NTLDR is missing on bootup

[ms]

W2K/SP4

My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically never
install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.

I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now W2K, no
funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled normally. I only
use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.

Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.

Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited usual
text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.

This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR is
missing. Can't boot up,

1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?

2. How to fix it?

TIA

ms

 

[David Webb]

First, verify that you didn't leave a disk in the floppy drive.

If the drive is empty then refer to this article:

HOW TO: Troubleshoot the "NTLDR Is Missing" Error Message in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;318728&Product=win2000


| W2K/SP4
|
| My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically never
| install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.
|
| I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now W2K, no
| funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled normally. I only
| use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.
|
| Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.
|
| Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited usual
| text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.
|
| This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR is
| missing. Can't boot up,
|
| 1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?
|
| 2. How to fix it?
|
| TIA
|
| ms
|
|

 

[ms]

Thank you, David, I will work on it.

I forgot to ask, W2K has been so solid, I had neglected to make boot disks.
I just went to the bootdisk website and downloaded 4 bootdisks, I'm still
used to W98 with only 1 boot disk.

How do you use 4 boot disks? Or, how to troubleshoot W2K with boot disks?

ms

 

[David Webb]

The four floppy disks are used to bootup from a system that cannot boot from the
CD-ROM drive or if the CDR disc itself is not bootable. After the last disk has
completed its tasks it asks for the Windows 2000 installation disc. This is
simply an alternate method to startup a PC in order to install or repair Windows
2000, it's not a method to start an existing Windows configuration.

These MSKB articles may be of some help to you:

How to Use a Windows Boot Disk to Prevent Boot Failure in Windows 2000 or
Windows NT
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;101668

How to Create an Emergency Repair Disk in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/231777/

How To Create Setup Boot Disks for Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197063/EN-US/

Description of the Windows 2000 Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q229716


| Thank you, David, I will work on it.
|
| I forgot to ask, W2K has been so solid, I had neglected to make boot disks.
| I just went to the bootdisk website and downloaded 4 bootdisks, I'm still
| used to W98 with only 1 boot disk.
|
| How do you use 4 boot disks? Or, how to troubleshoot W2K with boot disks?
|
| ms
|
| |
| > First, verify that you didn't leave a disk in the floppy drive.
| >
| > If the drive is empty then refer to this article:
| >
| > HOW TO: Troubleshoot the "NTLDR Is Missing" Error Message in Windows
| > 2000
| > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;318728&Product=
| > win2000
| >
| >
| > | >| W2K/SP4
| >|
| >| My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically never
| >| install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.
| >|
| >| I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now W2K,
| >| no funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled normally.
| >| I only use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.
| >|
| >| Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.
| >|
| >| Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited
| >| usual text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.
| >|
| >| This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR is
| >| missing. Can't boot up,
| >|
| >| 1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?
| >|
| >| 2. How to fix it?
| >|
| >| TIA
| >|
| >| ms
| >|
| >|
| >
| >
| >
|

 

[ms]

I went through those articles and they led to several others. One was to
use F8, then select last good configuration: How To Troubleshoot Startup
Problems in Windows 2000 Article ID 315396

On bootup, F8, the BIOS screen flashes by, then a screen : what do you want
to boot from- choice of floppy drive, (I never created a floppy), hard
drive or CD drive. I select hard drive, again get NTLDR is missing message.

I never saw "last good configuration"

The articles saying copy NTLDR files to the hard drive were talking about a
different situation, it seems.

Advice?

ms

 

[David Webb]

To copy the startup files to your hard disk, use the Recovery Console method.

Refer to Method 2: Use the Recovery Console in KB318728.

| I went through those articles and they led to several others. One was to
| use F8, then select last good configuration: How To Troubleshoot Startup
| Problems in Windows 2000 Article ID 315396
|
| On bootup, F8, the BIOS screen flashes by, then a screen : what do you want
| to boot from- choice of floppy drive, (I never created a floppy), hard
| drive or CD drive. I select hard drive, again get NTLDR is missing message.
|
| I never saw "last good configuration"
|
| The articles saying copy NTLDR files to the hard drive were talking about a
| different situation, it seems.
|
| Advice?
|
| ms
| |
| > The four floppy disks are used to bootup from a system that cannot
| > boot from the CD-ROM drive or if the CDR disc itself is not bootable.
| > After the last disk has completed its tasks it asks for the Windows
| > 2000 installation disc. This is simply an alternate method to startup
| > a PC in order to install or repair Windows 2000, it's not a method to
| > start an existing Windows configuration.
| >
| > These MSKB articles may be of some help to you:
| >
| > How to Use a Windows Boot Disk to Prevent Boot Failure in Windows 2000
| > or Windows NT
| > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;101668
| >
| > How to Create an Emergency Repair Disk in Windows 2000
| > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/231777/
| >
| > How To Create Setup Boot Disks for Windows 2000
| > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197063/EN-US/
| >
| > Description of the Windows 2000 Recovery Console
| > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q229716
| >
| >
| > | >| Thank you, David, I will work on it.
| >|
| >| I forgot to ask, W2K has been so solid, I had neglected to make boot
| >| disks. I just went to the bootdisk website and downloaded 4
| >| bootdisks, I'm still used to W98 with only 1 boot disk.
| >|
| >| How do you use 4 boot disks? Or, how to troubleshoot W2K with boot
| >| disks?
| >|
| >| ms
| >|
| >| | >|
| >| > First, verify that you didn't leave a disk in the floppy drive.
| >| >
| >| > If the drive is empty then refer to this article:
| >| >
| >| > HOW TO: Troubleshoot the "NTLDR Is Missing" Error Message in
| >| > Windows 2000
| >| > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;318728&Produ
| >| > ct= win2000
| >| >
| >| >
| >| > | >| >| W2K/SP4
| >| >|
| >| >| My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically
| >| >| never install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.
| >| >|
| >| >| I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now
| >| >| W2K, no funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled
| >| >| normally. I only use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.
| >| >|
| >| >| Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.
| >| >|
| >| >| Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited
| >| >| usual text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.
| >| >|
| >| >| This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR
| >| >| is missing. Can't boot up,
| >| >|
| >| >| 1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?
| >| >|
| >| >| 2. How to fix it?
| >| >|
| >| >| TIA
| >| >|
| >| >| ms
| >| >|
| >| >|
| >| >
| >| >
| >| >
| >|
| >
| >
| >
|

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

W2K/SP4

My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically never
install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.

I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now W2K, no
funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled normally. I only
use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.

Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.

Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited usual
text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.

This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR is
missing. Can't boot up,

1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?

2. How to fix it?

TIA

ms

I suggest you try a slightly different approach in order to find out
if your Windows 2000 installation is still intact. Here is how it goes:

Win2000 boot disk
- Format a floppy disk on some other Win2000/XP PC.
Don't do it on a Win9x PC - it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your Win2000 CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?

 

[ms]

W2K/SP4

My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically never
install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.

I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now W2K, no
funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled normally. I only
use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.

Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.

Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited usual
text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.

This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR is
missing. Can't boot up,

1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?

2. How to fix it?

TIA

ms

I suggest you try a slightly different approach in order to find out
if your Windows 2000 installation is still intact. Here is how it goes:

Win2000 boot disk
- Format a floppy disk on some other Win2000/XP PC.
Don't do it on a Win9x PC - it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your Win2000 CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?

Thanks, Pegasus

My other machines are W98, I will contact a friend and see if I can get
that floppy made and post back.

I could open the W2K cd in a W98 machine to see if the files are available,
if in cab files, is there a Url reference for which cab has which files?
like in W98?

ms

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

W2K/SP4

My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically never
install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.

I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now W2K, no
funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled normally. I only
use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.

Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.

Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited usual
text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.

This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR is
missing. Can't boot up,

1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?

2. How to fix it?

TIA

ms

I suggest you try a slightly different approach in order to find out
if your Windows 2000 installation is still intact. Here is how it goes:

Win2000 boot disk
- Format a floppy disk on some other Win2000/XP PC.
Don't do it on a Win9x PC - it won't work.
- Copy these files from the \i386 folder of your Win2000 CD to A:\
ntldr
ntdetect.com
- Create a file a:\boot.ini with these lines
[Boot Loader]
Timeout=3
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000
Professional" /fastdetect
- Boot the machine with this floppy

What do you get?

Thanks, Pegasus

My other machines are W98, I will contact a friend and see if I can get
that floppy made and post back.

I could open the W2K cd in a W98 machine to see if the files are available,
if in cab files, is there a Url reference for which cab has which files?
like in W98?

ms

I gave you the exact location of the files you need ("Copy these
files from the \i386 folder of your Win2000 CD to A:\") - no
need for any URL or cab file!

 

[ms]

W2K/SP4

My install has been rock-solid for about a year. I practically never
install anything, mainly use small executables, no problems.

I have net browsing patterns I used for years in W98SE and now W2K, no
funnies there, I browse with images/javascript disabled normally. I only
use Firefox, Xnews, DUN.

Cold boot each AM. Clean trash each shutdown, same every day.

Yesterday was a typical day, usual sites, saved usual text, edited usual
text. Absolutely nothing unusual or abnormal.

This morning, on bootup, black screen before BIOS display: NTLDR is
missing. Can't boot up,

1. Why, out of nowhere, does this happen?

2. How to fix it?

TIA

ms

Thanks to all, it's fixed, posting with it now.

I did a Google search for "NTLDR is missing", led to lots of interesting
stuff, but mainly downloading a repair file that created a repair floppy
with ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini on it.

With the repair disk, it booted up fine.

I was going to copy those three files into my C root, but noticed there was
no NTLDR file there! Truely it was missing.

So I just copied that single file into C, that fixed it. Afterword, I
copied my actual ntdetect.com and boot.ini files to the repair disk and
tested it, it works that way too.

Famous last words, create a real W2K boot disk, back up data, etc.

One question- with my benign computing habits, what could likely have
deleted the NTLDR file from C to cause the problem?

ms

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Thanks to all, it's fixed, posting with it now.

I did a Google search for "NTLDR is missing", led to lots of interesting
stuff, but mainly downloading a repair file that created a repair floppy
with ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini on it.

With the repair disk, it booted up fine.

I was going to copy those three files into my C root, but noticed there was
no NTLDR file there! Truely it was missing.

So I just copied that single file into C, that fixed it. Afterword, I
copied my actual ntdetect.com and boot.ini files to the repair disk and
tested it, it works that way too.

Famous last words, create a real W2K boot disk, back up data, etc.

One question- with my benign computing habits, what could likely have
deleted the NTLDR file from C to cause the problem?

ms

Why did you have to download ntldr? Don't you have a Win2000
installation CD? If you don't, how will you repair more serious
faults if and when they occur?

I can think of two causes why c:\ntldr disappeared:
a) You did it yourself by accident. This is not easy because the
file is normally hidden and protected.
b) You became the victim of some malware you downloaded
from the Internet.

About your backup situation: You should treat this event as a
wake-up call. Get yourself a 2.5" hard disk in an external USB
case, then back up your important files ***every*** week!

 

[ms]

Why did you have to download ntldr? Don't you have a Win2000
installation CD? If you don't, how will you repair more serious
faults if and when they occur?

Will look on my CD, usually a file is somewhere inside a cab file, hard
to find.

I can think of two causes why c:\ntldr disappeared:
a) You did it yourself by accident. This is not easy because the
file is normally hidden and protected.
b) You became the victim of some malware you downloaded
from the Internet.

About that, not a), on b) I fairly often run AV stuff, it never finds
anything, and I *try* to be careful in what I download, but I do download
and have to really watch that.

About your backup situation: You should treat this event as a
wake-up call. Get yourself a 2.5" hard disk in an external USB
case, then back up your important files ***every*** week!

I find W2K does not have a bootdisk like W9X. I can put in the CD, and
will have to research how that helps in an emergency situation.

For system backups, I use ERUNT. For data backups, I had been using cd's,
but file count grows, so will start backups on DVD's. The external hd you
mention is nice, but somewhat spendy.

Anyway, from what you said, it may be some new file I tried, that removed
NTLSR. But I mainly use executables, seldom installs.

Comment on above?

ms

 

[ms]

Why did you have to download ntldr? Don't you have a Win2000
installation CD? If you don't, how will you repair more serious
faults if and when they occur?

Sorry, saw your other reply, the files were on the CD, will look at it.

ms

 

[ms]

Why did you have to download ntldr? Don't you have a Win2000
installation CD? If you don't, how will you repair more serious
faults if and when they occur?

I can think of two causes why c:\ntldr disappeared:
a) You did it yourself by accident. This is not easy because the
file is normally hidden and protected.
b) You became the victim of some malware you downloaded
from the Internet.

About your backup situation: You should treat this event as a
wake-up call. Get yourself a 2.5" hard disk in an external USB
case, then back up your important files ***every*** week!

Is there a URL for the MS page on how to create a Emergency Boot Disk?

Thanks for the help

ms

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Will look on my CD, usually a file is somewhere inside a cab file, hard
to find.

About that, not a), on b) I fairly often run AV stuff, it never finds
anything, and I *try* to be careful in what I download, but I do download
and have to really watch that.


I find W2K does not have a bootdisk like W9X. I can put in the CD, and
will have to research how that helps in an emergency situation.

You do not need a boot diskette for Win2000 - you can boot the
machine with your Win2000 CD.