That dreaded NLTDR

[johnf]

A 6 month old P2.8 with a P4800-E Deluxe MOBO suddenly has refused to boot.
When my computer tries to boot, I get 'NTLDR is Missing'

On hitting Return, I then get -

err 5: error finding v floppy.sys
err8: fake floppy driver not found

The only thing out of the ordinary I've done is run Trend Micro - HouseCall
the other day.
The PC is fully protected & I run SpyBot regularly.

I have a feeling something has changed the BIOS; the only way I can get it
running is use F8 on boot-up, which gives me a drop-down screen of all my
drives. I then select the C-drive & it boots fine.

What on earth is 'fake floppy driver' (which seems to be the reason why the
PC spits the dummy when it can't find it) & does anyone have an idea what
caused this & how to rectify it?

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

You Receive an NTLDR Is Missing Error Message When You Start Your Computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320397&Product=winxp

 

[johnf]

Thanks, Mark, but my PC is 25 miles away at the moment & I wanted to glean
as much info as possible before I go home.

My main query should have been (I suppose) is what is this "fake floppy"
it's appears to be looking for when checking drives, but cannot find?
That seems to be the root of the problem.

 

[Ricky]

Here's a link to look at..
http://www.maxpc.co.uk/tips/default...id=34547&subsectionid=718&subsubsectionid=562

http://www.webservertalk.com/archive283-2004-11-462765.html

| Thanks, Mark, but my PC is 25 miles away at the moment & I wanted to
glean
| as much info as possible before I go home.
|
| My main query should have been (I suppose) is what is this "fake
floppy"
| it's appears to be looking for when checking drives, but cannot
find?
| That seems to be the root of the problem.
|
|
| --
| johnf
|
| > You Receive an NTLDR Is Missing Error Message When You Start Your
| > Computer:
| >
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320397&Product=winxp
| >
| >
| > --
| >
| > Mark L. Ferguson
| > FAQ for MS Antispyware version 1.0.509
| > http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/FAQ_MSantispy.htm
| > marfers notes for windows xp
| > http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/chatNotes.htm .
| > | >> A 6 month old P2.8 with a P4800-E Deluxe MOBO suddenly has
refused to
| >> boot. When my computer tries to boot, I get 'NTLDR is Missing'
| >>
| >> On hitting Return, I then get -
| >>
| >> err 5: error finding v floppy.sys
| >> err8: fake floppy driver not found
| >>
| >> The only thing out of the ordinary I've done is run Trend Micro -
| >> HouseCall the other day. The PC is fully protected & I run SpyBot
| >> regularly.
| >>
| >> I have a feeling something has changed the BIOS; the only way I
can
| >> get it running is use F8 on boot-up, which gives me a drop-down
screen
| >> of all my drives. I then select the C-drive & it boots fine. What
on
| >> earth is 'fake floppy driver' (which seems to be the reason
| >> why the PC spits the dummy when it can't find it) & does anyone
have
| >> an idea what caused this & how to rectify it? --
| >> johnf
|
|

 

[johnf]

Thanks Ricky, I'm running DI2002 and will check that one out.
This happened shortly after d'loading the latest Critical Update -
coincidence?

 

[Linden]

John it is possible to make an XP boot floppy disc with the key boot files
on them. A reboot with such a disc loads the boot files from the floppy then
switches to the hard drive to finalise the boot process. If this cures your
boot issues you can then reinstall these files manually to your hard drive.
The best way to create such a disc is to access another workable XP machine
and follow these instructions.

On the workable XP machine format a floppy (it must be formatted on the XP
machine)copy the following files from your C: drive to the disk, Boot.ini,
NTLDR and Ntdetect.com. They are hidden operating system files on the root
C: directory, to display them under Folder Options select the view tab and
enabled Show hidden files and folders and disable Hide protected operating
system files, they will then be visible, copy them to the formatted floppy.
A corrupted system will simply load these files from the A: drive and then
load the OS as normal. The missing/corrupted files can then be simply copied
back to the C: drive. Hope this sorts it.

Linden