So basically tonight I got the ingenius idea of trying to "delete" Ubuntu (Linux) from my computer, so I figured I'd delete the partition that I created when I set up the dual boot on my laptop. So after ****ing around with the partition manager, I decided to restart my computer. Bad idea. Now when I turn on my laptop, the first thing I see is "NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" and only that. I don't have my Windows XP disc or anything like that, so I really don't know what to do. Help?

Reply

If the windows XP is still installed then you will need to restore the boot manager, you can try GAG, a graphical boot manager, it won't restore it rather replace it but should do the trick

http://gag.sourceforge.net/

NOTE: messing with the boot manger can cause unfixable problems with your HDD, and should not be done lightly. I can't be held responsible for any problems caused by the above information

Reply

Last time I was playing with my boot sequence and I also had this problem. There wasn't much alternatives to solve this problem so I went to reformat my computer. I prefer reformating because it is more direct way of solving this problem.

However if you do not want to reformat, I suggest you to refer to these articles :
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm
http://www.tburke.net/info/ntldr/ntldr_hacking_guide.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318728

Reply

can you use command console of windows?
i can give you some instant and useful methods as follows:

1.insert your 2000/xp setup CD into cd-rom to go into recovery console
2.after that,you would arrived at the dos mode(assume that your system located in C: and cd-rom is H:)
3.type: copy h:\\i386\\ntldr c:\\ (to copy ntldr from cd to C:)
4.type: copy h:\\i386\\ntdetect.com c:\\ (to copy ntdetect.com form cd to C:);then if there appear a seletion,chose "Y";
5.that'ok and type [color=blue]c:\\Boot.ini[/blue] to check the boot file
6.reboot


good luck!

Reply

I got that too so i took it to the computer people to do.. they said that i need another drive in my computer. All my old work is now in the D: drive

Reply

I have gotten this for having an external harddrive attached while I reboot my computer. I have no idea what it is, or why it has anything to do with it. But, try unplugging all your USB devices and see if that helps.

Reply

you need to repair you master boot record (mbr).
boot from your xp installation disc.
press R to repair.
at the command prompt type fixmbr to overwrite the maste boot record.
you can also try fixboot from the command prompt to replace the hdd boot sector.

i had similar problems when i installed suse9.1 on my laptop , none of the above worked i had to format and reinstall windows. even then i still had the ntldr problem , but i could reinstall suse9.1 and boot into that without any problems.
it was only when i went into the bios and changed the hdd bootup settings from auto to lba that i managed to get my hdd to boot again into xp.

Reply

Replying to Hellmonkeys YES! Make sure you check that. I have ubuntu and windows on my computer. Since I just installed both I am taking turns installing and fixing stuff so they can run better. After installing drivers off an external hard drive in windows I go to restart and whats this? "NTLDR is missing." I have no idea. I read this thread, consider formatting my hard drive. Then I realize that I have my external HD plugged in still.

I unplugged my external HD and the problem was solved. So try that.

-reply by TheMaxExp

Reply

I too lost ntldr, and rather than reformat or muck around with the command line, I just used a copy of GAG that I conveniently had lying around on a CD.
Worked very well, and in fact I still have it installed on that computer, (which is my sons), with dual boot ubuntu XP pro.
A better idea would have been to maybe restore the MBR from within windows first, and then using paragon or some such partition tool to del the partition from windows as well.

Reply