NTLDR Missing
This
error occurs when the partition marked as active does not contain the
operating system boot files. The partition for the OS must be a primary partition that has been marked as active.
If it is a SCSI, SATA or RAID drive the appropriate drivers need to
have already been installed. The boot partition must be located on the disk
pointed to in the BIOS boot sequence. The below advice is for single
boot systems. Some exceptions apply if you have a dual boot setup..
So, two
issues:
1.
Having the PC boot from the correct drive, properly partitioned with
the boot partition set as "Active".
2.
Having the right files in that partition.
You can change the active partition using fdisk. And you can change
the first boot device (but using an optical drive with a Windows CD to
boot from can cause you problems later) in the BIOS.
Using
fdisk:
1. Boot to a command prompt by using a boot disk (if you have one.
Otherwise you can make one from any Windows 95/98/ME PC.
2. At the command prompt, type fdisk, and then press enter.
3. Click set active partition, choose the partition that you want to make active, and then
hit enter.
4. Press Esc.
5. Remove the boot floppy disk, restart the computer.
Right Files:
Using the Recovery Console, copy the Ntldr file from the Windows XP CD-ROM to the root directory of the current active partition. Follow these steps:
1. Start your computer by using the Windows XP Setup floppy disks or by using the Windows XP CD-ROM.
2. At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press F10, or press R to repair.
3. Press C to start the Recovery Console.
4. Copy the Ntldr file from the Windows XP CD-ROM to the root of your system partition by using the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:
1. Type cd .. to go to the root of drive C. (Note the space)
2. Type the letter of the CD-ROM drive
3. Type cd i386 to change into the right directory
4. Type Copy ntldr c:
5. Type Exit
If the partition was not formatted by using Windows, you might also need to run the Recovery Console fixboot command to make the active partition bootable.
After you can boot into Windows, it is recommended that you use the Windows Disk Management snap-in tool to reset the original system partition as the active partition, and then restart the computer.
From
Microsoft:
If the
NTLDR is missing or damaged try the Recovery Console.
To start the computer and use the Recovery Console to replace the boot sector
"Insert the Windows XP Professional Setup CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
Restart the computer. If prompted to press a key to start the computer from the CD-ROM, press the appropriate key.
When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Press the R key to repair a Windows XP Professional installation.
If you are repairing a system that has more than one operating system installed, from the Recovery Console choose the Windows XP Professional installation that you need to repair.
Note
If you press ENTER without typing a number, the Recovery Console quits and restarts the computer.
The Recovery Console might also show valid installations of Windows NT 4.0. However, the results of attempting to access a Windows NT 4.0 installation can be unpredictable.
When prompted, type the Administrator password. If you do not have the correct password, or if the security database for the installation of Windows XP Professional that you are attempting to access is corrupted, Recovery Console does not allow access to the local disks and you cannot replace the boot sector.
To replace the boot sector, at the Recovery Console command prompt, type:
fixboot [drive:]
If you do not specify a drive letter, the Recovery Console replaces the boot sector of the system volume. If you need to replace the boot sector of a volume that is not the system volume, then you must specify the appropriate drive letter."
... More
Microsoft NTLDR Help
"Using
Recovery Console enables you to recover from the following problems:
-
Corrupted
or deleted startup files caused by incompatible software, user
error, or virus activity.
-
Disk
problems related to damage to the master boot record (MBR),
partition table, or boot sector on x86-based systems.
-
A
partition boot sector overwritten by another operating system's
setup program.
If
critical system files, such as Ntldr or Ntoskrnl.exe, are missing or
corrupted, you can restore them by starting Recovery Console and
copying fresh files from the Windows XP Professional operating
system CD or other removable disk media." More
One user
has written in with this feedback:
"I
recently encountered the above mentioned 'NTLDR is missing' error
while starting up my pc and found the solution on your site. Thanks,
people! Thing was, all the time I had a floppy in my floppy
drive. And my pc is set up to have it's primary boot device be the
floppy drive! Maybe you can add this tip to your page- make sure there
is no floppy in the drive!"
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