"NTLDR is missing" Error Message

Sounds like the HD is corrupted or damaged. See here:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318728

Peter

Did you find ntldr in the root directory? The fact that you can access the drive does not mean it is not corrupted. Did you run chkdsk on the drive?

Peter

I have had my hard drive in an external case and have been able to access it okay. I have replaced my mobo and am a novice so I'm having to deal with problems one issue at the time. This is the farthest I've gotten since I started trying to start up. Is it possible it is something else?

I haven't been able to do anything. This message comes up immediately after the Dell Startup screen and before Windows starts. I am able to get into Setup but as soon as I exit that, the keyboard deactivates and I am stuck. I looked at the link you provided and downloaded BIOS A09 and XP2. I will see if this corrects the problem.

Thanks for your advice.

You should be able to do the things I suggested when the drive is attached to another (working) machine.

Hold off and try this first.

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm

This came from another posting with the same issue.

See posting here:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=sw_winxp&message.id=199039