Asked By
kristen75
10 points
N/A
Posted on - 03/03/2011
I am using an HP Pavilion laptop with Windows XP on it. Last night, I was working on some projects and shut down my computer after working. This morning, when I am about to check on my project, I could not open it and there is an error that says:
NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart.
Pressing those keys will just restart my computer and brings me back to the same black screen with the same error. How can I fix it? I need my project ASAP.
Answered By
ken0515
0 points
N/A
#121140
I am getting ntldr is missing error
The main cause of this error is when there are various files that are copied to the root folder of the boot volume that utilizes the NTFS file system. Removing those files on the root folder , will not lessen the default size of the Master File Tablet allocation index. NTLDR error will incur when the Master File Tablet root folder is strictly fragmented. If it consists of many files, it will become fragmented and allocation index will be added. Files are mapped accordingly under the allocation indexes, the NTLDR will be place on the next allocation index. NTLDR is a boot loader for Windows so it should be place on the first index. To fix this issue, you can do the following:
1. Contact the MS Customer Support Services to get the BCupdate2.exe utility.
2. Make a boot disk to start your computer. Refer to the Microsoft page on how to make a bootable disk for NTFS or FAT partition in XP.
3. Launch the Command Prompt and extract the BCupdate2.exe utility. Type the following command:
Expand drive_letter:bcupdate2.ex_drive_letter:bcupdate2.exe
4. Update the boot code of the NTFS boot sector. Type the following command on the Command Prompt:
Bcupdate2.exe C: /F
5. Confirm when prompted to update the volume.
Alternatively, you can also recover your system if you have the Windows XP CD. Just simply boot from your CD-ROM drive and press R to open the Recovery Console. Choose the installation that you wish to fix and then follow the steps below:
1. Assuming that the CD-ROM drive is labeled as Drive E: and your hard drive is drive C:, change the drive letters accordingly:
Type: COPY E:i386ntldr C: and then press the Enter key.
Type COPY E:i386ntdetect.com C: and then press the Enter key.
2. Take the CD out from your CD-ROM and then type EXIT and restart your computer.
I am getting ntldr is missing error
The message “NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart” is normally thrown when a computer running on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 is unable to boot the computer. This message is thrown if the NTLDR is not found on the root of the system drive or is corrupt. There are several reasons why this error is thrown.
One reason is if the computer is booting from a non-bootable hard drive. Another reason is if the NTLDR file or any of its related files (NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, and Boot.ini) are corrupt or missing from the root of the system drive. It is also possible to get this error if the active partition on the hard drive is configured incorrectly.
You can also get this error if the root of the system drive has too many files in it. One way of fixing it is by replacing the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files using the Windows installation media. If you are using Windows XP, insert the Windows XP setup CD on the optical drive and restart the computer from the disc.
Press any key to boot from the CD. When you see the Windows Options menu, press “R” to access “Repair Console”. Next, when you are prompted with “Which Windows installation would you like to log onto”, press “1” and then type your administrator password. Enter without quotes “copy D:i386ntldr C:” then hit Enter.
This will copy the original “NTLDR” file from the CD to the root of your system drive. After this, enter without quotes “copy D:i386ntdetect.com C:” then hit Enter. This will now copy the original “NTDETECT.COM” file from the CD to the root of your system drive. Note: “D:” is the drive letter of your Windows setup CD and “C:” is the drive letter of your system drive.
If your optical drive is not letter D, replace “D:” with the correct drive letter of your optical drive, for example, “E:”. After copying the files, remove the disc from the optical drive and restart your computer. See if this fixes the problem.