need to figure this one out, its affecting my computer repair business, as bad as that sounds. All guides online i have found have gone through great directions about fixing it via a windows install disc, however i get the error before i even get the option to boot from cd/dvd. I have tried using xp home, pro, mce, vista, was well as ubuntu. ubuntu will not even boot up into live mode, i get the ntldr missing error before the bios is even done starting :( HELP!

You are in the computer repair business? I guess you mean the POST screens. The BIOS is where settings can be changed. Getting there requires keystrokes. That error means that the computer IS trying to access the OS. If the boot order doesn't include the CD drive BEFORE the hard drive you aren't going to get a screen asking about booting to the CD. I think you need to get more training before charging customers to repair their computers.

well thx for the input, ive only been repairing computers for a couple months now, and so far have a 100% sucess rate. sorry that im self taught and dont kno perfect terminoligy. the bios is configured correctly to boot from network, then cd, then usb, then HDD. ive ripped xp pro to a 16gb usb flash drive, and nothing, and it refuses to get past the post screen far enough to read from cd or usb. ive reset the bios, and am going to make an attempt at linux recovery cd.

You are installing XP legally I hope... Otherwise you're gonna have a lot of angry customers (and a few unfriendly knocks at the door) when they need to download updates...

"the bios is configured correctly to boot from network, then cd, then usb, then HDD." Configure bios to boot first from the CD....

T-R-A - Yes i personally own a xp pro, home, vista 64bit and as well as the hp restore disc's for mce 2005. because home and vista are currently being used, im only left with well the pro and mce, hence why im trying either. Valerie (by Garibaldi) - I have tried that, i had originally tried the network idea because before i knew what the error meant, i thought the disc didnt have enough time to spin.

This came from Microsoft using Recovery Console: "Method 2: Use the Recovery Console," of this article: copy drive:\i386\ntldr c:\ copy drive:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\ If you are prompted to overwrite the file, type y, and then press ENTER. type c:\Boot.ini A list similar to the following list appears: [boot loader] timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT Personal Note: After you finish copying NTLDR and NTDETECT, use the commands fixmbr and fixboot