Microsoft Windows library files
This is an almagmation of information regarding specific Windows library files.
Hal.dll
Hal.dll is the core file of the Windows NT family of operating systems that provides and handles the interaction of software and hardware via the Hardware Abstraction Layer. Without hal.dll being present, any machine running a Windows NT based operating system will fail to function, if it even boots.
Windows includes several HALs to support different kinds of hardware; the appropriate HAL is chosen during the initial installation of Windows, and is named hal.dll Generally speaking, the determining factors for HAL selection are uni- vs. multi-processor CPU, ACPI vs. non-ACPI, and APIC vs. PIC.
Msvcrt.dll
Msvcrt.dll is a Microsoft Dynamic Link Library used in the Microsoft Windows operating system that contains the C Run-Time Library for programs compiled with Visual C++ 4.2 to 6.
In newer Windows operating systems (e.g., Windows XP) this file is included as part of the operating system and should only be updated by a service pack or hotfix (although it is also used for compatibility with Visual C++ 4.2 to 6 programs). The debug version of this file is called msvcrtd.dll.