[polperro]

I'm getting the dreaded "NTLDR is missing" error message after putting a new hard drive on my PC.
I've read some of the threads about this problem, but none of the answers that I've seen help me.
The hard drive is a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, and is the only hard drive in the PC. I have used Seagate's DriveWizard to set the HD up, but get the "NTLDR is missing" message when the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears. When I press a key to boot from CD, nothing happens. It's as if the keyboard doesn't work, even though I can get into the bios using the USB keyboard. I don't have a floppy drive. The DVD writer is set to be the first boot device in the BIOS. It seems to me as if the keyboard stops working as soon as the DVD drive is accessed.
I've just finished writing the whole HD with zeroes using Seagate's Drive Wizard, but the "NTLDR is missing" still appears.
So if anyone can help me get this working I'd be very grateful. If you need more information, just ask.
Thanks.

 

[robert diggs]

Hey,

I'm confused, you say you've written the whole drive with 0's, yet you still receive the error? Personally, I've never been a big fan of the manufacturers wizards that come on CD, I've never found any use for them. You never mentioned that you put on an operating system, have you? Try formatting the drive with Win XP (or the OS of your choice) and installing it. See what luck you have there. If you have installed one, here's a fix for you... this is a quote from another thread I helped a guy on...

The NTLDR is missing and you'll need to replace from the recovery console. You'll need your XP disc and you'll have to put a couple of commands in to replace it. Just so you know, the NTLDR is the Windows bootloader. Whip out your XP disc and boot from the CD drive. Get into the recovery console and wait for the command prompt. We're going to assume the the d:\ is your cdrom and that the c:\ is your system drive. Use these commands:
1. copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\ 2. copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
Make sure that there is a space between the file and the drive you're copying to. Otherwise it will not work. In the command prompt, there will be no indication that it did something. Wait 5 seconds or so after inputing the command and then do the second one.

Regards,

Brandon

 

[polperro]

Hi, and thanks for answering.
Yeah, I wrote the whole drive with 0's - it took all night!
The problem is that I can't get to the point where I am installing XP. The keyboard works up to the point when the "Press any key to boot from CD" message appears, but when I try to press a key I get the "NTLDR is missing" message. It's like the keyboard stops working at that point.

 

[robert diggs]

Hey,

I really, really don't like the drive wizards that come with HDD manufacturers. Do what you can to bring your HDD to somebody that has a floppy drive, or purchase one and put it in. You should be able to pick up one for $20. if you don't know how to install, it's extremely easy. You can find a guide online if you're unsure. You just have to connect two cables. When you do find some way to obtain a floppy drive, create a bootable diskette from a Win XP system. Once that is done, reboot and boot from the diskette and format the c:\ drive. After that is done, change your boot order to boot from the CD and stick the CD in and you should be able to boot from it and have it work.

Regards,

Brandon

 

[Jester357]

I realize this is really old but i want to let those who have a usb keyboard that wont work when you get to the "NTLDR screen". If your keyboard is not working at this point, you need to go into the BIOS assuming that it is working then and change the USB keyboard from OS to BIOS, that enables it to work beyond the BIOS menu. I had that problem for days and could not figure it out. Hope that helps anyone.

 

[ThorXP]

Welcome to TSF....

Here try this:

How to fix: NTLDR is missing, press any key to restart

http://tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm

 

[mack1]

Hi polperro and welcome to TSF:wave:

It sounds like the XP cd in the DVD drive isn't being recognized. When you get the NTLDR missing message, it means that the computer bypassed the XP cd and went to the HardDrive looking for windows.

Does your DVD drive try to run when you tell it to boot from CD?
If you want to, you can go back into the BIOS and make all the selections to boot from the DVD. That will stop the NTLDR message from showing up and you can consentrate on the DVD access problem. Be sure the XP CD is an instillation type, not a recovery type. The face of the CD should have a holigraphic look about it. If you can get XP to install, it will put the NTLDR on the harddrive, along with everything else.

Hope this helps,
Mack1