).

- Insert a blank CD or DVD.
- Press the Windows + R keys (run command) > type recdisc and click OK.

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