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NTLDR missing! Can't reformat :(
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Original Message
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Name: sarracenia
Date: May 23, 2008 at 14:53:18 Pacific
Subject: NTLDR missing! Can't reformat :(OS: None right nowCPU/Ram: 1.8 MHz / 1.25 MB RAM |
Comment: Hi everyone - I'm hoping someone can help me out. I am trying to re-install an XP operating system and running into problems. First of all, I tried booting from the CD-Rom and when I was going through the XP set-up procedures it indicated I only had ~33 GB on my HDD, whereas my Samsung HDD is 120GB. I finished installing XP anyway, then found a "fix" (?) on Samsung's website called Disk Manager, which is supposed to help my BIOS accept a larger HDD. I ran the Disk Manager as instructed and formatted the drive. I then went to boot from my XP disk again, hoping this time it would recognize the 120 GB, but I can't get into the set-up menu anymore. I see the Samsung disk utility load (blue bar), and then I am briefly prompted to boot from diskette or CD. Regardless of what I choose (or even if I don't choose either) I immediately get the error message: "NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" I've searched other forums for a solution, but it seems this error message can be caused by so many different situations. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Your help is MUCH appreciated!
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Response Number 1
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Name: btk1w1
Date: May 23, 2008 at 15:11:17 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)Your specs at the top of the page indicate that you have 1.25MB of RAM. This can't be right, maybe it is 128MB shared which might show 125MB. In this case I would say that RAM is the problem, not being enough and maybe a faulty RAM modile.
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Response Number 2
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Name: sarracenia
Date: May 23, 2008 at 15:12:25 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)I just blindly tried 2 possible fixes that I read about in another forum (http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/49027/) I booted from the CD-ROM before the Samsung OnTrack utility loaded, went into XP setup, recovery console, and typed fixmbr
fixboot > this gave me the following error "FIXBOOT cannot find the system drive, or the drive specified is not valid"
I then tried another command,
bootcfg /rebuild > this gave me the following error message "Error: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system, which would prevent Bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any disk errors." I'm not sure what that means, or what to do with it (I'm not super knowledgeable with this side of computers), but maybe it will reveal something to someone out there?
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Response Number 6
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Name: OtheHill
Date: May 23, 2008 at 15:25:09 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)If you do actually have a 1.2GHz processor then your system is new enough to be able to use a 120GB harddrive. Enter the BIOS screens and on the drive configuration screen check to see that the settings for all drives is Auto. How dis you format the harddrive? I suspect you were installing to a new folder and the REMAINING space on your drive was 33GB. Are you attempting to repair an existing WinXP installation?
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Response Number 7
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Name: sarracenia
Date: May 23, 2008 at 15:25:55 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)Aha, I didn't realize that the commands I was typing in related to fixing the OS. I have tried to do a clean install, and it won't let me anymore (I did one successful one, but it only recognized my HDD as having 32GB). When I am trying to set up XP it kicks me out, saying setup will continue when the computer restarts, but I just get the "NTLDR is missing..." error when it reboots.
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Response Number 9
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Name: sarracenia
Date: May 23, 2008 at 15:29:27 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)In the BIOS the drives are set to auto, but it only sees 33GB on the hard drive. That's why I was trying to use the Samsung Ontrack disk utility to somehow get around that - in the process of using that disk manager it reformats the drive.
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Response Number 10
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Name: OtheHill
Date: May 23, 2008 at 15:35:03 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)"In the BIOS the drives are set to BIOS". This statement makes no sense. There is no setting called BIOS for the drives. If the drive is actually only reading 33GB the drive probably is broken. There are multiple platters and heads in a harddrive. Do you know what brand the drive is? Download the drive fitness utility for your brand of drive. Install to a floppy or CD as the case may be and run to see if the drive is healthy. Do this before playing around trying to install Windows anymore.
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Response Number 13
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Name: sarracenia
Date: May 23, 2008 at 15:47:49 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)I edited my post to correct myself...
In the BIOS the drives are set to AUTO. Sorry for the confusion. "Do you know what brand the drive is? Download the drive fitness utility for your brand of drive. Install to a floppy or CD as the case may be and run to see if the drive is healthy." My drive is a Samsung. Do you know where I find the drive fitness utility?
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Response Number 17
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Name: sarracenia
Date: May 23, 2008 at 16:40:55 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)Well, I went ahead and started from scratch again, and it seemed to work this time for some reason ... AND it's recognizing the full drive capacity. Thanks for your help! (even though I'm not sure what I did to get it to work...)
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