NTLDR is missing (Any help appreciated)

Hi all,
Ok I've had this desktop a while now running on Win xp no problems, Until I was watching a Dvd on it the other day and my electric went off. When I rebooted I got the NTLDR is missing message press Ctrl Alt Del!

Nothing I do have restore discs to factory settings but the same disc will not give an option to repair.

I took out the Hd and hooked it up to another pc I have and couldnt identify any problem.

I do have a copy of Win xp with gives the option to repair which would be ideal only I have forgotten the Admin password. Any way around this would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

Have you tried pressing F8 for the boot options menu, and using 'Last Known Good Configuration'? It probably won't work, but it's worth a try. Read this stuff and see if it helps:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320397/en-us
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555304/en-us
http://icrontic.com/articles/repair_windows_xp

That statement and the following statement don't make sense....

How could you be running XP with no problems if you don't have the admin password? How would you login unless you were using a limited account? If you weren't on a limited account, you should be able to enter the recovery console without the password, or you can use a utility to reset the password. You should be able to perform a safe reload of the OS to get back to your login screen....

 

You can download some software which allows you to make a bootable floppy or CD which should get your windows installation to boot.

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

 

Ok I tried f8 with no joy although i can access boot menu throught esc but im unsure if thids is what you mean?

Ok before the problem occured each time the pc was turned on I entered my username and password to gain access to all areas. After this problem has occured for some reason that very same password is being denied! work that out it isnt the statement that dosn't make sense but the situation.

 

I tried that doing it the USb route but to no avail. Thanks

 

Unsure if I'm going to have any joy but I will read through all the links suggested!

If all else fails is there any free software available that I can use to gain access to the info I require? Idealy "my documents" I dont have my Holiday pics backed up and i'd prefer not to lose them if possible. Thanks

 

do you have a floppy drive? i fixed this about 2-3 mos ago on a friends comp that died on me, during massive malware removal. check out this thread, it talks alot about ntldr (this is where i got my info from). also, make sure you change your boot order to boot from whatever device 1st, then your h/d. g/l, sos

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=140815


(below was extracted and edited from the link above)

 

is your comp a laptop or desktop (i didn't notice if you said). either way, you should be able to take your h/d out, insert it into another comp (or external h/d enclosure), and access your data. of course make sure you have your jumper settings correct. if you have your comp setup for passwords, then you will probably need this link. i've also used this myself. g/l, sos

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421/en-us <-- How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP

 

Hi sosamanm,
Its a desktop I do have a floppy and I also have a working desktop I wil try doing this via floppy thanks.

i did take the hd out and have it set on cable select it was obviously selected as slave as the hd for the other pc is running the Os but it wouldnt allow me access to my documents!

 

what did it do? did you get an error message (access denied), or what? if so, as i mentioned, you might need to use the link i provided to grant access (how to take ownership). anyway, more info plz. - sos

also, you might want to save the old files (just in case), or rename them if possible, before replacing them from the floppy. i didn't need to, but just in case.

 

Do you have a 3.5 floppy in the drive? Do you have a DVD in the drive? Basically, this error can come from windows trying to boot from something it thinks is a bootable device (i.e. DVD Rom or Floppy) but will not be able to boot from them. Make sure you remove all media from any external drives that you have connected to the computer.

 

Thanks for everybody's suggestions and time!
I have resolved my problem, It was a problem that occured due to me moving a couple of files into a folder including the NTLDR. I found this out by simply hooking up the Hd to my other pc and doing a search for NTLDR when It came up showing a file called random the penny dropped!

 

lol, well glad you got it fixed!! - sos

 

This is good to hear!

Good troubleshooting steps you took to find the problem.

 

If the OP would have mentioned that he had moved some files around in one of the first posts, we probably could have solved this MUCH sooner.
I'm glad all is well :cool Nice job!