G
Guest
Every time I try to Reinstall Win XP Pro I get the error msg NTLDR missing --
I Get the same thing on a couple of hard drives.
I Get the same thing on a couple of hard drives.
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C
Chad Harris
Began31--
I see that you headed this "clean install error" so I think you mean what
you say there but here are some options.
The important thing here is --have you formatted already? (probably)
because if XP is still on the box and getting that error you can do a repair
install booting from the XP CD. Also as often is the case on these groups,
you did not state whether you are dual booting with Vista on the box, that
this is a clean install after formatting, etc. and that information is
important.
If this is in setup on a clean install, see:
http://www.pcmech.com/show/os/722/
If you were on a dual boot with Vista then see:
Windows XP does not start on a computer that is configured for dual booting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315233/
You may be able to do this:
. Specify another operating system on the Boot menu.
. Start from the Windows XP CD-ROM, and then at the Windows
Setup screen, press "R" to use the Recovery Console to repair the Windows
installation.
. Use a Windows NT 4.0 boot disk that also contains the Windows
XP boot files.
. If your boot partition is a basic disk that is formatted with
the FAT file system, use an MS-DOS boot disk.
b. Copy the Ntldr and Ntdetect.com files from the I386 folder on the
Windows XP CD-ROM to the root folder of your boot drive. The boot drive is
typically drive C.
If you are using MS-DOS to perform this file replacement, you may have to
remove the System attribute, the Read-only attribute, and the Hidden
attribute from the files by using the attrib command. To do this, type the
following lines at the MS-DOS command prompt, and then press ENTER after
each line:
attrib ntdetect.com -r -s -h
attrib ntldr -r -s -h
-----------------------------
If this were the case, that XP had not been formatted and you were trying to
fix it:
1) I'd use the F8 options including the 3 safe modes (I'm omitting VGA for
this purpose) to try to system restore and I would use Last Known Good if
they don't work. I say 3 because sometimes one works when another will not.
If you use safe mode command, the command for system restore is:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
2) If you have the XP CD you can go to bios setup and put booting from CD in
#1 position and then try a repair install with the CD. That's a lot faster
and has a lot more success than using the Recovery Console and any of its
commands and yep, MSKBs sometimes mis-recommend the Recovery Console. The
corrupted registry KB is one of the most notable for this.
A repair install offers you the way to get your XP back intact after
watching a 35 minute banal Microsoft commercial in setup.
Repair Install
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx
The MSKB that is a model for my approach is this one:
Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308041&Product=winxp
There is an Ntldr KB in which MSFT delivers advice to fix this using the
Recovery Console which is a considerably less relaiable and lengthy way to
fix it. But again, that is when XP is on the box giving you that error.
That would be this one and if XP is on the box, then I recommend the repair
install procedure after trying the F8 Windows Advanced Options menu as I
outlined above. That KB is this one:
You receive an "NTLDR is missing" error message when you start your computer
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320397
Good luck,
CH
I see that you headed this "clean install error" so I think you mean what
you say there but here are some options.
The important thing here is --have you formatted already? (probably)
because if XP is still on the box and getting that error you can do a repair
install booting from the XP CD. Also as often is the case on these groups,
you did not state whether you are dual booting with Vista on the box, that
this is a clean install after formatting, etc. and that information is
important.
If this is in setup on a clean install, see:
http://www.pcmech.com/show/os/722/
If you were on a dual boot with Vista then see:
Windows XP does not start on a computer that is configured for dual booting
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315233/
You may be able to do this:
. Specify another operating system on the Boot menu.
. Start from the Windows XP CD-ROM, and then at the Windows
Setup screen, press "R" to use the Recovery Console to repair the Windows
installation.
. Use a Windows NT 4.0 boot disk that also contains the Windows
XP boot files.
. If your boot partition is a basic disk that is formatted with
the FAT file system, use an MS-DOS boot disk.
b. Copy the Ntldr and Ntdetect.com files from the I386 folder on the
Windows XP CD-ROM to the root folder of your boot drive. The boot drive is
typically drive C.
If you are using MS-DOS to perform this file replacement, you may have to
remove the System attribute, the Read-only attribute, and the Hidden
attribute from the files by using the attrib command. To do this, type the
following lines at the MS-DOS command prompt, and then press ENTER after
each line:
attrib ntdetect.com -r -s -h
attrib ntldr -r -s -h
-----------------------------
If this were the case, that XP had not been formatted and you were trying to
fix it:
1) I'd use the F8 options including the 3 safe modes (I'm omitting VGA for
this purpose) to try to system restore and I would use Last Known Good if
they don't work. I say 3 because sometimes one works when another will not.
If you use safe mode command, the command for system restore is:
%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe
2) If you have the XP CD you can go to bios setup and put booting from CD in
#1 position and then try a repair install with the CD. That's a lot faster
and has a lot more success than using the Recovery Console and any of its
commands and yep, MSKBs sometimes mis-recommend the Recovery Console. The
corrupted registry KB is one of the most notable for this.
A repair install offers you the way to get your XP back intact after
watching a 35 minute banal Microsoft commercial in setup.
Repair Install
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx
The MSKB that is a model for my approach is this one:
Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308041&Product=winxp
There is an Ntldr KB in which MSFT delivers advice to fix this using the
Recovery Console which is a considerably less relaiable and lengthy way to
fix it. But again, that is when XP is on the box giving you that error.
That would be this one and if XP is on the box, then I recommend the repair
install procedure after trying the F8 Windows Advanced Options menu as I
outlined above. That KB is this one:
You receive an "NTLDR is missing" error message when you start your computer
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320397
Good luck,
CH