CDBOOT: Couldn't Find NTLDR (Windows XP Home Install problem)

[Mr. Hand]

I'm trying to install Windows XP Home (Full Version) on a
new system that I've recently built but when I try to
boot using the WinXP CD disc I get an error "CDBOOT:
Couldn't Find NTLDR".

Here are some FACTS:
1. My system is a Shuttle XPS SS51G (small form factor)
circa 2002. The components in the PC are a 2.4 GHz
Pentium 4, Samsung 160 GB hard drive, HP CD Writer (CD-
RW) drive, NO 3.5" Floppy, integrated VGA, integrated
Audio.
2. Yes, the BIOS is configured to be the first boot
device followed by the HDD (Hard Disk Drive).
3. I can successfully boot from a CD-R based MS-DOS boot
disk (created using Roxio Easy CD Creator 6, File | New
Project | Bootable Disc). I can also boot using a Norton
Ghost boot disk (which is basically a PC-DOS boot disk
with GHOST.EXE on it, also converted to a bootable CD).
4. I have tried several options with my hard drive
(Sumsung SpinPoint SP1604N OEM drive, 160 GB) before
trying to boot my PC with the WinXP CD:
(a) Left it as it was from the manufacturer,
(b) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to create a
single 160GB primary partion with FAT32 format,
(c) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to create a ~30
GB partion with FAT32 format,
(d) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to create a ~30
GB partion with no FORMATing,
(e) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to wipe the disk
completely clean including all partions, partition table,
formatting, MBR (Master Boot Record), all used and unused
space.
All of these options still resulted in the can't find
NTLDR message.

From what I have dug up from Microsoft's web site and
other Newsgroups, the Windows XP CD should be able to
boot up and then perform all of the necessary formatting
of the hard drive (and partitioning???). So, this would
lead me to believe that I can leave the HDD as is and
then use the CD to do the partitioning and formatting of
the disc, but I can't get past the "CDBOOT: Couldn't Find
NTLDR" error message! I did find some POSTS of this same
problem but didn't see any resolution for it. One post
instructed you to copy the NTLR file from a working
Windows XP system to "C:\" on the new PC and then try
using the Win XP boot disc but that didn't work either.

Any help with this problem would be appreciated!

-Thanks in advance to any replies
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Pegasus]

I'm trying to install Windows XP Home (Full Version) on a
new system that I've recently built but when I try to
boot using the WinXP CD disc I get an error "CDBOOT:
Couldn't Find NTLDR".

Here are some FACTS:
1. My system is a Shuttle XPS SS51G (small form factor)
circa 2002. The components in the PC are a 2.4 GHz
Pentium 4, Samsung 160 GB hard drive, HP CD Writer (CD-
RW) drive, NO 3.5" Floppy, integrated VGA, integrated
Audio.
2. Yes, the BIOS is configured to be the first boot
device followed by the HDD (Hard Disk Drive).
3. I can successfully boot from a CD-R based MS-DOS boot
disk (created using Roxio Easy CD Creator 6, File | New
Project | Bootable Disc). I can also boot using a Norton
Ghost boot disk (which is basically a PC-DOS boot disk
with GHOST.EXE on it, also converted to a bootable CD).
4. I have tried several options with my hard drive
(Sumsung SpinPoint SP1604N OEM drive, 160 GB) before
trying to boot my PC with the WinXP CD:
(a) Left it as it was from the manufacturer,
(b) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to create a
single 160GB primary partion with FAT32 format,
(c) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to create a ~30
GB partion with FAT32 format,
(d) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to create a ~30
GB partion with no FORMATing,
(e) Used the Norton Ghost utility GDISK to wipe the disk
completely clean including all partions, partition table,
formatting, MBR (Master Boot Record), all used and unused
space.
All of these options still resulted in the can't find
NTLDR message.

From what I have dug up from Microsoft's web site and
other Newsgroups, the Windows XP CD should be able to
boot up and then perform all of the necessary formatting
of the hard drive (and partitioning???). So, this would
lead me to believe that I can leave the HDD as is and
then use the CD to do the partitioning and formatting of
the disc, but I can't get past the "CDBOOT: Couldn't Find
NTLDR" error message! I did find some POSTS of this same
problem but didn't see any resolution for it. One post
instructed you to copy the NTLR file from a working
Windows XP system to "C:\" on the new PC and then try
using the Win XP boot disc but that didn't work either.

Any help with this problem would be appreciated!

-Thanks in advance to any replies
(e-mail address removed)

There is something strange with your item 2) above where
you write "the BIOS is configured to be the first boot
device". The BIOS is not really a boot device, but you need
to instruct the BIOS to consider the CD drive as the first
boot device.

There could be something wrong with your WinXP CD.
Ask for a replacement. In the meantime, you can load
WinXP like so:

1. Create a primary active FAT32 partition of the
required size, as in b) above.

2. Boot the machine with a Win98 boot disk (www.bootdisk.com).

3. Run this command off the CD: \i386\winnt.exe

4. Later on, convert your system partition to NTFS if desired.

 

[Mr. Hand]

Sorry about that, it's been a late night for me .

What I meant was that the CD-ROM drive is setup in the
BOIS to be the first boot device.

Hope this clarifies things,
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Mr. Hand]

Will the WINNT.EXE be on the Win98 boot disc or is this
the WINNT.EXE from my WinXP CD? I don't have a floppy
drive in my new system so I don't think that I'll be able
to execute any file that isn't on the CD that I boot up
with (Right?). i.e. I won't be able to swap discs.

Thanks again for the reply,
(e-mail address removed)

 

[JAX]

After reading your post several times, it seems to me, somehow you have over
complicated things for yourself. If you are doing a new install of XP why
did you do any of the items mentioned in #4?

In order to do a "clean install" of XP, all you need is the XP disk. With
it, you can format, partition, and install XP with no outside help.
Disconnect everything from your computer, except the mouse, keyboard, and
monitor. Then follow the instructions offered by the following link.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
Thanks to Michael Stevens

HTH, JAX

 

[Pegasus]

In your original post you said that you could successfully
boot your machine with a DOS boot CD. Does it have
a CD driver? If yes, do as I suggested in my first reply.
If no, make a boot CD on somebody else's PC from the
boot diskette whose link I gave you.

 

[Mr. Hand]

Yes, I may be overcomplicating things! However, as I a
stated, when I first tried to perform the Clean
Installation of Windows XP Home (Full Retail Edition) on
my new system I got the "CDBOOT:.Couldn't find NTLDR"
message and I could not go any further with the install.
So, I thought that I maybe needn't to Partition and/or
Format my HD first. So, I used an MS-DOS boot CD with the
GDISK utility on it and went from there.

I do only have the following hooked up externally to the
PC:
1. PS2 Keyboard,
2. PS2 Mouse,
3. A/C Power,
4. Analog monitor.

Internally, the only devices that I have connected to the
motherboard are:
1. CD-RW drive,
2. Hard Drive (unfomatted and unpartitioned)
3. Plus, of course, the CPU and RAM.

Can anyone explain what the WinXP boot CD is doing when
the PC is trying tp boot from the CD? Does it need to
copy files to the hard disk before it can continue with
the installation (i.e. it must "see" a partition on the
HD to copy the files to)? From what I've read it sounds
like it should go through the FDISK and FORMAT routine in
some fashion before going on with the installation?

All the help is REALLY appreciated since this is the
first time that I've ever tried to install WinXP on brand
new hardware! Besides, the wife is already
touting "Dude, you should've got a Dell!".

 

[Pegasus]

See below.

Yes, I may be overcomplicating things! However, as I a
stated, when I first tried to perform the Clean
Installation of Windows XP Home (Full Retail Edition) on
my new system I got the "CDBOOT:.Couldn't find NTLDR"
message and I could not go any further with the install.
So, I thought that I maybe needn't to Partition and/or
Format my HD first. So, I used an MS-DOS boot CD with the
GDISK utility on it and went from there.

I do only have the following hooked up externally to the
PC:
1. PS2 Keyboard,
2. PS2 Mouse,
3. A/C Power,
4. Analog monitor.

Internally, the only devices that I have connected to the
motherboard are:
1. CD-RW drive,
2. Hard Drive (unfomatted and unpartitioned)
3. Plus, of course, the CPU and RAM.

Can anyone explain what the WinXP boot CD is doing when
the PC is trying tp boot from the CD?

*** As I mentioned before, it's probably defective.

Does it need to
copy files to the hard disk before it can continue with
the installation (i.e. it must "see" a partition on the
HD to copy the files to)?

*** No.

From what I've read it sounds
like it should go through the FDISK and FORMAT routine in
some fashion before going on with the installation?

*** No.

All the help is REALLY appreciated since this is the
first time that I've ever tried to install WinXP on brand
new hardware! Besides, the wife is already
touting "Dude, you should've got a Dell!".

*** It depends on your attitude. Dell is fine
*** if you don't want to know what's under
*** the bonnet, and if you're happy to pay
*** someone when things go wrong.

 

[JAX]

Hello again,

If you have the BIOS set to 1st boot CD, if there are no hardware problems,
and if, as Pegasus mentioned, the CD is not defective. When you "power-on"
the computer, you should get a prompt to boot from CD, press any key. You
will be given the opportunity to format and partition the drive. That being
done, install can begin. Windows will take it from there. There is very
little you have to do except enter your key, set the time-zone,etc.
CAUTION!! During installation, you will be prompted to boot from CD a second
time, DON'T pres any key, it will start the whole process over again.
(this information is generalized for simplicity)

The following link will show graphics for a full install of XP Home edition.
http://www.theeldergeek.com/xp_home_install_-_graphic.htm
Thanks to The Elder Geek

HTH, JAX

 

[Jetro]

Don't remember where the original info is:

This message can appear while booting self-made XP/2k/NT CDs. It is
generated by the bootsector NT5BOOT.BIN (WinXP/Win2k) or NT4BOOT.BIN
(WinNT4).
The message means that the bootsector was unable to find the file
\I386\SETUPLDR.BIN on the CD. There can be two reasons: first is obvious -
the file is not present; second is more complex:

Depending on the CD writing program, the file SETUPLDR.BIN (and every other
file on the CD) is stored in the file table either as SETUPLDR.BIN;1 or else
as SETUPLDR.BIN. The first variant is standard (';1' is "file version" as
described in ISO9660 and an obligatory part of the file name), the second
variant is used by Microsoft. The bootsectors NT5BOOT.BIN and NT4BOOT.BIN
will only find the file \I386\SETUPLDR.BIN if the ';1' is not present.

 

[Mr. Hand]

The Windows XP disc that I'm using is a Full Retail
version of Windows XP Home (purchased from Staples).

I'm trying to locate a 3.5 Floppy that I can install in
the new PC then use the WinXP Boot Floppies from
Microsoft (6 disk set) in an attempt to get around the
inability to boot from the CD.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Mr. Hand]

Thanks again for the reply. I do see the message about
the PC booting from the CD but then my CD drive spins for
several minutes then generates the "CDBOOT: Couldn't Find
NTLDR" message and then I have to Ctrl+Alt+Del to get it
to restart to try and boot from the CD again. As I
previously stated, I can boot from an MS-DOS boot disc
(CD) so maybe my brand new Windows XP Home CD
installation disc is bad! Who knows, stranger things have
happened! I thoroughly checked the surface of the disc
and it looks flawless.

Anyhow, just in case the Win XP disc is good, I'm now
trying to locate a 3.5" Floppy to install in my new PC
and then I'll use the Microsoft 6-disk-set of the WinXP
Home Boot Disks that I downloaded. If that route doesn't
work I'll try the Windows98 boot disk.

If you're interested, I'll post back later to let you
know how that turned out.

 

[JAX]

There is a possibility that the problem is in your CD drive. If you have
access to another one try swapping it out but, yes, please post back and let
us know how it turns out.

LOL, JAX.

 

[Mr. Hand]

Just thought I'd post a followup message regarding my own
problem...

Turns out that the CD-RW drive I was trying to use, a
1998 HP CD-Writer Plus 8100 Series (HP C4392-56000) was
bad. Even though I could use it to boot up MS-DOS boot
discs and Ghost Boot discs! Evidently, it works when
reading certain parts of a disc but then when it gets
towards the outside of the disc it either fails or
perfomrms VERY SLOWLY!!! I finally figured this out after
downloading the 6-disk-set of WinXP Boot Disks and
installing using them. When the files were being copied
from the WinXP CD in the CD-RW drive to the hard drive it
took over 6 hours to complete!!! So, I removed an old
TEAC 6x CD-ROM drive out of my old computer and installed
it in the new one and it worked great. After wiping out
my hard drive to do a clean install, I tried the WinXP
boot disc. Just as advertised, when I booted up on the
disc it worked great. It saw my hard drive then asked me
to partion/format it and then continued with the
installation process. Total time for the whole thing this
time around was 40 minutes tops! Wow, what a difference
and not a single problem with WinXP Home (w/ SP1).

Thanks again to those who replied.

 

[JAX]

Thanks for the update.

LOL, JAX