NTLDR is missing

im trying to reinstall windows on an older computer and im getting this message "ntldr is missing"
ive read up on it, it tells me that i need to make a bootable diskette and at the A:\ prompt i need to type
sys c: and then press enter.....but the problem is i dont have any floppy drives on my comps. is there
another way that i can get this done?

 

Maybe these will help:
http://tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320397/en-us (does not apply to SP2)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555304/en-us
http://icrontic.com/articles/repair_windows_xp

Good luck!
:major
[dlb]

 

if your nmotherboard compatiable for floppy install it temporarily and copy file ntldr to it. save floppy and put in older comp. in dos prompt. will work.

 

i have no access to a floppy drive ........ive tried all the websites that dlb has posted..my biggest problem is, is that there is no OS on the hard drive so i cant use my windows cd to repair, it doesnt give me that option. I did find a way to create an ISO to repair the problem ........it gives me 10 options ive tried all 10 still no luck. i put the HD in another comp and put windows on it , so i know the HD is good, ive also switched out ribbons and cables, removed the new cd-rom, and took out the new ram that i installed........everything is back to specs.......i tried deleting the partition and creating a new 1......theres still another partition still on there that i cant delete , its the recovery ......i made sure that i put the new OS on the right partition....i think im gonna go bananas.....there has to be a way to get this thing back to normal......plz help

 

not all hard drives with xp will work on older computers, need to find a hard drive that will work on that computer.so it would be a cmpatiable xp hard drive for that computer.

 

If the HD works on a different PC, why not use that PC to completely erase all the partitions? Or download a utility from your drive manufacturer's web site to wipe the drive or to perform a low level format. You could also use something like Darik's Boot and Nuke which is a bootable utility for wiping drives http://www.majorgeeks.com/Dariks_Boot_and_Nuke_d4596.html You can download a CD version of it from the author's web site (here http://dban.sourceforge.net/).

 

dlb ive downloaded Darik's program i'll burn the ISO and run it w/ the HD in a diff comp, ill let u know inna few how that turned out........thx

 

ok heres what i got........Darik's did its job.....it wiped it totally clean i can now do the windows repair, .....heres what i did

Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter "E". This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\


Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.
i removed the cd, it told me to remove all media and reboot, i replaced the windows xp cd and rebooted again...


so far so good .......its installing windows as i speak......ill let u know if it was successful......thx again

 

Hmmmm.... seems to me that once the drive had been nuked and wiped clean, that just booting to the XP disc and performing a standard setup without using the Recovery Console would have been easier... but whatever works, right?
Happy to hear it's working out for you so far >fingers crossed<
...glad I could be of assistance!

:major
[dlb]

 

un-freakin real.....ive been reading for 2 weeks about puttin in that dumb NTLDR bs and all that it really took was a low level format....r u kiddin me?....lol....anyhow....after the low level nuke dlb i tried to run just windows but my mouse and keyboard would freeze so i couldnt put in any serial keys or set-up the other bs that windows puts u thru, so i added those 2 files and......it still froze my mouse and keyboard....(go figure)..but i have a copy of XP that has everything preset so it puts the serials and automatically does all that time and date crap, no need for mouse and keyboard. After installation was complete i rebooted and everything is fine....(including mouse and keyboard)..thx again dlb....this isnt the 1st time u saved my azz...probably wont be the last........lol