!!!!HDD problem..[NLTDR missing]

[Dipen01]

Hello... there

I dunno.. how did i screw my HDD. But its in real problem now. I did format my HDD couple of times. and when i tried installing OS it says. NLTDR missing : Unable to read partition table (0) [I cant remember after this]...

though when tried on my friends comp as slave it works normally. the problem arises when i try installing any OS on that HDD on any PC. dunno whats the problem.

Any body havin any idea why this is happening..the HDD is of SAMSUNG its PATA ..7200 RPM

[champ_rock]

i think u should try rpartitioning it....... as mybe the partition is damaged... and also check for bad sectors

[Dipen01]

Repartitioned it nearly 5 times... using everything... Partition Magic , Fdisk , Special Fdisk , Ranish and several of those utilities.. still dunno.. whats the problem

[Choto Cheeta]

which OS u r useing?? exactly in which moment of the installetion u get this error??

[Dipen01]

i am using WIN XP..

When i install XP Bootable. it works fine. it copies all the preinstallation files on the HDD and when it restarts for installation...

then after restarting in normal conditions it should start installation. but in my case just after bypassing bios it say that error.....

even i tried installing ME.. what happens ther.. it installs all the files and after it when it restarts again for completing its installation.. it just says no OS found. even after installing ME it say no OS found. and when using bootable i checked the drive. some partial files of windows were copied..

This is very unusual..

[rajas700]

This error occurs when the partition marked as active does not contain the operating system boot files. The partition for the OS must be a primary partition that has been marked as active. If it is a SCSI, SATA or RAID drive the appropriate drivers need to have already been installed. The boot partition must be located on the disk pointed to in the BIOS boot sequence. The below advice is for single boot systems. Some exceptions apply if you have a dual boot setup..

So, two issues:

1. Having the PC boot from the correct drive, properly partitioned with the boot partition set as "Active".

2. Having the right files in that partition.

You can change the active partition using fdisk. And you can change the first boot device (but using an optical drive with a Windows CD to boot from can cause you problems later) in the BIOS.

Using fdisk:

1. Boot to a command prompt by using a boot disk (if you have one. Otherwise you can make one from any Windows 95/98/ME PC.
2. At the command prompt, type fdisk, and then press enter.
3. Click set active partition, choose the partition that you want to make active, and then hit enter.
4. Press Esc.
5. Remove the boot floppy disk, restart the computer.

Right Files:

Using the Recovery Console, copy the Ntldr file from the Windows XP CD-ROM to the root directory of the current active partition. Follow these steps:
1. Start your computer by using the Windows XP Setup floppy disks or by using the Windows XP CD-ROM.
2. At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press F10, or press R to repair.
3. Press C to start the Recovery Console.
4. Copy the Ntldr file from the Windows XP CD-ROM to the root of your system partition by using the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:

1. Type cd .. to go to the root of drive C. (Note the space)
2. Type the letter of the CD-ROM drive
3. Type cd i386 to change into the right directory
4. Type Copy ntldr c:
5. Type Exit

If the partition was not formatted by using Windows, you might also need to run the Recovery Console fixboot command to make the active partition bootable.

After you can boot into Windows, it is recommended that you use the Windows Disk Management snap-in tool to reset the original system partition as the active partition, and then restart the computer.

From Microsoft:

If the NTLDR is missing or damaged try the Recovery Console.

To start the computer and use the Recovery Console to replace the boot sector

"Insert the Windows XP Professional Setup CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

Restart the computer. If prompted to press a key to start the computer from the CD-ROM, press the appropriate key.
When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts. Press the R key to repair a Windows XP Professional installation.
If you are repairing a system that has more than one operating system installed, from the Recovery Console choose the Windows XP Professional installation that you need to repair.
Note

If you press ENTER without typing a number, the Recovery Console quits and restarts the computer.


The Recovery Console might also show valid installations of Windows NT 4.0. However, the results of attempting to access a Windows NT 4.0 installation can be unpredictable.

When prompted, type the Administrator password. If you do not have the correct password, or if the security database for the installation of Windows XP Professional that you are attempting to access is corrupted, Recovery Console does not allow access to the local disks and you cannot replace the boot sector.

To replace the boot sector, at the Recovery Console command prompt, type: fixboot [drive:]

If you do not specify a drive letter, the Recovery Console replaces the boot sector of the system volume. If you need to replace the boot sector of a volume that is not the system volume, then you must specify the appropriate drive letter."

... More Microsoft NTLDR Help

"Using Recovery Console enables you to recover from the following problems:

*

Corrupted or deleted startup files caused by incompatible software, user error, or virus activity.
*

Disk problems related to damage to the master boot record (MBR), partition table, or boot sector on x86-based systems.
*

A partition boot sector overwritten by another operating system's setup program.

If critical system files, such as Ntldr or Ntoskrnl.exe, are missing or corrupted, you can restore them by starting Recovery Console and copying fresh files from the Windows XP Professional operating system CD or other removable disk media." More



One user has written in with this feedback:

"I recently encountered the above mentioned 'NTLDR is missing' error
while starting up my pc and found the solution on your site. Thanks, people! Thing was, all the time I had a floppy in my floppy drive. And my pc is set up to have it's primary boot device be the floppy drive! Maybe you can add this tip to your page- make sure there is no floppy in the drive!"




Source :google

[expertno.1]

@rajas

please post the source from where u have copied

this is the source

http://www.pctechguide.com/w3t/showf...b=5&o=&fpart=1

thanks
regards...
expertno.1

[Dipen01]

Originally Posted by rajas700

Having the PC boot from the correct drive, properly partitioned with the boot partition set as "Active".

Well i have marked my Partition active after formatting it. so i guess no problem due to this..

Originally Posted by rajas700

Having the right files in that partition.

Didnt understood this properly.. How come there will be any files in a partition after i format it.

Originally Posted by rajas700

Using the Recovery Console, copy the Ntldr file from the Windows XP CD-ROM to the root directory of the current active partition. Follow these steps

I dont understand why do i need to copy this file from Win XP CD. when i never did something like this. always when i need to reinstall i format everything and then reinstall .so then i never copy this NTLDR file. so why now.??

Originally Posted by rajas700

Thing was, all the time I had a floppy in my floppy drive. And my pc is set up to have it's primary boot device be the floppy drive! Maybe you can add this tip to your page- make sure there is no floppy in the drive!"

Well i dont exactly remember if there was bootable floppy in my floppy drive or not bu there was bootable CD i.e Win XP bootable CD. which on startup says .PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM CD or else after few seconds boots from HDD. so i dont think this should be problem...


I just send that HDD to SAMSUNG service centre assuming some problem with my Hardware. I mentioned the problem as "NO O.S is being able to installed" ... Dunno what will they check and how will they solve it..

Any other advices or reviews...

[rajas700]

IT IS NOT A HARDWARE PROPLEM I AM SURE.

ok follow the simple and easy step:


IF C: Dirve is FAT 32 mean boot your computer with 98 Booting

floopy with these go to the windows xp cd folder i386 folder and

then Copy NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM and then drop into

Crive then your problem is solved.



IF IT IS NTFS partition:

Boot your computer with XP CD and then enter into RECOVERY

CONSOLE by pressing 'R'.And the change to cd drive.IF u cd

drive is E: mean do the following:

C:\>cd E:

E:\>cd i386

E:\i386>Copy NTLDR C:\

(or)

E:\i386>Copy NTDETECT.COM C:\

on doing these we can correct the corrupted or missing\windows\system32\config.

If windows show the following error mean:

"windows could not stsrt because the following files missing or corrupted WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

if such a error come's mean let us see how to change:


As said above enter into RECOVERY CONSOLE:

Give these command in that command prompt:

C:\> CD Windows\Sytem 32\config

C:\Windows\system32\config>ren.system system.bad

C:\windows\system32\config>copy\windows\repair\sys tem

ON DOING these ur PROPERLM solved.



NOTE:THIS IS NOT COPIED FROM WEBSITE's

[QwertyManiac]

yes i too had this problem once after doin somethin in autopatcher, i exactly did what rajas has posted up ^ and my problem had solved !

Try it, jus a file corrupted/missin !

[rajas]

NTLDR Missing comes up when boot loader gets messed up.
either the post by rajas700 shud solve or it ends up in reformatting the HDD.
its no way problem with HDD.

[rajas700]

reformatting the HDD will not helpfull for NLTDR missing .Even though u reformat it the problem will resembles remain unchanged.so follow my steps(above)to solve it.

[Vishal Gupta]

First reformat ur HDD.

Then rewrite the MBR by giving the command fdisk /mbr (if u use win 98 CD) or fixmbr (if u use XP CD)

Now try to reinstall the windows.

[rajas700]

Originally Posted by Vishal Gupta

First reformat ur HDD.

Then rewrite the MBR by giving the command fdisk /mbr (if u use win 98 CD) or fixmbr (if u use XP CD)

Now try to reinstall the windows.

I dont think these also will be help full for NLTDR missing .The only way just follow my step.because i have also incurred the same problem and tryed in many way's .but no use.

[theraven]

@rajas700 consider it a warning for copy pasting without a source
it will not be tolerated here

secondly yeah it seems the MBR is at fault since even at reinstall it doesnt seem to find the ntldr ..
its NOT a hardware problem
get ur hdd back
boot into dos and run fdisk /mbr

good call vishal gupta

@rajas700 .. if it was only ntldr missing it should be replaced on reinstall
even tho ur way of replacing ntldr SHOULD also work im sure ..

but for future ref. no rippin from the net n posting

[Dipen01]

Hey people ...

thanx a lot ... for all ur suggestions... i guess now it will get solved.. anyways..

i will now have to again collect the HDD from SAMSUNG otherwise they will forward it to technical centre..or i guess they already did it.. anyways.. thanx a lot..

Dipen

[Dipen01]

Well i had this problem last yr..when i posted it...now its haunting me again..!!

This time it doesnt say NTLDR Missing..

But the error is..

Couldn't open drive multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)
NTLDR: Couldn't open drive multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)

I hav tried every damn thing...thru Recovery console... Formatted my HDD...Partitioned again.. Tried installing XP...but when is restarts after copyin files for setup..the above error persists..

Even tried Copyin NTLDR,NTDETECT even tried changin thier attributes....copied that file everywhere....tried all permutations and combinations...but no success...PC is screwed since yesterday..and if doesnt get done by today...am gonna get kicked at college...

Can it be because..i have 3 partitions..all of em Primary (i purposefully kept them primary so as i can edit them whenever i need..coz what happened with extended was..the internal resizing and repartitioning was possible..but some space from extended was unable to combine with primary and all..so to avoid these hassles...i kept all 3 partitions Primary FAT32..)

One more funny thing..i wonder you ppl wont believe..is i am unable to boot thru bootable Discs... I have two Win 98 Bootable CDs...when ever i try to boot..thru em...it asks a selection meny BOOT THRU HDD , BOOT THRU CD ROM... when i selected next... then system hangs...and it doesnt proceeds further...first i thought CD must be faultly..i changed CD also..still same problem..!!

But in case of XP Bootable..it runs clean as ever.. Dunno what the problem is... Even my floppy drive isnt workin..otherwise would hav tried thru bootable...

SO all the permuations and combinations i mentioned above...we done by me in RECOVERY CONSOLE... coz..i cant god damn boot...!!

Even this CRAPPY bios of COmpaq..doesnt allow to change me my boot settings...the BIOS SETTINGS are too less..and i can only change time settings..and keep password and all..nothing much..

People what do i do yaar..!!!

Thanx..

Thanx..a lot..problem solved...