hi again...tx 4 da reply but no....i didnt move any hdd to new pc... its a small mini laptop without cd-rom that im tryin to help format... previously...i followed all the instructions correctly....but still i got hal.dll missing try bootin from hdd but still unsuccessful... i've tried creatin partition n install n deletin partition n re-install but still the same problem... i've read that the reason hal.dll error is there because theres previously installed windows...but how can it detect when its a newly installed os?? i did follow the instructions carefully, its not like i skipped a step or sumthin... really2 hope for a solutions....coz this laptop's owner is realy drivin me nuts....help2! T.T