Weird NTLDR error after install of XP ==> Vista to multi-HDD machi

[Guest]

I just replaced the MoBo/CPU/GPU/Memory on a machine that was running Windows
XP Pro from a striped RAID array on the onboard Promise SATA controller of an
Asus P4PE MoBo. The machine had 2 other EIDE HDDs in addition to the SATA
RAID array. One of these (a 40 GB disk) was used for data backup, and the
other (an old 8GB) was just sort of hanging around. After backing up about 80
gb of data to the 40 gb disk plus another external HDD, I replaced the
hardware, and as I sort of expected, the new MoBo's (Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9
SLI) SATA controller did not recognize the old array. So I installed XP pro
to the old 8GB disk, since the 40 GB one had important data on it, in order
to use that installation to re-format the RAID array for the new SATA
controller. At this point, I started having an odd problem, which is that if
I tried to boot directly off the newly installed OS on the 8GB disk, I would
get the error message "NTLDR Missing, press ctl+alt+del to restart". If,
however, the XP install CD was in the drive and "CD ROM" was ahead of "HDD"
in the BIOS boot order, I could boot my installation of XP just fine.
Assuming this was an issue with the old disk, I went ahead and did another
clean install of XP to the newly formatted RAID array, which I had intended
to be the system disk again. I then unplugged the old 8GB HDD and threw it in
my dead tech pile, and tried to re-start off of the RAID array. It now seemed
to work OK, except that I would get this strange dual-boot choice screen as I
booted, and I was prompted to select from one of two apparent installs of XP,
only one of which worked. Undeterred, I went ahead and installed Vista Home
Pemium upgrade over the XP pro on the RAID array (a new clean install was
required), and tried again. This time, the NTLDR error came back . Futzing
around with the BIOS, I then discovered that if I put the 40 GB HDD, which I
had thought contained nothing but backup data, ahead of the RAID array in the
boot order, I would again get the dual-boot choice screen, this time with XP
and Vista as the options. Selecting Vista would cause the system to boot up
just fine using the VISTA on the RAID array, but the old 40 GB drive, which
definitely did not have the OS on it, was listed as drive C by the system.
Thinking this must have to do with my RAID setup and some resultant
corruption of the boot sector, I bought yet another SATA HDD (320 GB), and
tried to clone my system onto that. I now have two Vista system disks that
will only load the OS if the old 40GB disk with no OS on it is first in the
boot order. Just to eliminate the obvious bozo hypothesis, I cannot boot just
the 40 GB disk either, so there is definitely no Vista or other OS on it that
I accidentally installed there. So:

1) what the heck is going on???

and

2) How can I fix this, preferably without starting from scratch again?

Thanx much for any help.

 

[Andy]

I just replaced the MoBo/CPU/GPU/Memory on a machine that was running Windows
XP Pro from a striped RAID array on the onboard Promise SATA controller of an
Asus P4PE MoBo. The machine had 2 other EIDE HDDs in addition to the SATA
RAID array. One of these (a 40 GB disk) was used for data backup, and the
other (an old 8GB) was just sort of hanging around. After backing up about 80
gb of data to the 40 gb disk plus another external HDD, I replaced the
hardware, and as I sort of expected, the new MoBo's (Abit Fatal1ty FP-IN9
SLI) SATA controller did not recognize the old array. So I installed XP pro
to the old 8GB disk, since the 40 GB one had important data on it, in order
to use that installation to re-format the RAID array for the new SATA
controller. At this point, I started having an odd problem, which is that if
I tried to boot directly off the newly installed OS on the 8GB disk, I would
get the error message "NTLDR Missing, press ctl+alt+del to restart". If,
however, the XP install CD was in the drive and "CD ROM" was ahead of "HDD"
in the BIOS boot order, I could boot my installation of XP just fine.
Assuming this was an issue with the old disk, I went ahead and did another
clean install of XP to the newly formatted RAID array, which I had intended
to be the system disk again. I then unplugged the old 8GB HDD and threw it in
my dead tech pile, and tried to re-start off of the RAID array. It now seemed
to work OK, except that I would get this strange dual-boot choice screen as I
booted, and I was prompted to select from one of two apparent installs of XP,
only one of which worked. Undeterred, I went ahead and installed Vista Home
Pemium upgrade over the XP pro on the RAID array (a new clean install was
required), and tried again. This time, the NTLDR error came back . Futzing
around with the BIOS, I then discovered that if I put the 40 GB HDD, which I
had thought contained nothing but backup data, ahead of the RAID array in the
boot order, I would again get the dual-boot choice screen, this time with XP
and Vista as the options. Selecting Vista would cause the system to boot up
just fine using the VISTA on the RAID array, but the old 40 GB drive, which
definitely did not have the OS on it, was listed as drive C by the system.
Thinking this must have to do with my RAID setup and some resultant
corruption of the boot sector, I bought yet another SATA HDD (320 GB), and
tried to clone my system onto that. I now have two Vista system disks that
will only load the OS if the old 40GB disk with no OS on it is first in the
boot order. Just to eliminate the obvious bozo hypothesis, I cannot boot just
the 40 GB disk either, so there is definitely no Vista or other OS on it that
I accidentally installed there. So:

1) what the heck is going on???

Sounds like the 40GB disk has always contained the System partition
(as identified by Disk Management), which is the active primary
partition of the disk that the BIOS boots.

and

2) How can I fix this, preferably without starting from scratch again?

Normally, the disk that is placed at the top of the Hard Disk Boot
Priority BIOS setting when the operating system is installed should
contain the System partition. In other words, Windows setup should
store the boot files in the active primary partition of that disk.

 

[Guest]

--
Herb K


:

Sounds like the 40GB disk has always contained the System partition
(as identified by Disk Management), which is the active primary
partition of the disk that the BIOS boots.



Normally, the disk that is placed at the top of the Hard Disk Boot
Priority BIOS setting when the operating system is installed should
contain the System partition. In other words, Windows setup should
store the boot files in the active primary partition of that disk.

Well, I guess that answers my first question. So if the BIOS has a different
disk at the top of its boot order from the one you asked the Windows
installer to put Windows on, the installer just goes ahead and puts the
system partition on that different disk without saying anything? That's just
swell! Thanks, Bill!

So (dare I ask) do you know if there any way to transfer that partition to
the disk that actually has the system on it without starting from scratch? I
must have spent a good 6 hours already transferring data and installing
apps/drivers.

 

[John Barnes]

If it really bothers you to have the current system drive, change the system
drive to what one you want (first HD in boot priority and the active primary
partition on it), then using your Vista install DVD, work thru the install
process until you get to the repair options and run startup repair. You may
need to run it as many as 3-4 times, so be patient. That will install your
Vista boot files to the drive (partition) you have selected above as the
system partition. Windows has always installed the boot files on the system
partition so nothing new about that.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that advice. Unfortunately, it didn't quite fix the problem. Just
putting the drive I wanted to have the system on first in the BIOS boot order
didn't work at all, because Vista Install detected the boot files on the
other disk no matter where it was. When I actually unplugged all the other
disks, I was able to get to the point where the OS put up the user account
screen, but then hung trying to load the desktop of any of the user accounts.
Strangely, this was fixed by plugging not the 40GB disk that had had the
previous boot record, but the RAID array that had a mirror image of the disk
I was trying to repair on it. In that configuration, this was the D: disk,
which was the one that had had the OS installed on it in the previous
messed-up configuration. When I looked through System Iformation in the
current configuration, I discovered that different modules of the OS had been
loaded from different disks, some from C: and some from D: (!). Of course,
these disks are nearly identical at this point, both having complete
installation of Vista on them. Apparently, the OS still thinks it should be
loading large parts of itself from D: and not C:

So has anybody got an answer for that? I'm starting to think that starting
over is the best option at this point. I must say that it seems ridiculous to
me that Vista/XP can't seem to install themselves to a single HDD unless
there is only one to begin with or else the BIOS is configured with the
target HDD a the top of the boot order. They should at least explain this
somewhere in the introductory screens. Failing that, they should have some
utility available to fix this highly predictable error without wiping
everything. My opinion of Microsoft is plummetting.

 

[John Barnes]

There is no solution for that. When you copy the OS and it ends up
enumerating as a different drive letter than the original, you are out of
luck. Under other circumstances, you could recopy and reorder your drives
to accomplish proper enumeration, but I am not sure this would be possible
with the mix of IDE and SATA and RAID. If you wanted to try, you can get
the information in the Knowledgebase on how enumeration takes place. Good
luck.