Laptop Won't startup

eddie57

eddie57

Member
After replacing the LCD on my laptop windows won't start up. I get the following message "couldn't find NTLDR." I created a startup cd because I don't have an "A" drive. After starting up my laptop with this startup cd it says 'starting Dr Caldera", I then get the following prompt, " [DR-DOS]A:\>. I then proceeded to type in "d:" to get to my cd drive, which took me there. I then typep "CD i386" and get the message "Invalid Directory specified." The following link has the instructions I used to create the startup cd and how to use it. http://www.tech-recipes.com/windows_installation_tips528.html
It worked until the CD i386 problem. Does anyone know what I did wrong?

Thanks
Eddie

PS: I am an average knowledge computer individual, but persistant.
 
Classic_house

Classic_house

New Member
Ok go to your d drive and type ... dir... this will bring up a directory list and then type the directory as it is written in dos...

Are you following the instructions to the letter..

Have you typed smartdrv????????

Are you sure your cd drive is D and not E? Check this.

Installing XP from this Boot Disk:

1. First things first, go into your PC's BIOS and change the Boot Order, so your PC Boots your CD Drive first. Save your settings and put in your bootable XP disk we made.
2. It will boot to the Windows 98 Setup screen, click Boot with CD-ROM
3. Once it finishes going though setting up the cd drivers, and ramddrive, it will bring you back to a A:\ prompt.
4. If you have to create partitions or format the harddrive do so now.
5. Once the drives are ready, reboot again with the BIOS Settings as they were and the xp bootable disk in. Again, choose to Boot with CD-ROM.
6. Once at the A:\ again, go to the drive assocated with your CD (for example, the e drive) by typing e:

-now you will be at a: e:\
-now type: smartdrv
-then type it again, it will hopefully show your C drive with disk cache enabled.

The reason i suggest using smartdrv when installing from dos is that it drastically improves file transfer speed and XP reommends it.

7. Now that smartdrv is enabled, we will want to start the installation process. We should still be at the E:\ prompt.

-now type: CD i386
the prompt should change to: E:\I386\
-then type: winnt

Maybe you did not copy this file to the cd or there maybe a mistake when you made the disk. Make a new disk via a friends computer.... better if you can get your hands on a copy of norton ghost and make a start up cd with cd support... this will create a ram drive and then you load windows from the cd...
 
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Classic_house

Classic_house

New Member
Anytime if it does not work yahoo me

NTDLR Missing.

Cause:

1.Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.
2.Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
3.Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
4.Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
5.Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32.
7.New hard disk drive being added.
8.Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
9.Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
Solutions:

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source

Many times this error is caused when the computer is attempting to boot from a non-bootable floppy disk or CD-ROM. First verify that no floppy diskette is in the computer, unless you are attempting to boot from a diskette.

If you are attempting to boot from a floppy diskette and are receiving this error message it is likely that the diskette does not have all the necessary files and/or is corrupt.

If you are attempting to install Windows XP or Windows 2000 and are receiving this error message as the computer is booting verify that your computer BIOS has the proper boot settings. For example, if you are attempting to run the install from the CD-ROM make sure the CD-ROM is the first boot device, and not the hard disk drive. Second, when the computer is booting you should receive the below prompt.

Press any key to boot from the CD

When you see this message press any key such as the Enter key immediately, otherwise it will try booting from the hard drive and likely get the NTLDR error again.

Windows XP users

Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter "E". This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\


Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.
 
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eddie57

eddie57

Member
Reply

I retried the original instructions and when i got the the part to enter "i386" i decided to insert the XP software cd and it gave me the prompt with the i386 in it. I then typed the winnt and it gave me the following message: "An internal setup eror has occurred, could no find a place for a swap file. Setup cannot continue. Press enter to exit" This was in a blue window. Just thought i would mention that. I also have no "A" drive. I will follow up on your last repy and see it that works. I'll keep trying. I read somewhere to remove the new hardware that caused the problem. Don't know if that would help though, but I'll try it as last resort.

thanks
Eddie
 
Classic_house

Classic_house

New Member
Anytime you are welcome this boot cd will work with anything and sort our disk problems network problems etc.. very good long download but worth it!
 
S

Stacat69

New Member
A Rule Of Thumb. I Live By This At Startup

Always check your removeable drives and either open or exit any floppies or cd drives of all media when booting. i always get a ntldr message if i have a floppy disk in the drive that wasn't a startup or boot disk. you will see that message everytime, so always check your drives and empty them, and it will save alot of time and misery thinking your machine has crashed!!
.
 
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E

evilxp2800

banned
Stacat69 said:
Always Check Your Removeable Drives And Either Open Or Exit Any Floppies Or Cd Drives Of All Media When Booting. I Always Get A Ntldr Message If I Have A Floppy Disk In The Drive That Wasn't A Startup Or Boot Disk. You Will See That Message Everytime, So Always Check Your Drives And Empty Them, And It Will Save Alot Of Time And Misery Thinking Your Machine Has Crashed!!
Click to expand...


Well that not true because i keep cds in my Drives all the time and boots fine ...so ur Operating system maybe Corrupt ...
 
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