Switching Hard Drives = ntldr is missing

Question

I've got an Inspiron 7500 that I use for business puposes only, and an Isprion 8000 that I use as my personal computer.  The screen on the 7500 went out, and needing the information for work, tried to switch the hard drive into the 8000.  Both have windows 2000.  Whenever I try to boot the 8000 with the hard drive from the 7500, I get an 'NTLDR missing' message.  I can boot up with a W98 bootdisk and a directory check shows that the NTLDR file is there, but I can't boot up.   I've tried repairing the W2K installation, but after copying files and checking the system it tells me to remove the disk from drive A and reboot.  When I do, I get the same NTLDR missing error message.    Is there a way to get the 7500 hard drive to work in the 8000, and what do I need to do to get it working without doing a clean install  I've got way too many programs and business information to risk losing, even with adequate back-up cd's.

ejn63 · Answer

You'll need to do the clean install. The systems are using a different set of translation parameters for the drive - you need to format the drive and install the OS in the new system.

ktriddle · Answer

Thanks for the reply.  That's what i was afraid of.  Are there any changes that could be made in the BIOS that would allow the drives to be switched?

Ed C · Answer

Put the 7500 drive in the 8000 and do a repair install of the OS by booting the unit from the W2K CD disk. I have never done a repair install with W2K but I have with XP and it works fine in XP when moving a drive from one system to another with different hardware installed. This should set the OS to work with the hardware in the 8000 and should allow you to boot the system. You will need to do the OS updated and load the 8000 hardware drivers but at least you'l have access to the data on the drive.

leduke30 · Answer

You could get a 2nd Harddrive Module, install the drive from the 7500 in that, and then install it in the modular bay on the 8000. That would give you access to the files on the drive, and you can Drag and Drop them on the My Documents folder on the 8000 drive. Losing the NTLDR file is a common occurence when swapping drives between unlike models. The only possibility of putting it back is to open the W2000 CD under windows and browse to a file called BootDisk/Makeboot32 and follow directions to make 4 boot disks  to boot the 8000 up and install boot files, then allow a hot swap to the W2000 CD for a repair or reinstall of the OS over the existing set

ktriddle · Answer

Thank you for the response.  I've considered the 2nd hard drive bay as a solution rather than doing a cold install and losing all the information I have.  I already tried the W2k boot disks, but halfway through the 2nd disk I get an 'ASPI.SYS file is corrupt', and the process terminates.  Anyway, I suppose I've resolved myself to the fact that I've either got to get the second bay or start from scratch!

Ed C · Answer

@ktriddle wrote:
Thank you for the response. I've considered the 2nd hard drive bay as a solution rather than doing a cold install and losing all the information I have. I already tried the W2k boot disks, but halfway through the 2nd disk I get an "ASPI.SYS file is corrupt", and the process terminates. Anyway, I suppose I've resolved myself to the fact that I've either got to get the second bay or start from scratch!

As I said in my previous post all you need to do is a repair install of W2K. That will not erase or delete any of your data on the drive. All it does is set the OS system files to work with the new hardware in the new PC. Boot the notebook from the W2K CD and during the install routine you will get a option to do a REPAIR INSTALL.

ktriddle · Answer

I tried the repair install from the CD.  It didn't work!    I worked until the point where it said that the computer would have to reboot to finish the repair, and when it reboots it goes straight to the 'NTLDR is missing' error message again.  I've changed the boot sequence to floppy-cd-hard drive, and to cd-floppy-hard drive, and to cd-hard drive-floppy to no avail.  Every time it reboots, even with the original W2k cd or with the repair disks, it either gives me the NTLDR message or the ASPI corrupt message.

Ed C · Answer

Sorry to hear that. If you can't do a repair install I doubt you will be able to do a fresh/clean install. The HDD is failing or you have some bad memory. But hey I guess it worth a shot.

leduke30 · Answer

This link has 5 - 2nd Harddrive Modules for your model 7500

http://search.ebay.com/2nd-harddrive-module-7500_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQfromZR10QQcatrefZC6QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQfsop
Z1QQfsooZ1QQcoactionZcompareQQcopagenumZ1QQcoentrypageZsearch

This link has a bunch for the 8000

http://search.ebay.com/2nd-harddrive-module_W0QQfromZR18QQfsopZ1QQsspagenameZADMEQ3aBQ3aTB2Q3aUSQ3a2

Message Edited by leduke30 on 02-01-2005 12:36 PM

ktriddle · Answer

Ok, I'm a little green here, so some helpful info would be appreciated!

Re: using a second hard drive

Since the hard drive I've got with all my business information is the one that can't be booted to in the 8000, I'm assuming that I would boot from the 8000 hard drive that was originally in the 8000. Once it boots, will it automatically recognize the 7500 hard disk that has been added, or will I have to do something to be able to access it? I've added hard drives to my desktop before, but they've always been new and the system recognizes them with no problem. Also, does the fact that the second drive already has an operating system on it make any difference? I've decided that that's probably the easiest way to go since nothing else seems to work, but want to be sure it will work and that I will not lose the information on the hard drive. My files and data area all backed up adequately, but some of the programs I use are old and I've since misplaced either the program disks or the key numbers to reinstall them.

I do want to thank everyone for your help!

leduke30 · Answer

You mount the drive circuit board side up and unjumpered. Since the OS on it is unbootable, it should not be in conflict. You have 3 choices; you can either drag and drop your personal files on the 8000's My Document File or if you have a CDRW, you can 'Send' them to a CDRW Disk or make CDRs using your burner software. A 3rd choice would be to make a smallish upper partition on your 8000's drive with Partition  Magic, and drag and drop them on it

meganerd · Answer

Or buy an external hard drive crable that connects through USB. The link below is for a full size drive cradle, but you get the idea. When the drive on my company laptop croaked they couldn't recover anything, but I put it into a cradle (already had one) on my personal laptop and got the girl, the gold watch, and everything. (That is, I recovered all of my data!)   http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=U6-1-B2&cat=HDD

Storage, Drives & Media

Switching Hard Drives = ntldr is missing

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