NTLDR boor error

[portable.office]

After bootup defrag of my C: drive with Partition Magic I now have a
"NTLDR not found, press any key to retry" error. No big deal except
that:

When i attempt to recover with winxp pro cd the laptop hangs on a
black screen just after/during checking hardware configuration check.

After booting and exiting other utility CD's to DOS I cannot access/
find C: drive DIR.

My guess is corrupt NTDLR file and/or MBR, but don't know where to go
from here to repair it.

Any suggestions on how to repair this?

 

[philo]

After bootup defrag of my C: drive with Partition Magic I now have a
"NTLDR not found, press any key to retry" error. No big deal except
that:

When i attempt to recover with winxp pro cd the laptop hangs on a
black screen just after/during checking hardware configuration check.

After booting and exiting other utility CD's to DOS I cannot access/
find C: drive DIR.

My guess is corrupt NTDLR file and/or MBR, but don't know where to go
from here to repair it.

Any suggestions on how to repair this?

You cannot access and NTFS partition from dos
unless you load a 3rd party utility such as NTFS4DOS

 

[portable.office]

You cannot access and NTFS partition from dos
unless you load a 3rd party utility such as NTFS4DOS

Thank you for the comment, but I'm a bit lost and will step back a
bit. Because I'm not a professional or even amature please bear with
me.

Forget the DOS comment. How do I go about fixing the NTDLR issue if I
cannot access my C:?

I've seen many descriptions on how to accomplish this simply by using
WINXP recovery console/using WINXP CD, but when I attempt this the CD-
ROM hangs and my the CD drive spins down and stops during/after
hardware configuration check. Imagine installing the cd and it
seemingly starts up, but then simply stops.

Sorry for the confusion. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[JohnO]

Any suggestions on how to repair this?

Forget the DOS comment. How do I go about fixing the NTDLR issue if I
cannot access my C:?

Maybe....so long as the problem is NTLDR or maybe NTDETECT. If you have a
serious disk problem....this won't help.

Cross your fingers, and sacrifice a chicken. Do you have access to another
XP machine that has a floppy? Format the floppy with My Computer. Copy three
files from C:\ to the floppy: NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI. You may
need to turn on hidden file views to see these.

Back on the busted system, change the boot order to CD-ROM, Floppy, HDD. Put
the floppy in the drive and boot 'er up. Joy?

-John O

 

[portable.office]

Maybe....so long as the problem is NTLDR or maybe NTDETECT. If you have a
serious disk problem....this won't help.

Cross your fingers, and sacrifice a chicken. Do you have access to another
XP machine that has a floppy? Format the floppy with My Computer. Copy three
files from C:\ to the floppy: NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and BOOT.INI. You may
need to turn on hidden file views to see these.

Back on the busted system, change the boot order to CD-ROM, Floppy, HDD. Put
the floppy in the drive and boot 'er up. Joy?

-John O

OK. I do have a couple of functioning XP machines installed w/WINXP.
The nuked computer is a T22 laptop and does NOT have a 3.5" Could I
use a CD? Does it need to be bootable?

 

[portable.office]

OK. I do have a couple of functioning XP machines installed w/WINXP.
The nuked computer is a T22 laptop and does NOT have a 3.5" Could I
use a CD? Does it need to be bootable?

after a re-read I see it does need to be bootable. I've made a boot
disk with bart PE, but it hangs as well.

Is there some way to simply copy files to C: drive?

 

[Mark]

If you have Barts PE, you can do NTFS file copies and repairs to an HD
directly using that environment.

 

[JohnO]

Is there some way to simply copy files to C: drive?

Not without Recovery Console. The issue is NTFS...you can't get in there
without providing authentication.

The thing I proposed works if the boot files are missing, corrupt, or
something. If the drive itself is bad...or the MFT or boot sector are
broken...you've got bigger trouble. Since you were using PM I'm guessing
there's something else going on.

I happen to have a T22 sitting here, and booted it to the Win XP CD. I've
never seen any XP install CD hang at that point. (not that I have done this
2,038 times, just a hundred or so)

If anybody else is listening...right after you hit any key to boot from the
CD, the message says "Setup is examining you computer's hardware
configuration" Normally Win XP setup launches next. But if I'm following
along properly, this is where the OP's problem is, right?

-John O

 

[portable.office]

Not without Recovery Console. The issue is NTFS...you can't get in there
without providing authentication.

The thing I proposed works if the boot files are missing, corrupt, or
something. If the drive itself is bad...or the MFT or boot sector are
broken...you've got bigger trouble. Since you were using PM I'm guessing
there's something else going on.

I happen to have a T22 sitting here, and booted it to the Win XP CD. I've
never seen any XP install CD hang at that point. (not that I have done this
2,038 times, just a hundred or so)

If anybody else is listening...right after you hit any key to boot from the
CD, the message says "Setup is examining you computer's hardware
configuration" Normally Win XP setup launches next. But if I'm following
along properly, this is where the OP's problem is, right?

-John O

Mark, I downloaded BartPE yesterday, but really don't know which
plugins to use or how to use them. I also have download and burned the
ultimate boot cd. Same story though; I don't really know how to use
these tools.

John O., you are correct on location of hang; the hardware config
statement flashes very, very briefly and then blank screen and
immediate spin down of CD. So, no Win XP setup.

I did defrag C: with NTFS4DOS. Seemed to go ok. NTFS4DOS recognizes my
C: and D: drive.

At the moment it is diagnosis and repair by accident unless someone
can give me more suggestions/direction to follow up on...so any
comments are welcome and appreciated.

Dave

 

[JohnO]

I did defrag C: with NTFS4DOS. Seemed to go ok. NTFS4DOS recognizes my

C: and D: drive.

That's a key point. I don't know a lot about that tool, but the fact that it
works means the drive's data isn't wasted. Can you navigate around on the
C:\ drive?

Is NTLDR where it's supposed to be? What happens if you type FIXMBR? Or
BOOTCFG?

Beyond that...I'm out of ideas. Sorry.

-John O

 

[philo]

Thank you for the comment, but I'm a bit lost and will step back a
bit. Because I'm not a professional or even amature please bear with
me.

Forget the DOS comment. How do I go about fixing the NTDLR issue if I
cannot access my C:?

I've seen many descriptions on how to accomplish this simply by using
WINXP recovery console/using WINXP CD, but when I attempt this the CD-
ROM hangs and my the CD drive spins down and stops during/after
hardware configuration check. Imagine installing the cd and it
seemingly starts up, but then simply stops.

Sorry for the confusion. Do you have any suggestions?

Ok...for some reason your bootable cd does not work...

here's on thing you can do if you have access to another machine with XP on
it


Note...the setup from the other machine must be the same as yours or you
will have to manually edit boot.ini.

VIZ: If your machine has XP on the C: drive the other machine must too


anyway format a floppy from the other machine

then copy ntldr ntdetect.com and boot.ini to the floppy

you should then be able to use it to boot up...

if it works...copy ntldr to the C: drive (root directory)

 

[portable.office]

That's a key point. I don't know a lot about that tool, but the fact that it
works means the drive's data isn't wasted. Can you navigate around on the
C:\ drive?

Is NTLDR where it's supposed to be? What happens if you type FIXMBR? Or
BOOTCFG?

Beyond that...I'm out of ideas. Sorry.

-John O

Not sure I'm using ntfs4dos correctly, but I finally got to the point
where I can see D: (data), but when I try c: and type DIR all I get is
"Volume in drive C is" line break "file not found".

Typing BOOTCFG or FIXMBR does not return anything but "Bad command or
filename - "BOOTCFG.

 

[JohnO]

Not sure I'm using ntfs4dos correctly, but I finally got to the point
where I can see D: (data), but when I try c: and type DIR all I get is
"Volume in drive C is" line break "file not found".

Typing BOOTCFG or FIXMBR does not return anything but "Bad command or
filename - "BOOTCFG.

That doesn't sound good. You have a backup of the data on the C:
drive....right?

-John O

 

[portable.office]

That doesn't sound good. You have a backup of the data on the C:
drive....right?

-John O

Actually, no. That's ok though. I've nothing on C: that cannot be
replaced with a slipstreamed install. It is my tinkering machine and
my girlfriend will be really happy when it dies as long as it doesn't
go up in smoke while sitting in my lap.

I had hopes to learn a bit and fix it, but as you say "...doesn't
sound good."

I'll tinker a bit more with UBCD (BartPE doesn't work--similar boot
error as winxp cd) and will probably overwrite Fri.

Thanks for all the advice, I may keep posting if I find something
worthwhile or promising.

Cheers,
David

 

[JohnO]

Actually, no. That's ok though. I've nothing on C: that cannot be

replaced with a slipstreamed install. It is my tinkering machine and
my girlfriend will be really happy when it dies as long as it doesn't
go up in smoke while sitting in my lap.

OK, in that case I'll be completely forthcoming. It sounds to me like
Partition Magic burped and blew away the partition. I had that happen to a
system partition once, and the other partitions on the drive were fine.

-John O