Tech Support Me

I know a few of you have contacted me regarding  reciving a NTLDR  error so I thought I would trouble shoot this one for you a bit.

Known Errors

Below are the full error messages that may be seen when the computer is booting.

NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart

Boot: Couldn’t find NTLDR
Please insert another disk

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl Alt Del to Restart

Why is it happining?

1. Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
2. Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
3. Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
4. New hard disk drive being added.
5. Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
6. Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
7. Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
8. Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.

Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
Verify the computer hard disk drive cable is firmly connected by disconnected and reconnecting the cable.

If the issue continues it is also a possibility that the computer has a faulty cable, try replacing the hard disk drive cable with another cable and/or a new cable.

Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
We would recommend you reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

If you are encountering this issue during your setup you may wish to completely erase your computer hard disk drive and all of its existing data and then install Microsoft Windows 2000 / Windows XP.

Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
It’s possible your computer’s hard disk drive may have a corrupt boot sector and/or master boot record. These can be repaired through the Microsoft Windows Recovery console by running the fixboot and fixmbr commands.

 You can access the console by booting from the windows setup CD and choosing R to access the recovery console.

New hard disk drive being added.
If you are attempting to add a new hard disk drive to the computer make sure that drive is a blank drive. Adding a new hard disk drive to a computer that already has Windows installed on it may cause the NTLDR error to occur.

Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
Edit the boot.ini on the root directory of the hard disk drive and verify that it is pointing to the correct location of your Windows operating system and that the partitions are properly defined.

Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
If your computer is using Microsoft Windows 2000 and you are encountering the NTLDR error. Create the below boot.ini file on the floppy diskette drive.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT=”Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional” /fastdetect

Copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from another computer using the same operating system. Both of these files are located in the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. For example, C:\NTLDR and C:\NTDETECT.COM should be the locations of these files on many computers.

Please keep in mind that these files are hidden system files.

Once these files have been copied to a floppy diskette reboot the computer and copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files to the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. Below is an example of what commonly should be performed from the A:\> drive.

copy ntldr c:
copy ntdetect.com c:

After the above two files have been copied, remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer.

Windows XP users

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the “R” key to repair Windows.

1. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the “1″ key and pressing enter.
2. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
3. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter, which in this case is “e.” This letter may be different on your computer.

   copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
   copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

4. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
Many times this error is caused when the computer is attempting to boot from a non-bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM. First verify that no floppy diskette is in the computer, unless you are attempting to boot from a diskette.

If you are attempting to boot from a floppy diskette and are receiving this error message it is likely that the diskette does not have all the necessary files and/or is corrupt.

If you are attempting to install Windows XP or Windows 2000 and are receiving this error message as the computer is booting verify that your computer BIOS has the proper boot settings. For example, if you are attempting to run the install from the CD-ROM make sure the CD-ROM is the first boot device, and not the hard disk drive.

Second, when the computer is booting you should receive the below prompt. 

Press any key to boot from the CD

Important: When you see this message press any key such as the Enter key immediately, otherwise it will try booting from the hard drive and likely get the NTLDR error again.

Note: If you are not receiving the above message and your BIOS boot options are set properly it’s also possible that your CD-ROM drive may not be booting from the CD-ROM properly. Verify the jumpers are set properly on the CD-ROM drive.

Also this error has also been known to occur when a memory stick is in a card reader and the computer is attempting to boot from it. If you have any type of card reader or flash reader make sure that no memory stick is inside the computer.  

Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
Verify that your computer hard disk drive is properly setup in the BIOS / CMOS setup. Improper settings can cause this error.