Topic: NTLDR is missing

[korrnykid]

how do i fix this? wont let me boot? how do i set it to read my A: drive before my C:...

[Simon]

Hi Korrnykid,

I found this and copied it, so I hope it's correct:

Issue:

NTLDR is Missing.

Additional Information:

From the Computer Hope Dictionary:

    Short for NT loader, NTLDR is a program loaded from the hard drive boot sector that displays the Microsoft Windows NT startup menu and helps Microsoft Windows NT load.

Cause:

   1. Systems hard disk drive has FAT32 file system.
   2. Computer hard disk drive has INT-13 extensions with a system-ID type of 0C in the partition table
   3. The heads value in the FAT32 BIOS Pattern Block (BPB) is inaccurate.

Solutions:

To resolve the error message "NTLDR is Missing" follow the below steps:

       1. Boot the computer with a Windows 95 or Windows 98 Startup diskette or another bootable diskette with sys.com on it.
       2. At the A:\> prompt type:

          sys c: <press enter>

       3. After pressing enter you should receive the prompt "System Transferred". Once the file system has been transferred reboot the computer without the diskette and attempt to reproduce the error.


I don't think that would format your drive, but you might want to hang on for one of our Techies to confirm that the above is correct, before you go ahead.

I'll have to close your other two threads, as we find that duplicate posts of the same problem can cause confusion, but I realise you just wanted your problem solved.  

[Dack]

Also you will need to get into your bios and change the boot order so that the A drive is checked before the C drive.

Depending on the bios on the motherboard there may be several ways of achieving this - usually you press the delete key when the machine is booting up to enter the bios. (Or whatever key is mentioned on the screen - F1 is another popular choice)

Then in "Advanced setup" you'll find a bit about "Boot Sequence". Again depending on the bios there will be different messages here. Some of the most common are "C,D,E,ZIP,A" etc. which you should change to "A,C,D" (the text will not exactly be that but similar). Another type is that there are 4 entries detailing 1st to 4th boot device - you will need to change these so that "floppy" (or A) is the first boot device and IDE-0 (or C) is the second.

After booting from the floppy you may want to try a "FDISK /MBR" first as this will try and fix a damaged master boot record. The problem with using the method Simon suggested is that the Windows 9x boot disc will not recognise an NTFS disc and not allow you to transfer the system.

The question now is why did it get corrupted.

[Simon]

Some more information here, which may be useful:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;318728&

[lobo]

@Korrnykid,
This article deals with the problem and how to fix it.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;119467

You may be able to use a Windows bootable disk to start the operating system on a computer running Windows NT or Windows 2000. Use the procedures in this article to work around the following boot problems:
Damaged boot sector
Damaged master boot record (MBR)
Virus infections
Missing or damaged Ntldr or Ntdetect.com files
Incorrect Ntbootdd.sys driver
To boot from the shadow of a broken mirror

Note that you may have to modify the Boot.ini file to do this.

Brian