I did a little research and found a possible fix. Please note that I have no idea if this actually works.
Remove hard drive from system.
Add Hard drive to a 2nd WORKING XP PRO System. As Slave on Cable select.
***(all references to ?D:\? are the Slave Hard drive damaged windows)***
Booted system and enabled - Explorer\tools\folder options
Display contents of system folders.
Show Hidden Files and Folders.
UN-check Hide Protected OS Files.
Go to ?D:\? open Boot.ini in NOTEPAD, remove the Extra OS?s added with option 1.
Close and Save changes to Boot.ini
Go to ?My Computer? Right click on ?D:\? select SEARCH ?D:\?
Search ?All or Part of the File Name? = ?hal?
Hal.dll may or may not be found in ?D:\WINDOWS\System32? either way it?s no good.
A working copy of hal.dll WILL be found in ?C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386?
COPY THAT FILE ?D:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386\hal.dll?
And Paste it to ?D:\WINDOWS\System32? folder; if it asks to overwrite say YES.
You may now un-do the changes made to Explorer\tools\folder options to RE-Hide files.
Shut Down the computer.
Remove the 2nd Drive and reinstall it to its own tower as Master.
You should Now be able to boot the computer up as if nothing ever happened.
With the exception that it will prompt you to reinstall some drivers, Just say YES and let it auto detect
This "FIX" assumes that the computer in question HAS at ther very least service pack1, if not service pack 2.
Or just screw the entire process and format the drive and install a new copy of Pro.
