NTLDR IS MISSING !!! press ctrl+alt+del to...

[M4K4V3L1]

Hi there,

I got a 100gb Maxtor hard drive(in computerA) that I reformatted(using computerB)(put back into computerA with winxp pro)wouldn't work. thinking it was my installation on a completely different set of hardware I decided to try a different approach to formatting the harddrive, by inserting it into an external case, plugging it in as a portable drive(to computerB) then right click and format.thinking I now have a clean slate to put back into computerA and install windows, I was unaware that I had erased files required to boot from (NTLDR etc.) my question is... How do I get (atleast) those files back in a proper directory where the BIOS can function and allow me to boot from a CD(windows setup) ??? p.s. I can possibly make floppy recovery disks if needed found a USB floppy drive lying around (no internal on ComputerB newer computer).

 

[meridianadmin0000]

That ntldr message usually means you left a non bootable floppy in the drive, to do anything you need to boot from something.

 

[Freestone]

You don't need any files on a hard drive to boot from an XP CD. Look in BIOS Boot Devices or Startup Devices or something similarly labelled and ensure the CD-ROM is listed. If it is already there, try moving it up so it is accessed before the hard-drive. When booted, the XP CD will give a short prompt "Press any key to boot from CD". Press the spacebar or something at that point to continue the XP CD boot.