NTLDR is missing

Discussion in 'Software' started by ichase, May 28, 2010.

  1. ichase

    ichase Corporal

    1st things 1st. I did go through each of the 6 threads covering this and did not see one particular mention.
    My wife's desktop is having this same problem when booting up. I just re-boot, go into the BIOS, select the HD manually and it goes into Windows with no problem and she is happy. I even wrote her detailed instructions on how to do this. So in a nut shell this is more of an anoyance than anything else. But being the intuitive individual that I am, I want to fix it. The common fix to this seems to be utilizing the WIN XP disk to copy the NTLDR file. Problem is, her computer never came with disk. When she first got the computer, I called COMPAQ and they stated they don't supply OS disk with the computers any more BUT I could BUY some (OF COURSE I CAN). So with this being said, is there a way to get a copy of this file, put it on a bootable CD WITHOUT having the OS disks?
    Thank you in advance for all of your help. :)
     
  2. collinsl

    collinsl MajorGeek

    Does this computer have more than one hard drive? If not, the computer should not boot at all without NTLDR. This suggests to me that you have 2 hard drives in the system and that the boot drive does not have the OS on it, and it used to have one so it is attempting to reference itself, where there is no OS, but the drive with the OS has a boot sector on it and when you use the boot drive selector it loads the correct drive.
     
  3. shnerdly

    shnerdly MajorGeek

    Collinsl is correct that the computer could not boot at all without the NTLDR. When you say your going to the bios to select the drive, are you actually going into the bios or just pressing something like f12 to select the boot device. If the later is true, you need to go into the bios and assign the proper drive as the first boot device and save the change.

    As far as an OS disk from Compaq, I could be wrong, but I am fairly sure they are obligated to provide the OS on a CD if you request it as long as you are the original purchaser of the computer. Without that disk, you could not retain the OS you paid for if the hard drive fails.
     
  4. ichase

    ichase Corporal

    I thought the same thing shnerdly, but I was dealing with an individual in India and well......You know how that goes.
    Any way, this computer is a COMPAQ Presario desk top. Approx. 5 years old. I had plans when the computer crashed a year ago to put another drive on it but I ended up putting a 500 GB external attached to the computer as well as adding more memory and a video card because I bought her a nice 19 inch flat screen monitor. The computer runs A LOT better than it did before she did what ever it was that she did.
    So, to answer your question, NO, it only has one drive partitioned. It's strange, when I do go into the "Boot" menu my hitting "ESC" on boot up, the Samsung drive is the first bootable drive. But actually going in and highlighting it, and getting out of the "Boot menu" allows the OS to start up as advertised.
     
  5. shnerdly

    shnerdly MajorGeek

    Do you have the external 500G drive attached and on at boot? If so, it may be looking at that first depending on the boot options in the bios.
     
  6. ichase

    ichase Corporal

    I don't believe I do but don't quote me on that. I will have to look this evening. I do know that the SAMSUNG internal HD is first on the list of boot options. I have read A LOT about this error but must admit, I have not seen where anyone else was able to go to the boot menu, manually select the drive and enter the OS with out a problem. As mentioned in my original post, this is more of an inconveinece than anything else. Most of the time my wife Hybernates her machine and re-boots once a week.
     
  7. collinsl

    collinsl MajorGeek

    It may be top of the hard drive boot list, but is "Hard drives" at the top of the all devices boot list?
     
  8. ichase

    ichase Corporal

    You know Collinsl, I can't answer that question honestly right at the moment and I won't be helping matters any by assuming anything. LOL
    I will take a look at it this evening when I get home. So in the mean time, we will keep this post on hold until I can get you an accurate answer.
    Thanks for all of your help. :)
     
  9. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    An additional thought: the computer is 5 years old so the battery might be weak. You change the setting in the BIOS and it works but when the computer is turned off, it "forgets" the setting. This point to a CMOS battery needing to be replaced because the computer reverts to default settings and not what you selected.
     
  10. hrlow2

    hrlow2 MajorGeek

    Would be sweet if the CMOS was the cause.
    One of the easiest and cheapest repairs possible.
    5 years old is probably about due,anyway, so wouldn't hurt to change as insurance.
     
  11. ichase

    ichase Corporal

    I wanted to re-visit this now that I finally had the opportunity to get on my wife's computer. collinsl, to answer your question, yes "Hard drive" is at the top of the all device boot list. I was kinda expecting at first that it was not but sure enough I was just in the BIOS and confirmed that it was.
    I like the idea of changing the CMOS battery. But let me ask a question, I have always been told the 1st indication of a CMOS battery becoming weak is the clock on the bottom right of the screen becoming off. (not keeping correct time) I wanted to get into the computer today and vacuum it out (yes, I have a electronics vacuum cleaner) and pull the battery but wifey says she needs her computer. :-D
    So with all this being said, could this problem being anything else? Thanks in advance for your comments. :)
     
  12. tunered

    tunered MajorGeek

    All of the above posts are right on about the hard drives, Disable boot from usb in bios and your problem will go away. ed
     
  13. tunered

    tunered MajorGeek

    Something else, if that Compaq is not older thsn 6 years it will have a restore partition on the drive. ed
     
  14. sharcs

    sharcs Private E-2

    Firstly, I'd like to point out that when you select the boot device at the comp start up - the display order doesn't represent the boot of order - its always the same no matter what the startup order set to on the bios - at least it is all the mobos I've had.

    Secondly, NTLDR problems are almost always caused by the computer booting from from unbootable drives. Aint too sure about partitions coz I don't use em, I like being physically able to associate drive letters with actual drives.

    That said, I've had this problems plenty of times with windows XP and ive never found a legit solution for it. I fix it by messin with my hardware booting combinations, I.e. I unplug drive 2 and leave drive 1, start it - if it dont start I try confusing it with the drive that I kno dont work and start it... etc. I keep this up with any and all drive combinations till somewhere down the line it's forced to boot off the proper drive. Once that happens just make sure you shut it down properly then plug everything back in and ur good to go.

    Just make sure you properly switch off and discharge static before switching combinations to prevent damage.

    I know its a lil weird but its always worked for me. Hit me up when you find a proper solution.

    NB: I usually do all this with the DVDROM unplugged to to be safe.
     
  15. ichase

    ichase Corporal

    Thanks tunered and sharcs for the advice. My wife does not like for me to mess with her computer when she feels it's running good. Funny thing is, as soon as something starts going wrong who is the first person she calls upon. :-D
    Once I can get my hands on it, I will definitely follow your advice. Like mentioned on my first post, this is more of an inconvience than anything else but want to fix it so that in the future if I run into this problem with mine or someone else's computer, I will have the fix filed away.

    I will keep all posted on what I find.

    Thanks again. :)
     

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