When I turn on my computer the screen is blank and says NTLDR is missing.....press any key. I have been told that the start-up part of the operating system software has been damaged. Can anyone suggest how and if a computer dummy like myself can fix it without losing any information that is saved on my computer? Please...! Tom

This should get in, but not fix: HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305595 -------------------- How to make a boot.ini file: Open NOTEPAD, then copy the required text from the article, then SAVE AS... name file as BOOT.INI save boot.ini onto a BLANK floppy.

Great tip Chuck but you need NTLDR to make the disk!

NTLDR stands for "NT Loader". it is a second level boot device, and you cant basically start without it. However, you can download the six floppy disks from the Microsoft website for XP Home install, and, with the "floppy" as the first boot device in BIOS (this is default, so if you have not played with BIOS, it is already set), insert the first disk and start the computer. Follow the instructions until the point it switched to the cd rom (yes, you have to haev xp home in the cd drive), and detects that there is already an installation present in drive c. You can either install new verion, or make a "repair". Repair it, and it shoudl reload NTLDR, otherwise you might have to go through the unfortunate process of reinstalling XP.

Boot to the repair console with your XP CD in the drive... 1. Copy X:\i386\NTLDR C: (X is your CD ROM drive) 2. Copy X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C: