ntldr missing 1

[occas]

first time for this message. ty.

 

[itsgenekramer]

Don't mean to offend, but is there a floppy in when you boot up?

 

[occas]

no sir. and no offense.

 

[itsgenekramer]

Did you just upgrade or install Windows XP over W95, W98 or Win ME?

 

[occas]

no sir. but i have been having trouble with startup for quite sometime. i think i need to do a recovery console. fixboot.

 

[itsgenekramer]

Good place to start (and hopefully end)..Let me know.

Gene

 

[occas]

well, i go to the dentist in about half hour. then after that, my tax preparer. you think maybe i can hit 1 of 3? will be trying later today or this evening. depending on frame of mind. lol.

 

[occas]

question about recovery console please. my first time using it. when i entered it, it prompted my "Which windows installation would you like to log onto? it is expecting a number, i think. there is only space at the cursor to enter one character.

i want to run a fixboot. this thing threw me a curve ball. any help, ty.

 

[occas]

well, i got past the above. but my question now would be how do i know which partition? it tells me it is about to write to c partition am i sure. tyvm.

 

[itsgenekramer]

Sounds like your hard drive is partitioned. Also sounds like you have more than 1 version of windows on your PC. Is XP on the c: drive? If so, go ahead and write to that one.

 

[occas]

i will try to sum up what is the poor story of my startup the past month or more.

the system has for quite some time now started slowly. on the average, 4.5 minutes to be ready to access anything.

i have run a chkdsk, bootvis and now did the recovery console routine with fixboot. i am curious about one thing with the fixboot. when i typed "fixboot" at command prompt, it was almost instantananeous in completing that task. i was expecting something longer.

i don't know a whole lot about this stuff. not sure how to proceed.
ty.

 

[itsgenekramer]

You need to boot off of your XP CD. You will get an option to repair (eventually). There will be three options, choose repair system files and it will re-create system files to imclude the NTLDR file on the root of the drive. Reboot and it should fix it.

 

[occas]

i want to attempt this repair of system files. when i boot off the xp cd, how far into the setup do i have to go before i will come across the repair option? i tried once and thought i was getting awfully close to a complete installation and saw nothing about repair.
ty.

 

[linney]

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.


NTLDR is Missing:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm

 

[occas]

ty linney. would i be smart to try the ntldr routine 1st?

 

[linney]

Everything I have learnt was through trial and error. I have had lots of trials and many, many, errors.

It depends on you. The recommendations are a well worn path and can't make things any worse (normally). Perhaps you should be wary of any mechanical type repairs involving opening the machine up.

 

[jyotko]

When you boot from the Installation CD and after it loads all of the services you should get a prompt to either install windows or repair an old installation. when you see this prompt press the letter 'R'.

You should then see selections for various installations, hopefully you have only one. Select the number for the installation that needs to be repaired.

You should now be at the command prompt 'C:\WINDOWS\' or something similar.

Type 'CD \' to get to the root of your installation hard drive.

Type 'DIR' to get a directory listing and look for the files NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM. if these are not there then you need to install them.

Change to the CDROM drive - for me its 'D:' then hit the enter key.

change to the I386 directory.

type 'COPY NTLDR C:\' then hit the enter key

type 'COPY NTDETECT C:\' then hit the enter key.

type 'C:' then hit the enter key. you should now be at the root of your boot drive if you are booting off of C.

get another directory listing and verify that NTLDR and NTDETECT are in that location. If they aren't you probably copied them to your system-root which is either WINDOWS or WINNT. THey need to be in the root on the hard drive.

Reboot you computer from the hard drive. If XP doesn't start up then run the FIXBOOT and FIXMBR routines. If you aren't sure how to use them type HELP then the name of the command you want to use. For a list of commands just type HELP.

it might be a good idea to run CHDSK /R to fix any problems on the drive while you are it it.

 

[occas]

thanks to all.

 

[occas]

i have done about everything suggested. i reinstalled xp and updated windows. my startup remains at about 4.5 minutes. it usually hangs in 2 places. the "detecting ide drivers" and the screen with the xp logo.
today, it hung so long at the xp logo that i had to restart. wasn't timing it but must have been 10 minutes elapsed. i did get a screen saying windows had been closed abnormally and then it finally did load.

is there something else i can try? or perhaps do i have a hardware issue? ugh.
tyvm.

 

[linney]

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?). What are your boot times like if you boot into Safe Mode?

Is your Bios up to date? Try setting it to the Default.

Try running the compatibility checking program again from the XP CD.

Try running ChkDsk from within the Recovery Console if you haven't already.

Part of the Bootvis program should produce a graph of the time taken for drivers and programs to load. Can you use that to see which program or driver is loading slowly?

To get further information about any errors look in your Event viewer.

Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.

Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.

Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on these sites.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr.../prodtechnol/winxppro/support/EE_winxppro.asp

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

To check your RAM.

http://www.memtest86.com/

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

To check your hard drive.

Your drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic tools for checking your hard drive.


To check your drivers.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

To check conflicting software.

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

To check your computer for spyware and adware.

Spybot

http://security.kolla.de/

Ad-aware

http://www.lavasoft.nu

Hijack This

http://www.merijn.org/files/hijackthis.zip

To checkout services you are running.

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

XP temporary freeze after boot up
thread779-223070

314503 - Computer Stops Responding with a Black Screen When You Start Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314503&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

Maybe you are just going to end up having to reformat and fresh install XP?