Whenever I attempt to start up, I get the message that NTLDR is missing.

Whenever I attempt to start up, I get the message that "NTLDR is missing. Press any key to restart." There is no disk in either the FDD or CD-ROM, but the hard disk is accessible if I boot from a rescue disk in either drive. Any ideas on cause, or prefferably, a solution.

This question was answered on October 29, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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Repair your installation of Windows

Place the Windows 2000 CD in the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

If the Windows CD displays the What would you like to do? menu, click Exit

Turn off your computer, wait ten seconds, and then turn your computer back on

If you are prompted to start your computer from the CD, do so

After Windows 2000 Setup starts, press ENTER to continue the setup process

Press ENTER to choose the option To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER Do not choose the Recovery Console option

Press F8 to accept the licensing agreement

At this point, the Setup program will search for previous installations of Windows XP If Setup does not find a previous installation of Windows XP, then you might have a hardware failure Click No, I still have a problem when I try to start Windows below, and then click Next to continue troubleshooting

If Setup does find a previous installation of Windows XP, then the following message will appear:

" If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, setup can try to repair it.

Use the up and down arrows to select an installation.

To repair the selected installation Press R.

To continue without repairing, Press Esc."

Choose the appropriate installation of Windows XP, and then press R to attempt to repair it

Follow the remaining directions on your screen

Notes

You might need to change the boot drive sequence in your BIOS settings in order to successfully start your computer from the Windows CD Contact the manufacturer of your computer, or see your manufacturer's documentation, for more information

If you are unable to start your computer from the Windows 2000 CD, then you might have a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive failure or other hardware failure

About the author

Posted by gilbert of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on October 29, 2004

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