NTLDR Message at boot

Question

My, not very helpful, sibling reformatted part of my hard disk (a 3 GB section that was seperate from the "C" drive, but part of the same actual drive). Now when I try to boot I get the message NTLDR is missing

I tried copying this file from my C: drive (D in the Repair program from XP) to the new drive, but that just caused my boot to go into an "endless" loop or constant automatic rebooting.

How do I fix this? Do I need to do a full reinstall, or is there someway to do it with the repair function?

I am running Windows XP on an Inspiron 600m

Message Edited by harleyquinn on 12-14-2004 06:48 PM

Message Edited by harleyquinn on 12-14-2004 06:54 PM

JRosenfeld · Answer

You need to copy ntldr from your XP CD to the root folder of your OS partition. It is in the I386 folder of the XP CD.   Assuming that you have a cd drive, the easiest way is to use recovery console on the XP CD.   Assuming that you have a CD drive, set to boot first from CD drive in BIOS, shut down. Place the XP CD in the CD drive, restart, go into the recovery console, [When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Press the R key].   Navigate to the system partition root (not sure from what you say, but probably C:\) and type the following command from the Recovery Console prompt: copy drive:\i386
tldr   where drive represents the letter of the CD-ROM that holds the Windows XP installation files. Answer the Overwrite system? (Yes/No/All): prompt by pressing Y. Shut down, reset BIOS to boot from hard drive, restart the computer.

redwolfe_98 · Answer

if you are using the factory-install of win xp and you have not reset your "administrator" password, you will not be able to use the recovery console because you will not be able to login to it.. (people should reset their administrator password)

an alternative fix for the missing "ntlder" problem is to copy the ntldr file and the ntdetect.com file into "c:" from a floppy disk..

to do that, one way is, you need to use another computer with win xp installed.. you will have to change the folder options to show hidden files.. you need to change the file attributes of the hidden files that you need so that they are not "hidden". then copy the files to a floppy disk..

then you can use the files on the floppy to boot the computer, and then copy "ntldr" and "ntdetect.com" into "c:"

here is a post from another forum regarding the missing ntldr problem:

Originally posted by Deltron
I had this problem, I fixed it by taking my hard drive out and stuck it in my friends computer and added two files to c:\, those two files were "ntldr" and "ntdetect.com" brought my hard drive back home and put it back in my computer and she booted like nothing was ever wrong.

http://www.techimo.com/forum/tid37563/pp20/pn6/index.html

here is an ms article about making a boot disk:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314079

alternatively, someone could send you the three files in an email, and you could then put them on a floppy, boot the computer, and copy the needed files into "c:".. :)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320397

Message Edited by redwolfe_98 on 12-14-2004 11:16 PM

JRosenfeld · Answer

I agree with Redwolfe, but a small addition: the default administrator password is blank (i.e. no password). Unless you deliberately set it to something else, try that.

harleyquinn · Answer

Thanks all.  I tried all those steps word for word (as I saw it in another post before you replied), and it didn't make a difference.  After working with support, I have had to reinstall Windows XP, but they didn't send me a drivers and applications CD, so now I'm trying to get them to send me one.  In the meantime, I'm getting the drivers off the Dell site.   Thanks again everyone for your help.

maxd · Answer

To prevent an unwanted format again you should copy the 2 files mentioned to a floppy. Also make a bootdisk and if you use a password to login make a reset (floppy) disk.

Windows General

NTLDR Message at boot

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