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NTLDR is Missing

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Name: Jake Mckenzie
Date: June 14, 2002 at 17:29:37 Pacific
Comment:

Hi,
Ive got a big problem here is the story...
I Installed a clean install of windows XP on a computer and it worked then a couple days later... i shut down the computer installed a sound card (physically) turned the computer back on and it gave me the;
NTLDR is missing
press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to restart error message

Here are some of the things i have tried to fix the problem with:
1) Boot from XP cd then R and the Fixboot prog
2) Boot from XP cd then R and copying NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM to C:\
3) Resetting Bios to stock settings

Extra info:
i took the Sound card out and all the things listed above were done without the sound card in the computer.
and no ... there isnt a floppy in the drive
Please help me!
Thanks, jake



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Response Number 1
Name: jake Mckenzie
Date: June 14, 2002 at 19:02:22 Pacific
Reply:

someone please... i really need to get this computer working any imput is greatly appriciated!


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Response Number 2
Name: xpadvisor
Date: June 14, 2002 at 20:57:36 Pacific
Reply:

Try thi sQ article from Microsoft

"NTLDR Is Missing" Error Message When You Upgrade or Install Windows XP Over Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition (Q314057)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

For a Microsoft Windows 2000 version of this article, see Q255220 .

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to install Windows XP or to upgrade to Windows XP on a computer that runs Microsoft


Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), you may receive the following error message after the first restart during the installation process:

NTLDR is missing
Press any key to restart

This behavior occurs only if Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me is installed on a large-capacity drive that uses the FAT32 file system.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if your existing Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me installation was cloned
and then applied to a drive that has a different geometry from that of the source drive of the cloned copy.

One possible scenario is as follows: You are running Windows 98 on a 4-gigabyte (GB) drive. After you upgrade, for example to a 30-GB hard disk, you use a third-party disk-imaging utility to make a mirror image of your Windows 98 installation and apply the image to the new drive. At a later time, you then upgrade to Windows XP, installing Windows XP over the cloned image of Windows 98.

For this behavior to occur, the following conditions must exist:

The system/boot partition is formatted with the FAT32 file system.

The computer boots by using INT-13 extensions (a partition larger than 7.8 gigabytes with a System-ID type of 0C in

the partition table).

Because of the cloning procedure, the Heads (sides) value in the FAT32 BIOS Parameter Block (BPB) does not match

the geometry of the physical drive.

The Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code ignores the Heads value in the BPB and starts

those programs even though the value is invalid. However, the boot code in Windows 2000 and Windows XP needs this value, and the boot process does not succeed if the value is invalid.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, correct the invalid Heads (sides) value in the FAT32 BPB to enable the Windows
XP boot process to continue. The easiest way to update the field is to rewrite the Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code by using the following procedure:

Restart the computer by using a Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me startup disk that contains the Sys.com file (this file is included by default).

Make a backup copy of the msdos.sys file in the root directory of your system drive. To do this, type the following

commands from the command prompt:

attrib -h -r -s c:\msdos.sys


rename msdos.sys *.ysy

At a command prompt, type sys c: . This command rewrites the Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code with accurate BPB information. If this command runs successfully, skip to step 4.

If you are using a Windows Me startup disk and you receive an error message, "Cannot find the system file in the standard locations on drive C:", one or more files in the Windows Me installation have been removed. Use the following steps to place the correct files on the drive so that the sys command can locate them:

Start a command prompt by using the following commands (that is, type the commands and press ENTER after

each command):

c:


cd\windows

If Windows is installed in a folder other than the Windows folder, adjust the commands accordingly.

Try to switch to the Command folder by using the following command:

cd command

If an error message indicates that the path is not found, use the following command to create the Command

folder, and then run cd command again:

md command

Switch to the EBD folder by using the following command:

cd ebd

If an error message indicates that the path is not found, use the following command to create the EBD folder,

and then repeat the cd ebd command:

md ebd

In the EBD folder, use the following commands to copy the Io.sys file from the root of the hard drive and to

rename the Io.sys file as Winboot.sys:

attrib -s -h -r c:\io.sys


copy c:\io.sys winboot.sys

Winboot.sys is the file that Sys.com needs.

Switch back to drive A, and then run the following commands:

a:


sys c:

Type the following commands, and press ENTER after each command, to restore the original msdos.sys:

attrib -s -h -r c:\msdos.sys
copy c:\msdos.ysy c:\msdos.sys

Press Y to overwrite the existing MSDOS.SYS file. You should receive a "1 FILE(S) COPIED" verification that the file was overwritten.

Restart the computer to Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me, and then try the Windows XP installation or

upgrade procedure again.

NOTE : Alternatively, after you run the sys c: command, you can boot to the Recovery Console, and then use the fixboot command to rewrite the Windows XP boot code. This procedure enables the original installation to proceed typically.



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Response Number 3
Name: Jme
Date: June 15, 2002 at 19:38:38 Pacific
Reply:

yeah that almost works, try ranish partion manager, and reset your mbr,master boot record, xp messes it up and that is why you get the error. i had that problem and fixed it that way on my machine and on others


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