What is HAL.DLL and why does it get corrupted?

After having a limited amount of time troubleshooting Windows XP I have noticed that there is a file called HAL.DLL, does anyone know what it is and why it keep getting corrupted. I have beeen able to fix the problem but I am interested in what it does.

Regards Dave

<a href="http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,2670574~root=winme~mode=flat" target="_blank">http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,2670574~root=winme~mode=flat</a>

Thanks, now it makes sense. I was installing a NIC with Windows 2k drivers.