NTLDR is missing after lockup and reboot. WinXP will not start up

There are a few things you can do if you don't have an install CD for some cases of this error message:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm
NTLDR is missing

To boot from the XP CD, do I have to change the BIOS settings to make the CDROM my primary boot source? (Also, is the bootable CD the same as the WINXP installation CD? That's all I have).

yes you have to change the BIOS boot order to boot from the cd first!
and do you have a WinXP CD with which you installed the XP on this system, if yes then you can do the repair with it!

The first thing I check when I get that message is that I don't have a floppy in the drive. If it is setup in the BIOS that way it will try to boot from the floppy first and you will get that message. I am just telling you this because I have done it before :)

Try this:

http://www.bestpricecomputers.ltd.uk/freehelp/ntldr_missing.htm

...also check the BIOS is see the HD is Present ...It happens when you format in NTFS etc...

Well it was of Help.........

MD

I made sure the floppy drive was empty, changed the BIOS settings to look for the CDROM first. However, the computer would not boot from my WinXP CD. It searched the CDROM for the boot record on startup but said it wasn't found on the CD. I can't get past that point. This CD is a CD-R backup, though it is the same disc I used to install WinXP originally. Thanks for the help so far. Still having problems though.

>> This CD is a CD-R backup
its looking like a bad copy.... =\
try this, get these 6 xp bootdisks from here >> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q310994
and create them to boot the system with them..... then from recovery console you can copy the required file from the WinXP backedup cd..... IF recovery console can detect this cd :-?

Good Advice SheharyaarSaahil....

Maybe a Bad CDROM Drive..If it still doesn't read..Try a new drive....else Six floppies (SheharyaarSaahil)...

MD

need a WinXP standard cd to access the recovery console and then do as described here >> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm

boot into the recovery console from your original XP CD... admiting to using backups implies to us that you have a Pir8t copy of the OS.. try fixmbr.. if you are using sp2 then you will need the ntldr from the xp2update.. the original ntldr will not work..

you can download the network install from microsoft and do a update.exe -x
and put it in a subdirectory. and then copy out the ntldr.

Maybe This is easy to do
Just Copy  ntldr file from WinXP CD to your root Drive [ C: ] using a startup floopy disk or CD
Then restart , this will setup ur system with default configuration.

Hope it might help.

If you have access to another machine (2k, xp, or 2003) you can create an NTFS boot floppy to bbot the system. To do this do a full format on the floppy, then copy the ntdetect.com, ntldr, and boot.ini files to the floppy drive.

The boot.ini will have to be modified to match the system you are trying to boot. Most likely the boot.ini string will be "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows="this is my XP boot disk" /fastdetect"
If this is a Dell machine you may need "multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows="this is my XP boot disk" /fastdetect" as Dell often adds a utility partition  at the beginning of the drive.

If this lets you boot into the OS again, just copy the ntdetect.com and ntldr files to c:\. Running chkdsk couldn't hurt either due to the unclean shutdown.

rumor has it that XP has an IDE bug that manifests occasionally on old hardware & i've seen the problem you describe on a few older machines.  in reality NTLDR may not actually be missing or damaged.  the following is pretty low-tech but i've used it a number of times to successfully solve "NTLDR missing":
(1) turn off PC.
(2) disconnect both IDE ribbons from mainboard AND all drives (i have not found it neccessary to remove floppy ribbon).
(3) restart PC with ribbons missing, letting XP accurately fail to boot.
(4) turn off PC.
(5) connect all ribbons.
(5) re-boot, cross fingers.

note:
-all machines i've solved with this (3-4) were at least PIII500
-increase the RAM if at all possible, or change it ... anything to get the MBR out of it's current "death spiral"
-not sure how this will work if you've altered the MBR or other critical boot data based on advice from above.  you may have to undo any changes made.

Reseting the IDE cables is a hardware fix, not a bug in XP. If you disconnect the IDE cables, XP can't boot, period. All you're doing is verifying that the IDE cables are not loose. I don't know how this would have fixed the missing NTLDR if you're not actually booting with the drive. I'm not saying that this doesn't work, just that if you're not booting the OS, it isn't a bug in the OS.

Sorry, but adding RAM will not affect the MBT, sector 0 on the active drive. Adding RAM will make XP perform better, but it will not alter sectors on the drive.

As for the changes mentioned above, fixmbr recreates the MBR signature but does not touch the partition table. If the problem is partition related, this would not fix the issue. Fixboot copies the NTFS backup boot sector back to sector 63 or 32, whichever is used for your volume.

it was explained to me by a local retail hardware shop as an XP IDE 'bug' because they noticed the problem for the first time on systems with XP that had previously run Win2000, with no changes made to hardware environment in the transition.  essentially the BIOS isn't recognizing the OS drive at all.  maybe problem is hardware+NTFS -related if the jump to NTFS was made for first time w/XP.

this is no mere ribbon check - do not hesitate to try it even though ribbons appear secure.  i'll defer on the MBR details, but don't let my lack of more formal knowledge discourage from trying it.  as stated earlier, i've personally come across "NTLDR missing" maybe 10 times total on 3 or 4 older PCs and this procedure has always worked.  never had to get into MBR nastiness.  perhaps someday our scientists will be able to explain it.

made a couple important edits to procedure below.  follow steps carefully.  good luck.

(1) turn off PC.
(2) disconnect both IDE ribbons from mainboard AND all drives (i have not found it neccessary to remove floppy ribbon).
(3a) restart PC with ribbons missing.  access the BIOS and force "detect drives" (for those with older BIOS that doesn't include HDD auto-detect).  BIOS will NOT find a hard drive, which is what you want at this point.  save changes to BIOS and reboot.
(3b) allow PC full re-start with ribbons missing (letting system accurately fail to boot).
(4) turn off PC.
(5) re-connect all ribbons.
(6) re-boot PC & access the BIOS. force "detect drives" (again, for those with older BIOS that doesn't include HDD auto-detect).  if you see your HDD, save changes to BIOS and reboot.

if neccessary repeat 1-2 times, max .  if still fails this is not your solution.

And it was explained to me by my trainer at Microsoft when discussing common hardware problems that if the drive is not attached then the MBR is not accessed. It is a physical imposibility.

If the BIOS does not recognize the boot device, update the BIOS. Older BIOSes are known to have difficulties with more modern operating systems.

When I said reset the IDE cables I was agreeing with you to unattach and reseat them. A visual check accomplishes nothing in this regard, you have to physically make sure the cable is seated. Also, you can merely remove the listings for the HDD in the BIOS so you don't have to mess with cables.

Essentially what you suggest is to force the hardware to redetect the drives. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach, it just may not work if there is something actually wrong with the MBR, the NTFS boot sector, or the $MFT record.

Ntldr Satnds for NT Loader

You can copy from a mechine which is running XP or Win 2000 Server or Professional.

You need a MS-Dos Bootable Floppy or CD. Boot your system.

This NTLDR have System,ReadOnly and System attribute.
Use attrib command to remove the attribute

place the NTLDR file in Winnt\system32 and in the root .

Replace all the attribute of the file before restarting.

Your system will start as it was before with out single file been disturbed

If you need detailed steps please feel free to mail me at *** email address removed by LeeTutor, Page Editor ***

If you're going to replace the boot files, please use the method that Microsoft uses. It's a lot simpiler than some of the suggestions, and it's supported by Microsoft if you ever contact them for support.

In short, create an NTFS boot floppy, boot the system off the floppy, copy the ntldr and ntdetect.com. You should keep these files at the same revesion level (i.e. if you copy one, copy both).

By using this method you do not have to change attributes, you don't have to copy to %winroot%\system32, you use the native NTFS support and don't have to use a 3rd-party tool to read NTFS.

Just for your notes, to create the NTFS boot floppy:
1) format a floppy disk (use full, not quick)
2) from and 2000, XP, or 2k3 system copy the boot.ini, ntdetect.co, and ntldr files from c:\ to the floppy
3) edit the the boot.ini on the floppy to represent the proper ARC path for your system.
    Since this is XP, the boot.ini you should want is:
[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
 /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

(the last line should all be on the same line)
If you have a utility partition (like most Dell's), change the partition to 2 on both lines.

PLease let me know if you need more information or a more through explanation of these steps.

This problem can be solved by utilizing the Recovery Console.  First, I would try this solution:  http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;318728&Product=win2000#6

If Method 2 doesn't work, you need to use the Recovery Console to run the "fixmbr" command.  The fixmbr has fixed this problem for me in the past.

FuzzboxerUA:
If you read the above posts, the author cannot boot off of the CD. No CD == no recovery console. We had asked the author to try the 6 boot floppies, but have not heard back.

Oops!  Sorry :-/