NTLDR disappearing

[bill allemann]

I think this is the 4th time this machine has done this. On the reboot
immediately after installing an update, the bootup fails with
"Unable to find NTLDR file". Rebooting generally doesn't help, but this
time, anyway, unplugged machine for a while
and coldbooted, and it was fine. I think this was pretty much the routine
on past occurences.
Boot drive is ATA-100 on Highpoint controller.
I realize Windows updates may be a coincidence, but it's a pretty long one,
considering multiple events.
How can Win2k fail to find NTLDR on occasion when obviously, it's there?

Thanks, Bill

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I think this is the 4th time this machine has done this. On the reboot
immediately after installing an update, the bootup fails with
"Unable to find NTLDR file". Rebooting generally doesn't help, but this
time, anyway, unplugged machine for a while
and coldbooted, and it was fine. I think this was pretty much the routine
on past occurences.
Boot drive is ATA-100 on Highpoint controller.
I realize Windows updates may be a coincidence, but it's a pretty long one,
considering multiple events.
How can Win2k fail to find NTLDR on occasion when obviously, it's there?

Thanks, Bill

Perhaps because of a disk that's on the way out?

 

[Mrich]

I actually have that same problem and I solve it by unplugging the drive
belt and plugging it back in. Maybe it is time I changed my HDD which is
still under warranty.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I actually have that same problem and I solve it by unplugging the drive
belt and plugging it back in. Maybe it is time I changed my HDD which is
still under warranty.

Drive belt? Are you sure you're not talking about the
automatic transmission in your car?

 

[John John]

This problem may occur if the MFT root folder is severely fragmented.
See here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320397/

John

 

[Guest]

I, too, have received the message "NTLDR is missing" when attempting to
install to a brand new, clean, unformatted or partitioned hard drive. I had
to install Win 98 first, then Win 2k over it. This was a brand new copy of
Win 2k. I also received about 20 Microsoft Messenger Service popups
regarding registry cleaning immediately after installation. What is NTLDR
and why does it do this?

 

[John John]

Your problem is caused by a completely different set of circumstances,
the article mentioned earlier would not apply to your case.

The fix to your problem is to COMPLETELY wipe your drive clean and
install Windows 2000 CLEAN! You do not need to install Windows 98, then
upgraded it to Windows 2000 thereafter. Such upgrades are almost always
doomed to fail. Your registry cleaner popups are caused by existing
spyware and malware, pests that were on the computer before you
installed Windows 2000, or your computer is connected to the internet
without proper protection.

DISCONNECT the internet cable before you begin the Windows 2000
installation!!! Wipe the drive COMPLETELY clean and start again!

John

 

[Guest]

Thank you. I plan to do this this weekend. You are very wise to know that I
connect to the Internet with a cable. This cable was connected when I
installed Win 2k. I will disconnect it before I install Win 2k this weekend.

 

[John John]

You're welcome. Make sure that you install a firewall and the security
updates and patches suggested in the other posts before you connect the
internet cable. Don't install Windows 9x just to then upgrade it to
Windows 2000, that is absolutely unnecessary and will just cause you
nothing but endless problems.

John

 

[Mrich]

Sorry.

Drive belt? Are you sure you're not talking about the
automatic transmission in your car?