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mjgreenley

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NTLDR is missing

I am trying to fix a machine with the error "NTLDR file is missing."

I do not have the owners original XP boot CD, but I do have my own XP recovery disc. After reading some of the other answers on EE I've come to the following solution to try: Posted previously by Nubos:

"here what you need to do :
Boot using the Windows XP installation disk, press R. Then type the following commands:

      FIXMBR
      FIXBOOT
      BOOTCFG /rebuild
      cd\
      copy E:\i386\NTLDR
      ATTRIB -arsh ntldr
      copy e:\i386\NTDETECT.COM
      ATTRIB -arsh ntdetect.com
"

I logged into the recovery console using my disk, and when I went into FIXMBR I received the caution message about "this computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid MBR. FIXMBR may damage your partition...etc.

Is this still the option that I want to use? I don't want to damage this machine any further. The caution and "non-standard MBR" warning kinda scared me off.

I also went into FIXBOOT but did not run the command.

I guess I just want to make sure that this is the correct solution for this issue and that I can use MY disk to recover the files without damaging the machine.

Also, there is no floppy or CD in the respectable drives. This is a Dell Dimension 4600.

Thanks!
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Chris Millard
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Get the UBCD http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Download links are the icons at the top of the page above Overview.  Browse the page and see what utils are there for you.  Check the hard disk utils especially.

Make the CD and boot from it.  

Use TestDisk on the UBCD to examine your disk setup and the MBR and the various partitions.

Tutorial http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step and see http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Data_Recovery_Examples

If you use TestDisk take all caution.  As long as you don't save you'll be OK.
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mjgreenley

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Thanks for the updates. I just made a backup of the disk and am getting ready to try some of the possible solutions listed. I'll be a little while, but will update with the results asap. Thanks again.
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The person does not have the OS DIsk that came with the system and runs into an issue that the version of the OS that exist might not have all the necessary drivers for the system on which repair is being performed.
They should be able to contact the vender and request a replacement disk.  They may evan be able to download it and  make their own disk.
you can make an install disk from the installed one :
http://www.howtohaven.com/system/createwindowssetupdisk.shtml

in your case, do it on a system that has the same OS version : SP1, 2 or 3
NTldr is not a driver.  It is a 16 bit DOS bootloader. If you can get to another machine that can burn a CD-R, then download FixNTldr.zip (x86 ISO format) or if your running on x64 FixNTldr.Zip (ISO Format) burn it to disk, change your boot configuration to load dvd/cd on boot and insert the cd-r that you burned it too and reboot. The rest of the instructions for Miles Comer's  fixntldr is here.

All you need to do (assuming the computer was booting fine to begin with) is copy NTLDR from another machine to the root of the problem machine.  You will probably get an error -- cannot copy file.

This means NTLDR has been set to read only and hidden by the OS, and when XP boots this way and NTLDR is hidden, this is the message you get.

from the root of the C: drive issue this command at the command prompt --

attrib -r -s -h *.*

That will make all the files on the root NOT hidden and not system and not read only.  You have to do all three at once, or it won't work.  Don't worry, XP will set them correctly when it boots.
Sorry for the long delay. I wanted to post my results for the record.

Roybridge & Arnold: I made a backup clone of the drive and I did a chkdsk and no errors were reported.

I spoke to the customer and they stated that all they cared about was recovering their files and that the machine could be junked. I recovered all files, and decided to use an old, matching, Dell Dimension OS Disk that I had in storage to run a recovery. Ran a Repair Install of the OS and it WORKED! Nothing usually ever happens this easy!

Thanks for all the advice, learned some interesting solutions to try in the future. Much appreciation!