Replacing the Boot Sector
If Ntldr is damaged or missing, or if the boot sector is corrupted, you can
resolve either problem by using the Recovery Console.
To start the computer and use the Recovery Console to replace the boot sector
1.. Insert the Windows XP Professional Setup CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
2.. Restart the computer. If prompted to press a key to start the computer
from the CD-ROM, press the appropriate key.
3.. When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Press the R
key to repair a Windows XP Professional installation.
4.. If you are repairing a system that has more than one operating system
installed, from the Recovery Console choose the Windows XP Professional
installation that you need to repair.
Note
a.. If you press ENTER without typing a number, the Recovery Console quits
and restarts the computer.
b.. The Recovery Console might also show valid installations of Windows NT
4.0. However, the results of attempting to access a Windows NT 4.0 installation
can be unpredictable.
5.. When prompted, type the Administrator password. If you do not have the
correct password, or if the security database for the installation of Windows XP
Professional that you are attempting to access is corrupted, Recovery Console
does not allow access to the local disks and you cannot replace the boot sector.
6.. To replace the boot sector, at the Recovery Console command prompt, type:
fixboot [drive:]If you do not specify a drive letter, the Recovery Console
replaces the boot sector of the system volume. If you need to replace the boot
sector of a volume that is not the system volume, then you must specify the
appropriate drive letter.
right off the XP help site!!!
Using a Disk Editor to Replace the Boot Sector
If the boot sector is not from the boot volume on the hard disk, you can use
several methods to replace it. If you backed up the boot sector by using
DiskProbe, then restoring it by using DiskProbe is the fastest method.
If you want to replace the boot sector on an NTFS volume, you have another
alternative. When you create or reformat an existing volume as an NTFS volume,
NTFS writes a duplicate of the boot sector in the following location:
a.. At the end of the volume on volumes formatted with Windows XP
Professional, Windows 2000, and Windows NT 4.0.
b.. At the logical center of the volume on disks formatted with Windows NT
3.51 and earlier.
You can use DiskProbe to locate and copy a duplicate boot sector to the
beginning of the volume. There are also third-party MS-DOS-based disk tools that
you can use to locate and copy this backup boot sector to the primary boot
sector on the volume.
For specifically replacing corrupted boot sectors from boot volumes, DiskProbe
is not always an option. Unless you created a Windows XP Professional startup
floppy disk, you cannot start Windows XP Professional, which is required by
DiskProbe. You can use a third-party MS-DOS-based, low-level disk editor to
restore the backup boot sector.
For more information about creating a startup floppy disk, see article 119467,
"How to Create a Bootable Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition." To find this
article, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base link on the Web Resources page at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources.
peter
elgordo said:
I've been trying to get help/advice for 3 weeks now. Win XP OS failed . May be
virus but have up to dat PcCillin av.
Cant repair with CD, only reinstall. Says "NTLDR missing Press ctrl alt del to restart "
I want to try to save files. When run as a slave nothing appears on win
explorerbut the disc still shows partition with 16gig used. Help?
