reformatted and trying to reinstall...instead I get ntldr is miss

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mary
  • Start date Start date
M

Mary

I reformatted to get rid of old junk. It is my intention to reinstall xp. It
would appear that the reformatting went well. It stated when it was finished
to type exit and hit enter. It would restart.

Well, It did restart with this message "NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt
+Del to restart". Of course nothing happens when you press the keys, it
restarts with the same message. I have the xp cd in when I restart, it
doesn't seem to be reading it. I made a floppy boot disk, it doesn't seem to
be acknowleding it either.

I cannot get it to do anything. It will only restart with the message.
Please help me before I am bald, (I don't own any wigs).

Thank you in advance. Mary
 
Thank you Brian for the reply.

Unfortunately, I had been to this page at least a hundred times before I
posted here. As I stated, I made a boot floppy, and this is exactly where I
followed the directions to do it.

My problem seems to be that the computer is not reading anything, and
microsoft is giving me directions for it to read something. I would probably
be good to go if I could get past this message.

I may be able to get it to boot from floppy if I could get into bios.
Unfortunately again, I am having no luck. It was a custom made computer from
a few yrs back and have tried everything to get into bios with no luck. I
can't seem to figure out the right key to get me in there.

Thank you, Mary
 
Mary said:
Thank you Brian for the reply.

Unfortunately, I had been to this page at least a hundred times before I
posted here. As I stated, I made a boot floppy, and this is exactly where
I
followed the directions to do it.

My problem seems to be that the computer is not reading anything, and
microsoft is giving me directions for it to read something. I would
probably
be good to go if I could get past this message.

I may be able to get it to boot from floppy if I could get into bios.
Unfortunately again, I am having no luck. It was a custom made computer
from
a few yrs back and have tried everything to get into bios with no luck. I
can't seem to figure out the right key to get me in there.

Thank you, Mary
Click to expand...


Mary:
Assuming you've tried the "fixes" detailed on the MS links that Brian
pointed you to and they were of no help, your best bet at this juncture is
to try a Repair install of the XP OS.

Assuming you have a non-OEM-branded XP installation CD at your disposal and
not merely an OEM recovery CD or recovery partition situation you might
consider running a Repair install of the XP OS at this point in time in view
of your other futile attempts to get the system up & running.

I assume you've never done this before so here's some general info on the
process...

Undertaking a Repair install of the OS is a relatively straightforward
process. It would be roughly akin to making a fresh install of the OS, but
in nearly every case your existing programs & user-created data would be
retained. Notice I said "nearly". While it would be a rather rare situation
where data would be lost or corrupted as a result of the Repair install, and
as unlikely as it may be, it *could* happen.

So if there are any programs and/or other data on your present drive that
are absolutely crucial to you and you could not tolerate their loss, then I
would strongly suggest that before undertaking this Repair install operation
that you first either make a "clone" of your existing HDD (using a disk
imaging program) or, if that's not practical, install the HDD in another
machine as a secondary HDD so that you can pull off whatever data you want
onto some removable media, e.g., flash drive, CD, etc.

Again, it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data will
occur even when the Repair install is unsuccessful, but it *can* happen. So
I want you to be aware of this.

There are a number of websites that contain step-by-step instructions for
undertaking a Repair install. Let me assure you that it's not a difficult
process and not terribly time-consuming. It's roughly similar to making a
fresh install of the XP OS. If you do a Google search on "XP repair
install", you'll be pointed to many of these sites. Here are a few...
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#RI
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm

Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your A-V program
to immediately check out your PC for any virus infestation. Also, you will
need to download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP2. (I'm
assuming that if you undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, you will be
doing so with a XP installation CD that contains SP2). That, of course, is
one of the downsides re undertaking a Repair install in that it's usually an
onerous task to download all the Critical Updates from MS especially if you
have a dialup phone connection rather than broadband.

Anyway, give this some thought if you can't get your system back to a
functional state any other way.

Just one other thing...
It's conceivable that you're dealing with some hardware-type problem here
and not just a corruption of the OS. Where a hardware-type problem is the
culprit in cases like the one you describe, it's usually the HDD that's
defective although it's entirely possible some other major component of your
system may be at the root of the problem you're experiencing. In any event,
It's possible that you may be dealing with a defective HDD so it probably
would be wise at this point to check out the HDD with a HDD diagnostic
utility you can (usually) download from the website of the disk's
manufacturer. It's very easy to use - the downloaded program allows you to
create either as a bootable floppy disk or bootable CD containing the HDD
diagnostic program. So give that some consideration.
Anna
 
Hi Anna and thank you. First off, I didn't understand what the "OEM" meant
when you were speaking about the cd. Could you eplain?
 
Mary:
It's just an acronym for Original Equipment Manufacturer. The problem here
is that many of these OEMs, e.g., Dell, Gateway, eMachines, etc. - generally
the kind of PC one would buy in a mass-merchandise store, e.g., Best Buy,
Circuit City, the "Office" stores, etc. - frequently do not provide a CD
with the "full" version of the XP OS (as you would get should you purchase a
full retail or non-branded version of the XP OS). Rather they provide a
so-called recovery or restore type of XP CD and in most cases this type of
XP CD will not provide for a "Repair" type of installation of the XP OS as I
have described.

(If you do a Google search for "OEM" you'll be pointed to more detailed
information on this).

Since you mentioned in one of your posts that your PC is a "custom made PC"
I'm hoping that you have a "full" version of the XP OS installation CD which
would allow you to undertake the Repair install.
Anna
 
Thank you nesredep egrob,

"I may be able to get it to boot from floppy if I could get into bios.
Unfortunately again, I am having no luck. It was a custom made computer from
a few yrs back and have tried everything to get into bios with no luck. I
can't seem to figure out the right key to get me in there"

Once again, I cannot get into bios. Tried repeatedly for hours and tried
every key I could think of. No luck.

Thank you, can you think of anything else? Much appreciated.
 
I reformatted to get rid of old junk. It is my intention to reinstall xp. It
would appear that the reformatting went well. It stated when it was finished
to type exit and hit enter. It would restart.

Well, It did restart with this message "NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl + Alt
+Del to restart". Of course nothing happens when you press the keys, it
restarts with the same message. I have the xp cd in when I restart, it
doesn't seem to be reading it. I made a floppy boot disk, it doesn't seem to
be acknowleding it either.

I cannot get it to do anything. It will only restart with the message.
Please help me before I am bald, (I don't own any wigs).

Thank you in advance. Mary
Click to expand...

Go into Bios - that is press Del or F2 depending on your computer and then
adjust the boot process for it to see the CD as the first choice. When done -
don't forget to put it back where it was, booting off the hard disk.

Borge in sunny Perth, Australia
 
Anna said:
Mary:
Assuming you've tried the "fixes" detailed on the MS links that Brian pointed you
to and they were of no help, your best bet at this juncture is to try a Repair
install of the XP OS.

Assuming you have a non-OEM-branded XP installation CD at your disposal and
not merely an OEM recovery CD or recovery partition situation you might consider
running a Repair install of the XP OS at this point in time in view of your other
futile attempts to get the system up & running.

I assume you've never done this before so here's some general info on the
process...

Undertaking a Repair install of the OS is a relatively straightforward process. It
would be roughly akin to making a fresh install of the OS, but in nearly every case
your existing programs & user-created data would be retained. Notice I said
"nearly". While it would be a rather rare situation where data would be lost or
corrupted as a result of the Repair install, and as unlikely as it may be, it
*could* happen.

So if there are any programs and/or other data on your present drive that are
absolutely crucial to you and you could not tolerate their loss, then I would
strongly suggest that before undertaking this Repair install operation that you
first either make a "clone" of your existing HDD (using a disk imaging program) or,
if that's not practical, install the HDD in another machine as a secondary HDD so
that you can pull off whatever data you want onto some removable media, e.g., flash
drive, CD, etc.

Again, it's a relatively rare event that a loss or corruption of data will occur
even when the Repair install is unsuccessful, but it *can* happen. So I want you to
be aware of this.

There are a number of websites that contain step-by-step instructions for
undertaking a Repair install. Let me assure you that it's not a difficult process
and not terribly time-consuming. It's roughly similar to making a fresh install of
the XP OS. If you do a Google search on "XP repair install", you'll be pointed to
many of these sites. Here are a few...
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm#RI
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm

Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your A-V program to
immediately check out your PC for any virus infestation. Also, you will need to
download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP2. (I'm assuming that if you
undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, you will be doing so with a XP
installation CD that contains SP2). That, of course, is one of the downsides re
undertaking a Repair install in that it's usually an onerous task to download all
the Critical Updates from MS especially if you have a dialup phone connection
rather than broadband.

Anyway, give this some thought if you can't get your system back to a functional
state any other way.

Just one other thing...
It's conceivable that you're dealing with some hardware-type problem here and not
just a corruption of the OS. Where a hardware-type problem is the culprit in cases
like the one you describe, it's usually the HDD that's defective although it's
entirely possible some other major component of your system may be at the root of
the problem you're experiencing. In any event, It's possible that you may be
dealing with a defective HDD so it probably would be wise at this point to check
out the HDD with a HDD diagnostic utility you can (usually) download from the
website of the disk's manufacturer. It's very easy to use - the downloaded program
allows you to create either as a bootable floppy disk or bootable CD containing the
HDD diagnostic program. So give that some consideration.
Anna
Click to expand...


Anna, unless I'm missing something, a repair install will not work. Mary did state
in her original post that she had reformatted the hard drive.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 
Mary,
How and from where exactly did you reformat the hard drive?
What exactly is your "custom made computer" manufacturer/make/model?
If it's self/friend built, what is the motherboard manufacturer/make/model?
Do you know what BIOS is used, AMI, AWARD, etc.?
Some keys to try to enter the BIOS are: ESC, DEL, F1, F2, F10 or F11.
Which version of XP was installed?

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 
Brian:
You're absolutely right. I missed that in her original post. It would seem
then that the only practical course at this point would be for Mary to
simply try reinstalling the XP OS again, in effect undertaking a "fresh
install" of the OS, ensuring that during the setup process she delete any
existing partitions and go from there creating the partition(s), formatting
same, and installing the OS. I'm assuming, of course, that since she
"reformatted" the disk, there's no user-created data on the drive that she
needs.

And should the problem re:occur, check out the HDD with the diagnostic
utility previously suggested.

Sorry for previously misinforming you Mary.
Anna
 
To bad you didn't catch it, you did do a great compilation with the fingers to
board explanation though. ~[|8o}
Yeppers, fresh start. I wondered for a moment if she may have removed the
partition(s) as well, doubt it but stranger things do happen. In all probability she
has a bad boot disk, either a driver is missing or the boot.ini is configured
improperly. When/if I get a response on the version of XP that was installed I shoot
her a link for the disk boot floppies, don't feel the need to provide links for every
flipp'n version they have them for.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
 
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/installxpcdrepair/indexfullpage.htm>>>>>>>> Assuming the Repair install is successful, you should use your A-Vprogram to immediately check out your PC for any virus infestation. Also,you will need to download/install *all* the MS critical updates since SP2.(I'm assuming that if you undertake this Repair install of the XP OS, youwill be doing so with a XP installation CD that contains SP2). That, ofcourse, is one of the downsides re undertaking a Repair install in that it'susually an onerous task to download all the Critical Updates from MSespecially if you have a dialup phone connection rather than broadband.>>>>>>>> Anyway, give this some thought if you can't get your system back to afunctional state any other way.>>>>>>>> Just one other thing...>>>> It's conceivable that you're dealing with some hardware-type problemhere and not just a corruption of the OS. Where a hardware-type problem isthe culprit in cases like the one you describe, it's usually the HDD that'sdefective although it's entirely possible some other major component of yoursystem may be at the root of the problem you're experiencing. In any event,It's possible that you may be dealing with a defective HDD so it probablywould be wise at this point to check out the HDD with a HDD diagnosticutility you can (usually) download from the website of the disk'smanufacturer. It's very easy to use - the downloaded program allows you tocreate either as a bootable floppy disk or bootable CD containing the HDDdiagnostic program. So give that some consideration.>>>> Anna"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message>> "Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in message>>> Anna, unless I'm missing something, a repair install will not work.Mary did state in her original post that she had reformatted the hard drive.>>> -->>> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }>>> Conflicts start where information lacks.>>> http://basconotw.mvps.org/> "Anna" <[email protected]> wrote in messagenews:[email protected]...>> Brian:>> You're absolutely right. I missed that in her original post. It wouldseem then that the only practical course at this point would be for Mary tosimply try reinstalling the XP OS again, in effect undertaking a "freshinstall" of the OS, ensuring that during the setup process she delete anyexisting partitions and go from there creating the partition(s), formattingsame, and installing the OS. I'm assuming, of course, that since she"reformatted" the disk, there's no user-created data on the drive that sheneeds.>>>> And should the problem re:occur, check out the HDD with the diagnosticutility >> previously suggested.>>>> Sorry for previously misinforming you Mary.>> Anna"Brian A." <gonefish'n@afarawaylake> wrote in messagenews:[email protected]...> To bad you didn't catch it, you did do a great compilation with thefingers to board explanation though. ~[|8o}> Yeppers, fresh start. I wondered for a moment if she may have removedthe partition(s) as well, doubt it but stranger things do happen. In allprobability she has a bad boot disk, either a driver is missing or theboot.ini is configured improperly. When/if I get a response on the versionof XP that was installed I shoot her a link for the disk boot floppies,don't feel the need to provide links for every flipp'n version they havethem for.> --> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }> Conflicts start where information lacks.> http://basconotw.mvps.org/Brian:Since Mary is now involved in a "fresh" install of the XP OS, i.e., she's"reformatted" the intended boot drive, I suppose it's reasonable to assumethat there's no user-created data currently on the disk that she mustretrieve at this point. So that there's no concern on that aspect here.Frankly, it sounds to me that this is simply a botched installation routineand assuming that Mary has an XP installation CD I would think she should"start over" as it were, using the installation CD to delete any existingpartition(s) and simply go through the setup process again. I trust she'snot using any third-party tools to "reformat" the disk, etc.Of course, there's always the possibility of a defective HDD and that's whyI recommended the diagnostic utility routine. Similarly a defective CDalthough that's been so rare in our experience we discount it at the outset.You'll note that in a subsequent post by Mary she asked "what's an OEM?". SoI really can't tell exactly what we're dealing with here and whether thatplays a part in her problem.Anna
 
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