I don't know if this is what's happening, we'll try to determine in a second.  Windows treats its boot files differently than every other file.  It won't accept error correction even if the error is correctable.  A drive engineer discovered this when his did the same thing.

 

Drives don't typically grow one bad sector, they grow progressively more.  At first they may not show up because error correction fixes them.  When it gets to ntldr or a couple of related files, the system stops working.

 

F12 at start, run HDD diagnostic.  If it returns any error at all, the drive is failing.  Get a new one and reinstall Windows.  The old drive may still be able to read your files.  If it's failing mechanically the less you run it the less damage is done.  Install it as a secondary for recovery when you get the system working again.

Thank you - since I already tried what Rohe suggested I will try your suggestion but Ill obviously need to wait to buy a new drive and hope this works. 

Every system I saw in the lab that said boot files were missing, when I replaced that file another would be missing.  After 3 I gave up, I had other stuff to do.  But I could never repair an image that said ntldr missing, and the drive almost always failed diagnostics. 

 

That doesn't make it absolute, cuz other stuff can happen besides what I saw back in 2006.  Each case is different.  That's why diagnosing computer failures is not a straightforward exercise.

If you are otherwise satisfied with the system performance, replacing the drive makes more economic sense.  It's a lot cheaper than a whole new system.  Find out the price of a replacement drive from aftermarket vendors like Fry's.

 

You have to also consider the age of the system, whether sinking more money into it at this point represents a good investment.  Even if the drive is the only bad part now, there is the chance other things will fail in the upcoming months.  Computers are just like cars.  At some point it is more practical to replace them than to repair them.

I also keep getting msg that another file is missing.  I am really so exhaused.  So Im in this dilemma should I go for the fix or just call it and get a new computer?

Thanks for your help I really appreciate it.  I think Im going computer shopping.

Elikapeka

 

New computer shopping makes a great deal of sense at this point.

 

Economically it would be far less expensive to replace the hard drive, however if you do not have the original O/S install disk that came with your Dell Dimension 4550, you may as well stop right there and take a look at the Dell Outlet for an as new refurbished computer.

 

A new computer not only comes with new hardware, but also a new system restore disk set and an image on the hard drive. If you stay conservative, you get get a new system for less than $500 including shipping and tax. Then sell the old system on eBay to recover some of your cost. Your old system would make a great spare parts inventory for someone with the same computer.

 

MD

One last question here - Is it just the drive failing or is their something I can do to prevent the ntldr is missing again? This has me puzzled.  Thanks for all the great advise here. 

Thanks for all of your help. 

Ntldr is not really missing, Windows refused to load it because it triggered error correction (this is what the drive engineer told me, he's been in the business since the late 70s so I believe him). 

 

There is no way to positively prevent files from becoming unreadable.  And my attempts to replace ntldr with a known-good copy from a working drive never worked, so apparently you can't back it up either.

 

This is speculation on my part, but it looks like Windows stops operating if its boot files become corrupt perhaps as a way of telling you the drive has a problem before it becomes completely unreadable.  That way it positively gets your attention while you still have a chance to get your personal files copied over.