A Digital Age Deserves A Digital Leader

XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Forum rules
Please start your own topic for support with problems you experience. Even if it appears to be exactly the same as someone else's problem, system configurations differ significantly. Thank you.

It may take our support staff between 24-48 hours to respond to your problem. We are a small business and strive to answer your questions as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience.

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby bdickert » Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:54 pm

I know Vista booted but I haven't tried XP. I will try that now. BD
PRO Level 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 12:23 am

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby bdickert » Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:06 pm

Vista is all that shows up after removing - XP works. On it right now. Here is what is in the root of XP -
C:\>attrib
C:\.rnd
C:\Attribb4vista.txt
C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
H C:\Boot.BAK
A SH C:\boot.ini
SH C:\Boot.ini.saved
SH C:\bootinib4vista.ini
A SHR C:\bootmgr
SHR C:\BOOTSECT.BAK
C:\CONFIG.SYS
C:\Cucu_Video_log.txt
A C:\error.log
SHR C:\IO.SYS
SHR C:\iob4vista.sys
SHR C:\MSDOS.SYS
SHR C:\msdosb4vista.sys
SHR C:\NTDETECT.COM
SHR C:\ntldr
A SH C:\pagefile.sys
C:\sigmatel.log
A C:\WINDOWSSerifastd-black.otf
A C:\WINDOWSSerifastd-bold.otf
A C:\WINDOWSSerifastd-italic.otf
A C:\WINDOWSSerifastd-light.otf
A C:\WINDOWSSerifastd-lightitalic.otf
A C:\WINDOWSSerifastd-roman.otf

C:\>
Don't know what the .otf files are - looks like some type of Font.
BD
PRO Level 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 12:23 am

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby bdickert » Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:09 pm

XP & Vista Boot - all other entries for W7 have been removed. No entries in Red.
BD
PRO Level 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 12:23 am

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby bdickert » Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:03 am

Going thru the W7 repair process booting with the ISO the diagnostics log said the following - Boot Manager is corrupt.
When trying to boot up into W7 says that it can't boot up because it couldn't verify the digital signature for a file CI.DLL.
So I might have to think about why the Boot Manager could be corrupt. Maybe it is best to start over.

BD
PRO Level 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 12:23 am

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby Grav!ty » Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:45 am

Actually that may solve you problem BD. Do you have much data you need to backup?

At the same time it is a good idea to format and remove the W 7 trial installation. Personally I would also clean up the root of the XP drive and any stuff that shouldn't be on the Vista drive too.
Image

"The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are." - Niccolo Machiavelli
PROfessional Member
User avatar
Posts: 15790
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:22 am
Real Name: Graham

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby bdickert » Mon Nov 01, 2010 12:14 pm

Ok - so I went ahead and imaged the drive to another one and re-loaded Windows and the boot
process is correct - everything is working - apps still have to be installed but I really appreciate
the help - I used the Seagate Discwizard to reimage in case folks are interested. What is pretty
odd is when I re-installed W7 it creates the Windows.old folder but it always seems to be empty -
anybody else experience this FEATURE!!!?
BD
PRO Level 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 12:23 am

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby Grav!ty » Mon Nov 01, 2010 6:23 pm

The Windows.old folder should only appear if there is an existing installation over which a new is being installed OR if there are remnants of a previous installation that are detected by the new install. A good full format should prevent that from occurring. I've never seen that on a clean install to a formatted hard drive or partition.

Could it be that you have hidden files and folders or protected operating system files that are not visible, being found by the new installation and placed in the Windows.old folder?
Image

"The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are." - Niccolo Machiavelli
PROfessional Member
User avatar
Posts: 15790
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:22 am
Real Name: Graham

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby bdickert » Tue Nov 02, 2010 6:31 pm

I didn't format the drive - I thought WINDOWS.OLD was for housing system settings/documents and settings/files that were part of the original OS.
Here is an article - http://social.answers.microsoft.com/For ... ae2f829c7f and http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932912 on how to restore. This is a Vista post but W7 should behave the same way.

BD
PRO Level 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 12:23 am

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby Grav!ty » Tue Nov 02, 2010 7:42 pm

I guess it comes down to personal preferences. I never install an OS without reformatting, so that I'm sure any junk stuff on an old installation is got rid of. Some of us are perhaps over-particular about that and even an upgrade install is shunned for the same reason.

I reinstall ALL my operating systems every 6 months or so and reinstall the 5 or 6 programs I use regularly to get rid of clutter and to clean the registry. It takes 2 or 3 hours to get each OS and programs installed and backed up data restored, but hey that way one is assured of a clean operating system.

The Windows.old folder shouldn't prove to be a problem if the OS is setup to your liking.
Image

"The great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are." - Niccolo Machiavelli
PROfessional Member
User avatar
Posts: 15790
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:22 am
Real Name: Graham

Re: XP won't boot - NTLDR Missing

Postby bdickert » Tue Nov 02, 2010 7:58 pm

I agree but it seems odd that it seems to be empty. Oh well thanks again for your help.
Stay in touch.
BD
PRO Level 2
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2010 12:23 am

Previous

Return to Windows Boot Problems

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests

cron
cron