NTLDR is missing

jumargibbs · 05-09-2006, 04:40 AM

I remembered the zero fill utility on the disc that came with the drive. I used it and it worked, but following the instructions exactly still led to the "missing NTLDR" message. I have to use OnTrack's DDO so I can use all 120GBs of the drive. If I skip that, I can load the OS but I end up with a 32GB drive. I know my Win disc is good, so where the heck is the NTLDR?

PC eye · 05-09-2006, 07:06 AM

I just got this off Seagate's support site regarding missing NTLDR errors seen in Windows that still links to an MS support page. Here's the text and link.
"NTLDR Errors

There are 4 primary reasons why you might get an NTLDR error:

The boot order is not set to boot from CD first.
To install Windows XP you need to boot from the CD. Many computers default to boot from the hard drive first, but will boot from the CD if there is no partition on the hard drive. Once you use DWSE to create a partition the computer attempts to boot from this new partition and finds that the partition has no operating system installed and reports NTLDR.

To fix this version of the issue you will need to adjust the boot order of your computer in the BIOS (computer setup).

You left a floppy in the diskette drive.
Check and confirm you don't have any diskettes in the drive (you may have saved the readme file from DWSE to a floppy).

If you have more than 1 CD/ATAPI device installed on the secondary channel, be sure that you are booting from the "master" CD/ATAPI device. You can verify which one is the master versus slave CD/ATAPI device by booting into your CMOS/BIOS setup in case those devices are currently set for "Cable-Select" or you just don't know which one is the master device.

If this has been checked then try removing the "slave" CD/ATAPI device from the channel to see if the issue resolves itself.

The Window XP CD prompted you to 'press any key' and you missed it.
When booting from the Windows XP CD it will look for partitions if your drive is blank it will boot directly from the CD. If the drive has a partition it should prompt you to 'press any key to continue' so that you don't have to remove the CD after the reboot that occurs during installation. You have to press any key very quickly because this message will time out in a very short period of time (a few seconds) then you will see an NTLDR error on the screen.

Windows has not been installed. If the operating system has not been installed on this computer then the system will report an NTLDR message until you boot from the install media and install the operating system to the hard drive.
For more information on NTLDR missing errors visit Microsoft's support web page." http://www.seagate.com/support/ts/at.../02_ntldr.html

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05-09-2006, 04:40 AM	#11 (permalink)
jumargibbs New Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 4	I remembered the zero fill utility on the disc that came with the drive. I used it and it worked, but following the instructions exactly still led to the "missing NTLDR" message. I have to use OnTrack's DDO so I can use all 120GBs of the drive. If I skip that, I can load the OS but I end up with a 32GB drive. I know my Win disc is good, so where the heck is the NTLDR?

05-09-2006, 07:06 AM	#12 (permalink)
PC eye Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Inside a pc Posts: 20,235	I just got this off Seagate's support site regarding missing NTLDR errors seen in Windows that still links to an MS support page. Here's the text and link. "NTLDR Errors There are 4 primary reasons why you might get an NTLDR error: The boot order is not set to boot from CD first. To install Windows XP you need to boot from the CD. Many computers default to boot from the hard drive first, but will boot from the CD if there is no partition on the hard drive. Once you use DWSE to create a partition the computer attempts to boot from this new partition and finds that the partition has no operating system installed and reports NTLDR. To fix this version of the issue you will need to adjust the boot order of your computer in the BIOS (computer setup). You left a floppy in the diskette drive. Check and confirm you don't have any diskettes in the drive (you may have saved the readme file from DWSE to a floppy). If you have more than 1 CD/ATAPI device installed on the secondary channel, be sure that you are booting from the "master" CD/ATAPI device. You can verify which one is the master versus slave CD/ATAPI device by booting into your CMOS/BIOS setup in case those devices are currently set for "Cable-Select" or you just don't know which one is the master device. If this has been checked then try removing the "slave" CD/ATAPI device from the channel to see if the issue resolves itself. The Window XP CD prompted you to 'press any key' and you missed it. When booting from the Windows XP CD it will look for partitions if your drive is blank it will boot directly from the CD. If the drive has a partition it should prompt you to 'press any key to continue' so that you don't have to remove the CD after the reboot that occurs during installation. You have to press any key very quickly because this message will time out in a very short period of time (a few seconds) then you will see an NTLDR error on the screen. Windows has not been installed. If the operating system has not been installed on this computer then the system will report an NTLDR message until you boot from the install media and install the operating system to the hard drive. For more information on NTLDR missing errors visit Microsoft's support web page." http://www.seagate.com/support/ts/at.../02_ntldr.html