[SOLVED] NTLDR is missing - [UNSOLVED] Missing linux drivers

[middeneast]

Okay.

Yesterday I got here because one of my RAM modules was broken, and all the people who helped me: thanks!

Anyhow, yesterday I also mentionned this problem in the same thread, and it wasnt solved, but I was too sick of my computer to actually care.


Heres the problem:
I have 4 partitions:
C: -> Windows XP Pro
D: -> Development Drive
E: -> Games & Music
F: -> Empty (I kept it free, in case Linux might become compatible with my computer)

I installed Vista on the F: , it sucked, it crashed, it messed up my computer,
I had to reinstall Windows XP Pro on the C drive and right before that I erased Vista off my F: drive.

Then I had a lot of messing around putting cd's in, i seriously cant recall what I did to my computer and all, but here I am:

Windows XP Pro is installed on my C: drive, and my F: drive is empty again. Every time I boot my computer, it says "NTLDR is missing." and I understand this should be fixed with putting those files back on the C: drive, but that didnt help. and I do intend on keeping my F: drive clean for now.

HOWEVER! If i insert a bootable disk into my dvd drive, and i let it run out of time (Press any button to... blablabla) then my computer does start in Windows XP.

Now, I left it as is for now, since i really couldnt be bothered to have a crack at it, but i really dont want a windows cd or my mainboard cd (strangly any bootable cd works with this) hanging around in my computer at all times....


Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[middeneast]

I also forgot to mention that installing or repairing Windows doesnt solve the problem, as I've done this at least 15 times over the last 2 days. No kidding.

 

[Covered_in_bees]

This link should help: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm

They identify the cause of the problem, and how to fix it.

 

[middeneast]

Heh actually, its funny, I came across the same site some minutes before, but it didnt seem to help me at all. Ahh well, i'll live with the cd permanently stuck in the dvd drive

 

[mdd1963]

"I also forgot to mention that installing or repairing Windows doesnt solve the problem, as I've done this at least 15 times over the last 2 days. No kidding."

I suspect the Vista install put references on the C drive to a dual boot menu on your other drive, which is now empty...

If you delete the current C partition from within XP setup, then start create/reformat a new C partition and then simply reinstall under your C drive, that will darn well remove all references to anything!

 

[middeneast]

Heh. thanks. No idea why i didnt do that myself. but thanks

 

[ecosoft]

Dude:

Ya' need to edit your C drive root directory "boot.ini" and remove references to anything other than your XP-Pro on C:

 

[middeneast]

Lol, dude, smartass, whatever ya' callin' me.

My boot.ini was under the F: drive. I reformatted it. I deleted the partition. I threw it out of the window. I did the same with C:. I got rid of it. Nothing to do with the boot.ini..

But thanks though anyways.

 

[purelithium]

Is the C: drive a SATA drive? if so, then you'll have to remove every drive except for the drive that windows is being installed on. Sometimes windows will accidentally install the files required for boot on another drive other than the one that has the OS installed.

Windows has the worst installer i've ever seen. It hasn't changed(or changed very little)since Win95....

 

[middeneast]

Hahah worst installer... so true... Well, actually, I don't know. I've looked at the beta version of Vista, and I must say, I was absolutely horrified! Couldn't see anything else but a terrifying background which was made out of some squiggely lines, and there was a progress to "estimate" how far i was into the installation.


That all ofcourse, before the installation crashed.


Anyhow. Yeah. I've got 2 S-ATA drives, and with that I got everything fixed, thanks a lot!

 

[Rustol3um]

here is my suggestion...not trying to be a smart ass or anything but if I was in your position I would back up all relevant data that you need and zero out your HDD and start over......it sounds like a big ole mess up in there...

 

[middeneast]

Heheh thanks. I dont know what the crap happened there. But hey. Anyways:

Well... these are two 300Gb hd's i recently bought cause I was running out of space the whole time on my 160Gb HD and my 120Gb HD. Now, dont ask my how, but somehow I already got nearly 1 HD filled with junk.

Junk that I wanna keep

But ahh well, I'll get rid of all of my system drives, and reformat them,

and as far as my problem goes, my NTLDR is solved guys
Its been solved for the last 3-4 posts But thanks
Cya around!

 

[purelithium]

Almost any Linux distribution has a better/more intuitive installer than the XP one. You can actually choose where to partition and where the boot sector/ MBR will be written. Quite the change from microsoft's "don't let the idiots tamper with anything" attitude.

 

[middeneast]

I know, I know =( *sob* but so far, none of the linux distrubs have ever worked on my pc so far. Neither have all the other Windows.. so far only Windows XP Pro SP2 seemed to work on my new pc.

Very weird.

Mandriva 2006: Crashes during installation
Mandriva 2005: Crashes right after installation
OpenSUSE 10.2: Crashes during installation
Windows Vista: Cruashes during installation
Windows XP Pro SP2 Repack: Blue screen right after installation
Windows XP Pro SP3 Repack: Blue screen right after installation
Windows XP Pro x64: Dont know what happened. Dont even ask.
Windows XP Pro SP2: Works fine..

So yeah...

And the "don't let idiots tamper with anything" attitude gets even worse in Vista. There I just had a crappy background and a progress bar which was probably supposed to estimate how far into the installation i was... meh!

Note:
Shizzle, I'm repeating myself :roll:

 

[DragonDoc]

I know, I know =( *sob* but so far, none of the linux distrubs have ever worked on my pc so far. Neither have all the other Windows.. so far only Windows XP Pro SP2 seemed to work on my new pc.

Very weird.

Mandriva 2006: Crashes during installation
Mandriva 2005: Crashes right after installation
OpenSUSE 10.2: Crashes during installation
Windows Vista: Cruashes during installation
Windows SP2 Repack: Blue screen right after installation
Windows SP3 Repack: Blue screen right after installation
Windows x64: Dont know what happened. Dont even ask.
Windows XP Pro SP2: Works

So yeah...

And the "don't let idiots tamper with anything" attitude gets even worse in Vista. There I just had a crappy background and a progress bar which was probably supposed to estimate how far into the installation i was... meh!

Note:
Shizzle, I'm repeating myself :roll:

It sounds to me that you have driver problems. What kind of system are you running (other than the 2 300GB SATA drives)? :?:
My guess is that the drives are WD? :?:

 

[purelithium]

Wow, that's surprising. What are the specs of your system, I know some of the Mandriva developers, and maybe I can pass on some info to them I am a big supporter of the Mandriva scene, and I do what I can to help people out with it.

Just let me know what your system specs are and what you're experiencing (kernel panic, xorg crashes, etc.) I'll be glad to pass it on and let you know if I know of any solutions.

 

[middeneast]

Well, yea... I'm really surprised since my hardware isnt that unique at all
(thanks by the way)

This is it:
Asus A8N-SLI Premium
AMD 64 3500+
XFX GeForce 7800GT
2 x Maxtor Diamondmax 10 S-ATA 300GB(hàh! No WD )
Creative Audigy 2
2Gb Corsair 3500LL Pro (at the moment only 1Gb)

... and my cd drives, I dont really know; they came with my Dell and they're pretty much unknown to me, apart from that one of them is a NEC, but i guess it shouldnt matter too much...


Sorry it took so long to answer, I live in Europe and it was getting late..

Thanks!

 

[middeneast]

The sad thing is that my Dell, and even my really old computer both work with linux. and its true, for my old computer Mandriva is pretty nifty, because windows cant run my that hardware anymore; just gives me blue screens
but Mandriva, hohoho, that one revived my old computer. yes it did! *pets old computer* good boy!

Anyways.

 

[purelithium]

Hmm... that's quite strange, because I had that same motherboard and things worked fine for me for about 3 months when I sold it because I didn't need all the fancy features it had

What sort of problems were you having? Would the install actually finish? or did it fail during the installation? If you could try and load it back on, and if the install finishes, make sure you select "failsafe" mode from the lilo menu during boot up, that will give a text boot and will let me know what's actually going wrong.

I love Mandriva as well. I used it on an old K6-2 333 I had running my website before, until the processor finally gave out.

 

[joecool123]

I had the same problem and found the fix here http://biginfo.org/xx-driverlinux.php