What if I don't want to download a file from a website I don't trust?
If you want to make a floppy yourself, format it using a Windows NT/2000/XP computer (it can't be Windows 95/98/ME) and then get a copy of 3 files from a working Windows NT/2000/XP computer: NTLDR, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini come off the root of the C:\ drive. Either put those on the floppy and boot up with it, or somehow copy those to the C:\ drive of the broken computer.If you can't get access to those files, but still don't want to run an executable from a website off the internet, download and expand onto the floppy this zip file: fixntldr.zip.
What's in fixntldr.zip?
Two program files copied from a Windows XP installation named "ntldr" and "ntdetect.com" these assist in booting your existing installation.
And a text file named "boot.ini" that is what you use to make the selection of which partition and disk you are trying to boot from. The contents of boot.ini are as follows:
[Boot Loader]
timeout=30
Default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows
[Operating Systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="1ST TRY THIS seleccione esto primero" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\Windows="2ND TRY THIS essayez ceci en deuxieme" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\Windows="3RD TRY THIS wahlen Sie diesen Third" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(2)\Windows="4TH TRY THIS selezioni questo fourth" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\Windows="5TH TRY THIS selecione este fifth" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(3)\Windows="6TH TRY THIS seleccione este sexto" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\Windows="7TH TRY THIS essayez ceci en septieme" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(4)\Windows="8TH TRY THIS wahlen Sie dieses achte" /fastdetect
C:\="9TH TRY THIS selezioni questo nono"
D:\="10TH TRY THIS selecione este decimo"
winxp.ini has "Winxp" instead of Windows, and Winnt.ini has "Winnt" instead of Windows.
I threw in some Spanish / French / German / Italian / Portuguese for international flavor.
The contents of fixntldr.bat file is:
%systemdrive%
cd\
rename boot.ini boot.ini.bak
rename ntldr ntldr.bak
rename ntdetect.com ntdetect.com.bak
copy a:\boot.ini boot.ini /-Y
copy a:\ntldr ntldr /-Y
copy a:\ntdetect.com ntdetect.com /-Y
attrib boot.ini -h -r -s -a
attrib ntldr -h -r -s -a
attrib ntdetect.com -h -r -s -a
(It is renaming the files on C:, copying the files from A:, then removing the hidden, read only, system, and archive attributes. My sincere thanks to Jorge Toscano for providing the code for the bat file and the Portuguese translation) Go Back
What if my backup system is Linux or another alt OS?
Floppy: (fixntldr-winnt if you are using Windows 2000 or Windows NT4) FIXNTLDR ISO image for Windows NT4 and Windows 2000 (ntldrusb-winnt for Windows NT4 or 2000 or upgrades from)I made the disk an executable to make it easier to make a floppy. Of course that only works for Microsoft OS's. If you back up system is Linux or any other alternative operating system, then use xpnt4lix.zip / xpnt4lix.rar for Windows XP installs or 2knt4lix.zip / 2knt4lix.rar for Windows 2000 or NT4 installs, you will need to uncompress those files). (These are previous versions in case those img files don't work for you: fixntldrimg.zip or fixntldrimg.rar). You'll need a program like rawrite.exe (which works in DOS if you can get there from a Win98 boot disk) but for your OS. Read RedHat talk about making a floppy from an image (and I have it on good word that the command in linux is "dd if=filename.img of=/dev/fd0" or do a search on Google. You may also be able to do that linux command line in a Mac. But if you have an easy way to make a boot floppy on a Mac I don't know about, please let me know milescomer@gmail.com , or just send it along using one of the forms. If you give me a solution. I'll give you $10 from the pay pal account on this site.
If none of these options work for you, check out the What if I don't want to download a file from a website I don't trust? section to try and find a way you can create the disk yourself with your current configuration, then drop me a line to let me know how you did it. Go Back.
What if it was not named Windows but WINNT like in NT4 or 2000?
For a floppy: Instead of just the fixntldr.exe, use the fixntldr-winnt.exe file if your system is NT4, or 2000, or was upgraded from a previous installation of NT4 or 2000.For a CD-RW: fixntldriso4w2k.zip
For a USB drive: ntldrusb-winnt.zip Screenshots of every step of making the USB disk and boot with it
If you named your windows directory something like "shinyhappypeople" then open the boot.ini file and change any mention of "windows" to "shinyhappypeople" like so:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\shinyhappypeople="1ST TRY THIS"
Save changes, and put the disk back in and continue on trying the 10 choices. Go Back
What if I don't see this screen?
If you do not see the screen come up with the different selections and immediately goes back to the "NTLDR is missing, press any key to restart" error, then you will need to change the "boot order" in your systems BIOS to first select the Floppy Drive (sometimes called "Removable Media Drive") before it tries to boot to the Hard Disk (sometimes called "Fixed Disk" drive). If you are using the cd or usb solutions, move those before hard drive.To get to the BIOS, when the computer first starts try pressing the CTRL or ESC or END or DELETE or F1-12 keys to get it to stop trying to load windows and instead go to a screen that allows you to make configuration changes to your machine. Once there, try looking for a "Boot Order" screen that will list your floppy, cd-rom, and hard drives with a number, (typically 1-3), look for instructions on the screen on how to make changes, and move your floppy to 1 and CD-ROM to 2, find a way to exit and be sure to save your changes. Go Back
What if none of the options worked?
If using the boot disk to create a new MBR and NTLDR did not help, or copying the files to the root of the C:\ drive and you remove the disk and still get the message when you boot up, your options for a solution diverge into different areas. Then we know that the programs are fine, and the 3 startup files are fine, but perhaps the MBR is incorrect. Correcting the MBR takes a few different directions, choose any of the following sections:Installation CD Option
Performing a "Repair" installation of windows. Get an installation CD: (the full version of the Windows XP CD, the upgrade version is non-bootable). Start your computer with your XP (or 2000) CD (in your BIOS "Boot Sequence" the CD-Rom will need to be accessed before the hard drive, and a dialog will appear that says "Press any key to boot from CD..." and you need to press a key on the keyboard to have it begin booting from the CD)See screenshot of the repair install in action:
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic8356.html
Recovery Console Option
You can choose to repair a windows installation from the recovery console. Once you are logged in to your recovery console, select the number that represent your C: drive more than likely it will be 1. It will ask for your admin password, enter it you have one or just hit enter if you don't know it. Follow the recovery console instructions from here:http://www.5starsupport.com/faq/booting.htm#7-9
Also the bootcfg command can be used from the recovery console as a possible solution. The extent of the command is to lengthy to go into here, but feel free to google it:
http://www.google.com/search?q=bootcfg
Then try using the floppy again. Go Back.
Hardware Problems
If neither of those options worked, try checking your hardware, replace cables, try different power cable, ensure jumpers are on properly, ensure that the drive you want to boot from is on the Primary IDE connection (IDE 0) and is set as the first device on the IDE cable (Master). At best your data is still intact, so you can put the drive in another computer and back it up. You can most likely save your data, but if your okay with losing it, fdisk to erase all your partitions, recreate one as primary, set it to active, and format it, run sys c: and see if you can't reboot to at least a C:\ prompt.You also may be having hard drive failure problems, here's a handy thread to check for those problems:
http://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7602
Still nothing?
If your still looking for help, of all the other online write ups, I found this the most helpful (be sure to first select what you were doing that got you into the NTLDR situation):http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm
and
http://www.short-media.com
It's possible the hard drive itself has failed, and if that's the case, I heard one of the people on the MaximumPC podcast recommend this company for data recovery: http://www.quetek.com/ If reading stuff online feels like you are going in circles and you need some serious help, you can email me (milescomer@gmail.com) and I'll post your question and answer to my blog (anonymously of course).
. Go Back
What if the bootdisk worked, but I can't get into Windows without it?
Stop - Backup your important files - Then proceed
Try setting BIOS to default, reseating IDE cables, double checking all of your settings basically. Sometimes the NTLDR file will be sitting right in your Recycle Bin and you can just restore it.Inside Windows Option
Once back into Windows, right click on the My Computer option, choose the Manage option. The Computer Management window will open, click on "Disk Management" on the left pane. One of the disks it lists, and one of the drives on it, will need to be marked as active. It will be which drive letter you have placed the 3 boot files into (this will likely be the C: drive on Disk 0). Right click on that drive letter and select "Mark Partition as Active", you may first have to convert the partition to a Primary partition before you can mark it as active. Close and reboot.Mark Partition as Active with diskpart from Jim the Bean
If that doesn't work, go into "My Computer", right-click each hard drive, select "Properties", switch to the "Tools" tab, click the "Check Now" button, check both options then click "Start"; if you selected the system partition it will require it to be rebooted and done outside of Windows. When you reboot you will see a message about "Disk checking will begin in 7 seconds", let it do this and don't skip it. It may take awhile and will boot back into Windows when it's done.
If that doesn't immediately work, and you have more hard drives than just C:, try placing the 3 boot files into other drives like D:, E:, F:, etc. Reboot each time to check if that was the one that fixed it, and when you find the correct one, mark it as active. (step-by-step).
Win9x Boot Disk Option
Get a Win9x floppy and boot with it and when you get your A:\ prompt type:fdisk
and make sure that the correct partition and hard drive are labeled "active" (usually the first hard drive with the first partition).
If you had a Win 9x install on this machine you may need to also run the command: sys c: (or d, e, or f for the installation).
