"NTLDR not found" - don't give up too soon

Matera the Mad · 1st January 2008, 12:17 PM

A friend of mine recently lost every bit of data on her hard drive. During Cristmas, the computer would not boot. It displayed the horrifying blackscreen message "NTLDR not found." This is not a certain sign of doom, it can happen for many reasons. The NTLDR file (NT LoaDeR) may have been corrupted or accidentally deleted. Happens to the best of systems, act of God sort of thing. Then again, it might be something wrong with the MBR (Master Boot Record) section of the hard drive - but that can often be fixed.

Anyway...another friend of theirs tinkered around and apparently totally wiped the drive. I think he thought that he could use a DOS floppy.... Wottever. Data is toast.

The moral of the story is, start with the least destructive methods and have the tools ready, or know someone who does and has the knowhow. Go to:
Simple "ntldr is missing" fix with boot floppy, CD-R, or USB flash
Read it and download the fixers, make disks, put them somewhere handy.

A Windows installation CD, full, not upgrade version, of the same flavor as your comatose operating system might do the trick. It doesn't have to be your own. If you didn't get one with your computer, borrow one. The important thing is that you can pop it in and boot it and do a "repair" installation.

Also:

1. Always keep a backup of your most important data! You don't need a huge external drive just for crucial documents and the small treasures that keep you from having to call Microsoft if you need to re-install Windwoes.

2. Get, make, borrow - whatever - bootable disks for emergency use. A BartPE CD, the Ultimate Boot Disk, a live Linux CD; anything that you can use to take a look at your hard drive. If it is readable at all, you will be able to salvage files at least.

3. If at all possible, always partition your hard drive. Often backups on another partition survive when Windows goes belly-up. Gparted, a Linux partitioning utility, can divide up a drive that already has Windows installed. I did it with mine.

**Maksa** · 3rd January 2008, 08:10 PM

Thanks for sharing great info Matera. yeh it's always better to keep backup. i had smiler problem once. so this Xmas's i purchased buffalo ministation 160GB. It's really cool USB HDD for backups

Matera the Mad · 6th January 2008, 06:54 AM

w00t! That's purrretty.

Now - can you guess what was wrong with that poor little computer? I've been working on it for a couple of days, trying to re-install Windwoes. The installation kept bluescreening out at the exact same part of the process. I tried all sorts of trix-n-hax. I finally hit the jackpot. I put in a different hard drive, and got the same error. But that jiggled my brain loose enough to see the real problem. Guess what:

Some darn idjit had twisted a cable too much. The tiny wires in ribbon cables are easily damaged. I switched cables, used a newer one to connect the HD. Zzziiip! No more problems. To think that a whole drive-full of stuff was lost because of a tiny wire getting damaged from too much bending!

Now I know if I had been the first to get at that machine, I could have saved the whole works.

**Maksa** · 6th January 2008, 05:28 PM

it happens even sometimes it's hard to find problem

but we learn everyday from our mistakes.....

1st January 2008, 12:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
Matera the Mad Maksa's Grany Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: in my computer Posts: 255	"NTLDR not found" - don't give up too soon A friend of mine recently lost every bit of data on her hard drive. During Cristmas, the computer would not boot. It displayed the horrifying blackscreen message "NTLDR not found." This is not a certain sign of doom, it can happen for many reasons. The NTLDR file (NT LoaDeR) may have been corrupted or accidentally deleted. Happens to the best of systems, act of God sort of thing. Then again, it might be something wrong with the MBR (Master Boot Record) section of the hard drive - but that can often be fixed. Anyway...another friend of theirs tinkered around and apparently totally wiped the drive. I think he thought that he could use a DOS floppy.... Wottever. Data is toast. The moral of the story is, start with the least destructive methods and have the tools ready, or know someone who does and has the knowhow. Go to: Simple "ntldr is missing" fix with boot floppy, CD-R, or USB flash Read it and download the fixers, make disks, put them somewhere handy. A Windows installation CD, full, not upgrade version, of the same flavor as your comatose operating system might do the trick. It doesn't have to be your own. If you didn't get one with your computer, borrow one. The important thing is that you can pop it in and boot it and do a "repair" installation. Also: 1. Always keep a backup of your most important data! You don't need a huge external drive just for crucial documents and the small treasures that keep you from having to call Microsoft if you need to re-install Windwoes. 2. Get, make, borrow - whatever - bootable disks for emergency use. A BartPE CD, the Ultimate Boot Disk, a live Linux CD; anything that you can use to take a look at your hard drive. If it is readable at all, you will be able to salvage files at least. 3. If at all possible, always partition your hard drive. Often backups on another partition survive when Windows goes belly-up. Gparted, a Linux partitioning utility, can divide up a drive that already has Windows installed. I did it with mine.

3rd January 2008, 08:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Maksa Friendly Administrator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Rajkot (INDIA) Posts: 4,313	Re: "NTLDR not found" - don't give up too soon Thanks for sharing great info Matera. yeh it's always better to keep backup. i had smiler problem once. so this Xmas's i purchased buffalo ministation 160GB. It's really cool USB HDD for backups __________________

6th January 2008, 06:54 AM	#3 (permalink)
Matera the Mad Maksa's Grany Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: in my computer Posts: 255	Re: "NTLDR not found" - don't give up too soon w00t! That's purrretty. Now - can you guess what was wrong with that poor little computer? I've been working on it for a couple of days, trying to re-install Windwoes. The installation kept bluescreening out at the exact same part of the process. I tried all sorts of trix-n-hax. I finally hit the jackpot. I put in a different hard drive, and got the same error. But that jiggled my brain loose enough to see the real problem. Guess what: Some darn idjit had twisted a cable too much. The tiny wires in ribbon cables are easily damaged. I switched cables, used a newer one to connect the HD. Zzziiip! No more problems. To think that a whole drive-full of stuff was lost because of a tiny wire getting damaged from too much bending! Now I know if I had been the first to get at that machine, I could have saved the whole works.

6th January 2008, 05:28 PM	#4 (permalink)
Maksa Friendly Administrator Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Rajkot (INDIA) Posts: 4,313	Re: "NTLDR not found" - don't give up too soon it happens even sometimes it's hard to find problem but we learn everyday from our mistakes..... __________________

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