First I had the "NTLDR is missing" problem, so I made a bootable
floppy disk. Now it tries to load from the floppy disk and then after
a few seconds it gives me this error message:
"Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware
configuration problem. Could not read from the selected boot disk.
Check boot path and disk hardware."
I havent made any hardware changes in several years so I'm not sure
what's going on... Has anyone seen this before?
Thank You,
-- Dan
Hello Dan,
This is the normal way to fix an NTLDR missing error:
[Courtesy of ComputerHope]
1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair
Windows.
4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and
pressing enter.
5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter
that password.
6. Copy the two files indicated below to the root directory of the
primary hard disk. In the example below we are copying these files
from the CD-ROM drive letter "E". This letter may be different on your
computer.
copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
{There is a space after 'copy' and before 'c:\'}
7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the
CD from the computer and reboot.
---------------------------------------------------------------
If the problem persists, you may have a corrupt boot sector and/or
master boot record.
1. Insert your XP CD and restart your computer.
2. At the Setup screen, press 'R' to access the Repair Console.
3. Select the installation you want to repair. Usually there's only a
single one listed, such as C:\Windows or C:\WINNT. Type in the number
and Enter.
4. On the next screen enter your password (if you have one).
5. On the next screen, at the prompt, type in chkdsk /r {with a space
before the /r parameter} and press Enter. Let it run.
6. At the prompt again, type in "fixmbr" {without the quotes} and
press Enter.
7. At the prompt again, type in "fixboot" {without the quotes} and
press Enter.
8. Remove your XP CD and restart the computer.
