Anna said:
J...
We'll assume that when you connect your "newer" SATA HDD to the
motherboard's SATA0 connector, either your second HDD is disconnected from
the system or if it's still connected to another SATA (or IDE) connector
your BIOS boot priority order indicates a *first* boot to the "newer" SATA
HDD (as philo has mentioned). This is so, right?
To simplify matters, is there any chance you can fresh-install the XP OS
onto your "newer" SATA HDD and take it from there? Or have you programs &
data on that drive that you don't want to lose?
I assume that SATA HDD properly functioned at some point-in-time and this
"NTLDR is missing" message has recently occurred. Is that right?
If it is, do you have any clue as to why this has happened? You've checked
your system for any malware infestation, yes?
And just on the off-chance that you may be dealing with a defective HDD
(new or not), check out its health with the diagnostic utility you can
download from the disk's manufacturer.
Anyway, the more-or-less "tried & true" Recovery Console commands to
(usually) overcome this problem are...
fixmbr
fixboot
bootcfg /rebuild
chkdsk /r also helps at times.
If those don't work you should consider a Repair install of the OS.
In any event, before undertaking any of the above, if at all possible
clone the contents of that drive to another HDD so you have a complete
backup or at the least copy off to some media any files that are important
to you.
Anna
Jucysterfry said:
Thanks for the feedback! To clarify: I added the "newer" hard drive
(an ExcelStor) after wanting a different drive for the OS; saving the old
drive (a Western Digital) for programs and files. I installed the
ExcelStor to the SATA 1 port, booted from the CD, formatted and installed
XP; around Nov. '08. After this, on start-up I must choose which OS
installation to boot from. Yesterday, I was cleaning my case and
rearranging the components to make room for a card on the way. I wondered
if I could plug the drives into any SATA port on the mother board because
of space requirements. This rearrangement did not work: the computer
froze on the BIOS page; I remembered the words of my supplier "Always fill
you SATA 0 port first". So I plugged the ExcelStor into SATA 0 port
(being the primary OS disk, or so I thought) and I plugged the Western
Digital into SATA 1. This is when I encountered "NTLDR is missing..." I
called my specialist and he said "It's very complex, you need to take your
computer in. Maybe you destroyed things with static." Then, thinking of
the original configuration, I switched the SATA cables so the Western
Digital was in it's position of last functioning, the SATA 0. I am
writing you today on the functioning computer, yet I want to put the
ExcelStor (OS disk) in the SATA 0. Do I FIXBOOT or BOOTCFG to activate
the ExcelStor in SATA 0? Thanks for the interest!
Jesse:
Based on your latest post I'm gaining the impression that some sort of
dual-boot configuration is involved here, i.e., the XP OS has been installed
on both of your HDDs, presumably inadvertently. Since you've indicated that
you desire to use the "old" WD HDD as a secondary HDD for "programs and
files", and use your new Excelstor HDD as your boot drive, I'm assuming that
you do not need nor want a dual-boot configuration, i.e., an installation of
the XP OS on *each* of your two HDDs. It's on that basis that I'm making the
following suggestions. So if I have misunderstood your objectives and/or
situation at the present time, do *not* read any further, OK?...
(Assuming you plan to undertake the following steps I would urge you to
*first* copy any important/crucial data from either of your two HDDs onto
some removable media).
1. I'm going to assume that aside from the XP OS installed on your Excelstor
HDD, you can move any personal data on that HDD to your WD HDD. And if there
are any programs/applications installed on the Excelstor boot drive, you'll
have no problem re:installing them at a later time.
2. I'm further assuming that as the situation now stands, you can boot to
the WD HDD without any problem - that this "NTLDR is missing" affects *only*
the Excelstor HDD.
3. So if all the above is correct, do this...
a. Disconnect your Excelstor HDD and boot only with the WD HDD connected.
Delete the bios.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntldr files from the root (C:\)
directory.
Delete the WINDOWS folder so that all the files & sub-folders will be gone
from that drive.
b. After shutting down the PC, disconnect the WD HDD from the machine. And
as your "supplier" has informed you, connect your Excelstor HDD to the
*first* SATA connector on your motherboard (designated either SATA0 or
SATA1). Ensure the only storage device now connected in your system is the
Excelstor disk.
c. Boot to your XP installation CD and undertake a fresh-install of the XP
OS onto the Excelstor. Obviously you will be deleting the partition(s)
currently on that HDD during this process and I'm sure you are aware that by
so doing *all* the programs/data on that disk will be gone.
d. Following the fresh-install of the OS, check the BIOS to determine the
boot priority order correctly reflects that the Excelstor HDD is first in
HDD boot priority.
4. At this point you should have a bootable functioning HDD. Install
whatever programs and other data you want onto that drive. My inclination is
to always install one's programs/applications on the same HDD that contains
the OS. I'm not fond of segregating programs/applications on another
physical HDD other than the boot disk. But, of course, that's up to you.
5. After shutting down the machine, connect your WD HDD to the motherboard's
second SATA connector.
Hopefully, at this point you should have a bootable, functioning, stable
machine and the multi-boot menu will no longer display during bootup.
I would strongly suggest that you consider either a disk-cloning or
disk-imaging program that you can routinely & frequently use as a
comprehensive backup program. If you go that route consider installing *all*
your data, programs/applications, personal data, etc. on your boot drive and
use your secondary (WD) HDD - either in whole or in part (multi-partitioned)
as the "destination" HDD, i.e., the recipient of the cloned or imaged
contents of your boot drive. I believe that for the greatest majority of PC
users this is the most sensible course to take in organizing one's system
and providing the greatest level of security against loss of data.
Anna
