NTLDR Missing (Windows XP)

photoguy1 · Jan 26, 2014

I just got the error: "ntldr is missing."
I put my XP disc in my "D" drive and re-booted. I pressed enter and windows opened from the disc. I pressed "R" for Recovery. It asked for the version and entered "1".

I read that the next step should be where it asks for my administrative password, but it doesn't. It just goes to a C prompt. When I enter the fix (copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\), it say "access denied."

Can someone tell me what went wrong? Is it denying access because it doesn't have my password? But, it didn't ask for it and just went to a C prompt.

Please help!!!
Marty

mi1ez · Jan 26, 2014

did you try running SFC?

photoguy1 · Jan 26, 2014

I don't know how to do that.

RaDiKaL_ · Jan 26, 2014

I don't know how to solve that "access denied" issue, if no one shows up clearing you how to solve it you could copy the ntldr and ntdetect.com files from your windows XP cd to a pendrive, then boot your pc with Hiren's Boot Mini Windows XP, once inside you should be able to overwrite those files with the ones in your pendrive (make sure to have plugged the pendrive before booting with Hiren's Boot so it can detect it).

photoguy1 · Jan 26, 2014

To mi1ez,
Can you tell me how to get into the SFC files? Right now I am in the recovery window. It will ask for what installation, which is 1. Then, there will be a c prompt. Can I get into the SFC files from there?

mi1ez · Jan 26, 2014

at the C:\> prompt, type in

sfc /scannow

maxwellmelon · Jan 26, 2014

just wondering did you make any changes to your bios settings or anything else before you started getting this issue?

photoguy1 · Jan 26, 2014

I tried it, but it says not recognized. I typed sfc /scannow (with the space between sfc). I'm sorry for not knowing that much about this.
With the c prompt it looked like this:
c:\windows>sfc /scannow

photoguy1 · Jan 26, 2014

maxwellmelon :

No, I didn't do anything other than start my computer.

maxwellmelon · Jan 26, 2014

are u sure your cd drive is assigned the letter d? try typing D:\dir and see if your cd drive shows activity and list the continents of the drive. sometimes when booting into recovery your drive letter will change to E or even F
try "e:\i386\ntldr c:\" oh and xp doesn't require admin login that wasn't till vista onward.

photoguy1 · Jan 26, 2014

maxwellmelon :

The prompt is: C:\WINDOWS>
I just tried typing in every letter in front of that prompt (c:\dir, d:\dir, e,f,g, etc) and they all say the command is not recognized.

mi1ez · Jan 26, 2014

photoguy1 :

maxwellmelon :

The prompt is: C:\WINDOWS>
I just tried typing in every letter in front of that prompt (c:\dir, d:\dir, e,f,g, etc) and they all say the command is not recognized.

The command should be:

dir d:

so it would look like this:

C:\WINDOWS>dir d:

photoguy1 · Jan 26, 2014

mi1ez :

Thanks! That worked. So, now I'm a little confused. Can you tell me again how to get into the sfc files and what I should enter to repair? The xp disc is now on "E" and not "D" as before.

mi1ez · Jan 27, 2014

if you type in scf /scannow it should do it automatically.

if that doesn't work, try the following instead:

sfc /SCANNOW /OFFBOOTDIR=c:\ /OFFWINDIR=c:\windows

photoguy1 · Jan 27, 2014

mi1ez :

Hi,
I just got home. I couldn't figure this out last night. I realize that one small error in entering the info won't work. Am I entering the above with the c prompt or the directory the disc is in? This is what I tried last night:
(the prompt starts as: C:\WINDOWS>). So, I entered as follows:
C:\WINDOWS>sfc /SCANNOW . It says not recognized. I even tried the other above and the same thing. Am I doing something wrong?

Saga Lout · Jan 28, 2014

If you're looking at a C:\ prompt, type e: and press enter. Then you can use the sfc /scannow command.

That said, as you're lucky enough to have an XP CD (many folks didn't get one from Dell, HP etc.) it's just as qulck to replace the missing files yourself. Also, if you have another XP system running, you can take copies of the files from that and put them on a flash drive. Then ut that intot the affected system, find which drive letter it has and copy the files into the root of C:. You'll need NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, io.sy, config.sys and BOOT.INI.

I advise anyone with an XP system to have spare copies of all those files on a flash drive, ready for when this happens to them, because I firmly believe it will happen to them!

photoguy1 · Jan 28, 2014

Saga Lout :

Hi,
I typed E:. Then I typed:
E:\sfc /SCANNOW
It still says command not recognized. I tried this with C:\windows> and also with D:\>, F:\> and still the same. I really don't know what to do now.

xcrossroadsx · Jan 29, 2014

You won't be able to run sfc from the Windows XP recovery environment, as sfc isn't included in the RE. To fix our issue with ntldr, we need to get known good copies of both ntldr and ntdetect.com . First, we want to make sure that both aren't on the root of our os drive. To do so, go to the root of your c drive (enter "c:" then "cd.." until it just reads c:>") and enter "dir nt*" if you see either in the output, enter "attrib ntldr -h -s -r" then "del ntldr" and the same for ntdetect.com. If they aren't there, just proceed to the next step. Next, we want to copy the files from our install media to the root of the drive. To do so, just enter "copy #:\i386\ntldr c:\" and "copy #:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\" where # is the drive letter assigned to the disk drive with your Windows XP disk in it. This should resolve your issue.

photoguy1 · Jan 29, 2014

xcrossroadsx :

Right now I am in the recovery mode. It reads: C:\WINDOWS>

I can't get it to just read C:>. When I enter "C:" it just keeps going back to C:\WINDOWS>. I tried entering "cd..", but it doesn't work. (THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!).

photoguy1 · Jan 29, 2014

Oops! I didn't realize that you said I can't access this from the cd recovery. Sorry! Now I'm more lost. When I reboot, I have two options. One is F2 or F12. With F12 Boot Device Menu, I don't know what option to pick. System setup, HD Diagnostics or Boot to Utility Partition. Can you walk me through it? How do I get to the simple C prompt?

Saga Lout · Jan 29, 2014

How do I get to the simple C prompt?

CD won't do it - it's CD\c: then press Enter but if that fails, try CHDIR\ c:. However, while you're in c:\windows, you cold use the same command to navigate to c:\windows\service pack files\i386 then use the syntax
copy ntldr c:\ntldr and press Enter.
When you get the confirmation that's been done, use the same command but change ntldr to ntdetect.com.

I hope you're lucky and will get away with putting in new NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM but I rather fear you'll then be told the name of the next flie the system can't find.

photoguy1 · Jan 29, 2014

Saga Lout :

Hi,
Can you be more specific in the exact writing of the text. I don't understand when you say "use the syntax."

Right now, I am in the recovery mode and it shows: C:\WINDOWS>
Did you want me to type in CD\c: in front of the above prompt? I tried it, but didn't work. It says: command not recognized. I then tried: CHDIR\c: Same thing.

When you suggested the command: c:\windows\service pack.... Do you mean I type what you wrote in front of C:\WINDOWS> or are you including the C\WINDOWS prompt?

If I have the prompt already as: C:|WINDOWS> , can you type out exactly how everything should be typed?
THANKS!!!

maxwellmelon · Jan 29, 2014

cd C:\
cd(space here)C:\

don't forget the slash
so you would have
C:\windows>cd C:\

I have a question you say you have 3 options. under system setup or utility partition is there anything that says system recovery or system repair or something like that, that might be the key to fixing your system. (if you see like factory rest or restore options is not what you want as it will wipe your data. if you get anything that pops up a warning about erasing or formatting drives select ***do not continue***** manufactures are good about making this warnings just make sure you read them.)

mi1ez · Jan 29, 2014

The command would be:

CD C:

There is no backslash after a CD (change directory) command.

I believe the command he's trying to explain would be:

COPY c:\windows\service pack files\i386\ntldr c:\ntldr

Make sure the spaces are all in place.

mi1ez · Jan 29, 2014

Actually, that probably won't work, you may need to use:

COPY c:\windows\servic~1\i386\ntldr c:\ntldr

NTLDR Missing (Windows XP)

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