NTLDR missing problem (and a little more)

**Leathers** · 07-13-2005, 05:10 PM

I just started having this problem with my computer last night, and I'm beginning to wonder if the machine has something in for me here.

Here goes: Last night I was working on the computer when all of a sudden it just rebooted. Its done that every now and again for no specific reason, my anti-virus, firewall, spyware detector softwares are all current and up to date, but every now and again it may freeze, or reboot without warning, which can be annoying but I accept it as being part of working with Windoze OS. This was a little different, for when it went through the bootup process, it took a bit longer as it went past the BIOS screen and then into the next screen.

At this point I got the message NTLDR missing, Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot. I scooted over to my wife's computer to look up the problem, went to the Microsoft website to print out a 'fix' but when I tried it, it didn't work. It was getting late and I had to be into work the next morning rather early, so I shut off the computer, intending to work on it more the next day when I had time.

I got up for work, turned on the computer just for the heck of it and it booted just fine, as if the motherboard or perhaps the chipset was overheating and it just needed to be cooled down, or something as equally bizarre. I left the computer on and went to work, when I came home again it was working just fine, but a few hours later it gave me a blue screen, said it was 'dumping the physical memory' and rebooted, giving me the same NTLDR error message.

Having had good luck (or just plain dumb luck) with the 'turn it off' trick, I did that again, went upstairs to use the older computer I keep around for a workstation, and just let things cool off for a few hours. Sure enough, when I went downstairs 3 hours later, turned it on, it ran through CHKDSK but it booted just fine.

Having not had a decent backup in about 2 weeks I opted then and there to run one, hoping that I could get it finished before it crashed again....no such luck, about 20 mins ago it froze and rebooted...NTLDR is missing again.

Any thoughts on what's going on here?

Tumbleweed36 · 07-13-2005, 08:02 PM

Hi,

That can be a tricky one, but this usually works to fix it:

If you get an error that NTLDR is not found during bootup,

If you have a FAT32 partition, it is much simpler than with NTFS.
Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files
from the i386 directory to the root of the C:\ drive.

For NTFS:

Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
Typically this will be #1
Enter in the administrator password when requested
Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive.
COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\:
COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\
Take out the CD ROM and type exit

**Leathers** · 07-13-2005, 08:37 PM

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

Couple of things, but it might be the same for both OSs and not going to be a problem.

I'm not using XP, this is for Win2000 Pro, and the times that I tried using the R=Repair option, the program never once asked me for the Administrator password, nor did it ask for a location of Windows to repair (since I'm not using a dual boot perhaps it presumed the default was indeed the default?)

I had offloaded from the C: drive when the computer was working the second time the files

NTLDR and
NTDETECT.COM as well as
BOOT.INI,

tried to load them in using the C=Console option and upon reboot was told that another file was missing (ntoskrnl.exe) and it wasn't able to boot correctly. Perhaps I need the 'original' files from the CD?

I will make the attempt again with this information, but if there's anything else you can think of for me to try, feel free to let me know.

Thanks again.

Tumbleweed36 · 07-13-2005, 08:58 PM

Hi,

I saw DAI on here gave this advice a while ago that might make more sense to you. I think it does the same thing, but might be more down to earth in the explanation:

NTLDR missing Quoted from dai on forum

Press R to run RECOVERY CONSOLE.

Press 1 to select the Operating System to boot from and press enter.
(If you are asked for an ADMIN PASSWORD just press enter)

Type 'copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\' <Enter>
Type 'copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\' <Enter>
Type 'Exit'<Enter>

07-13-2005, 05:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
Leathers I helped the forums. Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 23 OS: WinXP Pro SP2	NTLDR missing problem (and a little more) I just started having this problem with my computer last night, and I'm beginning to wonder if the machine has something in for me here. Here goes: Last night I was working on the computer when all of a sudden it just rebooted. Its done that every now and again for no specific reason, my anti-virus, firewall, spyware detector softwares are all current and up to date, but every now and again it may freeze, or reboot without warning, which can be annoying but I accept it as being part of working with Windoze OS. This was a little different, for when it went through the bootup process, it took a bit longer as it went past the BIOS screen and then into the next screen. At this point I got the message NTLDR missing, Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot. I scooted over to my wife's computer to look up the problem, went to the Microsoft website to print out a 'fix' but when I tried it, it didn't work. It was getting late and I had to be into work the next morning rather early, so I shut off the computer, intending to work on it more the next day when I had time. I got up for work, turned on the computer just for the heck of it and it booted just fine, as if the motherboard or perhaps the chipset was overheating and it just needed to be cooled down, or something as equally bizarre. I left the computer on and went to work, when I came home again it was working just fine, but a few hours later it gave me a blue screen, said it was 'dumping the physical memory' and rebooted, giving me the same NTLDR error message. Having had good luck (or just plain dumb luck) with the 'turn it off' trick, I did that again, went upstairs to use the older computer I keep around for a workstation, and just let things cool off for a few hours. Sure enough, when I went downstairs 3 hours later, turned it on, it ran through CHKDSK but it booted just fine. Having not had a decent backup in about 2 weeks I opted then and there to run one, hoping that I could get it finished before it crashed again....no such luck, about 20 mins ago it froze and rebooted...NTLDR is missing again. Any thoughts on what's going on here?

07-13-2005, 08:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 14,090 OS: XP Professional	Hi, That can be a tricky one, but this usually works to fix it: If you get an error that NTLDR is not found during bootup, If you have a FAT32 partition, it is much simpler than with NTFS. Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files from the i386 directory to the root of the C:\ drive. For NTFS: Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD. At the first R=Repair option, press the R key Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair. Typically this will be #1 Enter in the administrator password when requested Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive. COPY X:\i386\NTLDR C\: COPY X:\i386\NTDETECT.COM C:\ Take out the CD ROM and type exit

07-13-2005, 08:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
Leathers I helped the forums. Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 23 OS: WinXP Pro SP2	Hi, thanks for the quick reply. Couple of things, but it might be the same for both OSs and not going to be a problem. I'm not using XP, this is for Win2000 Pro, and the times that I tried using the R=Repair option, the program never once asked me for the Administrator password, nor did it ask for a location of Windows to repair (since I'm not using a dual boot perhaps it presumed the default was indeed the default?) I had offloaded from the C: drive when the computer was working the second time the files NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM as well as BOOT.INI, tried to load them in using the C=Console option and upon reboot was told that another file was missing (ntoskrnl.exe) and it wasn't able to boot correctly. Perhaps I need the 'original' files from the CD? I will make the attempt again with this information, but if there's anything else you can think of for me to try, feel free to let me know. Thanks again.

07-13-2005, 08:58 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 14,090 OS: XP Professional	Hi, I saw DAI on here gave this advice a while ago that might make more sense to you. I think it does the same thing, but might be more down to earth in the explanation: NTLDR missing Quoted from dai on forum Press R to run RECOVERY CONSOLE. Press 1 to select the Operating System to boot from and press enter. (If you are asked for an ADMIN PASSWORD just press enter) Type 'copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\' <Enter> Type 'copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\' <Enter> Type 'Exit'<Enter>