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Just wanted to point out that from your description, it sounds like what you've got is a hardware failure. So although your complaints about Windows needing to be reinstalled are valid in the general sense, in this particular instance, it doesn't sound like Windows' fault to me.


Windows could have produced a more useful error though then it did:
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Winnt_root\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt:

Please re-install a copy of the above file.


That really doesn't provide any useful info, like partition not readable, or disk read error. It's just "missing or corrupt". Admittedly the old LILO boot loader wasn't much better, usually conveying error messages by not spitting out the full LILO prompt, but the replacement GRUB does seem to generate useful error messages that can help troubleshoot the problem much quicker. So while true it wasn't Windows fault the disk has issues, it didn't also help by providing a clear problem report.