Step 3: Collect HAL Files

The HAL, or Hardware Abstraction Layer are those files in the Core OS that access the hardware, and is designed to make hardware differences ‘transparent’ to the OS. If they are incorrect or missing, the OS will not run. When running Sysprep, it is recommended by Microsoft that you do not use an image from one type of HAL to distribute to another / different HAL because of this potential problem. However, Target Analyzer (Step 2) identifies the HAL, and we can use this information to be sure your image will correctly span HALs.

To collect the files necessary for this, collect the following files from the most recent Service Pack level of Windows 2000, 2003, and XP

• hal.dll
• halaacpi.dll
• halacpi.dll
• halapic.dll
• halmacpi.dll
• halmps.dll
• halsp.dll
• kernel32.dll
• ntdll.dll
• ntkrnlmp.exe
• ntkrnlpa.exe
• ntkrpamp.exe
• ntoskrnl.exe
• win32k.sys
• winsrv.dll

Copy these to <DS Install>\HII\ under the appropriate folder from the following (may need to be created):

• \Win2000\HAL
• \Win2003\HAL
• \WinXP\HAL

< Step 2 | Step 4 >