HAL.DLL is Missing or Corrupt (Windows Embedded Standard 2009)
4/23/2012
Learn what to do when you receive this error message.
Resolution
Be sure that you copied Boot.ini, Ntdetect.com, and Ntldr from your run-time image to the root directory of your target system's boot drive. Be sure as well that you overwrote prior versions of these files.
Be sure that you added a HAL in your configuration.
If a HAL was added, remove it from your configuration, and then add the HAL again.
Example
The hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is missing from your system or is corrupt; or the boot drive contains one or more driver versions that are not the correct version for your run-time image.