NTLDR missing on fresh install of XP(?!)

[Da Mail Man]

Greetings All,

Been working on restoring a few computers I have here...I took an existing WORKING computer running WINDOWS 7, 2.8ghz, 2 gb ram, 40gb HD, removed the hard drive, installed a new 1TB HD SATA and am trying to load WIN XP (henceforth refered to as "xp") with the intent to partition and copy "7" to a partition on that new 1TB HD..... Computer is 32bit.

Boot priority is cd/dvd rom then, HD.....Appears to start installing from cd disc - "loading up at installation" then, get a NTLDR error stating is missing.....
1)....Cd/dvd drive was ck'ed for burn and play-back with no issues....
2)....The 1TB hd was "surface-checked" with no errors....
3)....The xp (pro) disc is intact with no damages, etc and, I have used it before....

I read the following but, appears that the author is stating "after-the-fact" with xp already installed whereas, I am doing a FRESH INSTALL ON A FORMATTED HD.

Redirecting

My desire is to run a dual boot computer with xp and "7".

I started out doing an exact copy of the removed 40GB sata hd over to the 1 TB HD ( I set the 40GB HD aside in case of problems) and leaving the partition alone.......I then formatted the unallocated/unused portion of that 1TB HD and attempted to install xp there...Win 7 was first on the HD.....

What could be the problem here?....(I cleared the bios just in case). If I have to have 2 HD"s installed so be it but, not my preference---and then again, there's that problem even fresh-loading XP which I cannot do on a partion with '7" existing nor can I do with attempting to install XP on the blank 1TB HD utilizing to entire HD!

Lastly, if I have to utilize 2 hd's, when booting, will I get a screen at boot asking which hd to boot from??....My experiment with this was reinstalling the untouched 40GB HD AND the 1 TB HD and when booting, bios selected the 40GB HD and not displayed any "choice"....NOTE - BOTH hd's contained "7" on them.

Thanks for any help and continued help!

 

[johnb35]

There is 2 ways to set this dual boot up so to speak.

1. It's easier to setup if you install XP first and then install windows 7, you should install the oldest version first.

how to dual boot xp and 7 with 7 already installed - Google Search

2. Use bios first boot device to boot to whatever Drive/OS you want. You need to install each OS while only having that specific drive attached to the system. If you install with both drives attached then the boot files will be screwed up.

If you are trying to install Xp with just empty hard drive hard drive attached and you are still getting the Ntldr is missing error then you either bad cd, bad HDD or something else going on, possible a ram issue.

 

[Da Mail Man]

THANKS FOR THE REPLY (caps are not yelling).

There is 2 ways to set this dual boot up so to speak.
OK

1. It's easier to setup if you install XP first and then install windows 7, you should install the oldest version first.
AS STATED, I ATTEMPTED THAT WITH A "BARE" 1TB HD AND GOT THE ERROR THERE ALSO.

how to dual boot xp and 7 with 7 already installed - Google Search

2. Use bios first boot device to boot to whatever Drive/OS you want.
*I SET THE FIRST BOOT DEVICE TO THE CD-ROM SO THAT THE COMPUTER WOULD INITIALIZE AND START LOADING THE XP OS FROM DISC.

You need to install each OS while only having that specific drive attached to the system.
I TRIED THAT....I COPIED THE 40GB HD (SECTOR BY SECTOR) TO THE 1 TB HARD DRIVE (SINCE I DID NOT WANT THAT 40GB HD SCREWED UP AS IT WAS/IS WORKING FINE)...WITH *NO OTHER HD CONNECTED*, ATTEMPTED TO LOAD XP ONTO THE UNALLOCATED SPACE AND GOT THE ERROR...

If you install with both drives attached then the boot files will be screwed up.
SEE ABOVE STATEMENT...ONLY HAD 1 CONNECTED AS ABOVE AT ANY TIME.

If you are trying to install Xp with just empty hard drive hard drive attached and you are still getting the Ntldr is missing error then you either bad cd,
I HAVE AN XP CD DISC THAT I USUALLY USE....ALSO, HAVE A COPY OF MY ORIGINAL XP DISC THAT I MADE AT THE TIME AS A "SECOND BACK UP DISC" AND NEVER USED AND THAT TOO DOES THE SAME WITH THE ERROR.

bad HDD
RAN THAT THROUGH ALL TESTS AND IT TESTED GOOD SO, NOT IT.

or something else going on, possible a ram issue.
LIKE I SAID, THE 40GB HD WORKS FINE AND BOOT "NO SWEAT"....HAVE NOT TESTED THE RAM "YET" BUT, FIGURE THAT WOULD HAVE SHOWN UP WITH THE OTHER 40GB HD.....I CAN COPY THE 40GB HD TO THE 1 TB HD AND IT WORKS FINE...**I DON'T WANT TO RISK ATTEMPTING TO PARTITION THE WIN 7 WORKING 40GB HD AND TRY TO PLACE XP ON IT....THEN, COPY THAT TO THE 1 TB HD AND EXPAND THE PARTITION(S).

 

[beers]

What's the value add of clinging onto XP still?

1)....Cd/dvd drive was ck'ed for burn and play-back with no issues....

How did you actually validate this?

 

[Da Mail Man]

Thanks for the reply.....

(Respectfully), It has value to me.....I also like outlook express better than outlook which I don't care to use......It doesn't have to have a value to anybody other than myself.

As for the dvd/cd optical drive - best I could do is read from a half dozen different discs and also burn and play-back rw, + R discs.

I may make another attempt at this today but, don't have high hopes....Strange that the current 40GB HD works fine but, a new 1TB HD won't take XP on it...If I could copy the 40GB HD to the 1 TB HD and "step-down" back to XP, I most certainly will and then, partition and reload "7"....

QUESTION -
What effect (if any at all), if I were to copy the contents/all files of the xp installation disc directly to the 1TB HD itself and "execute" set up" from there, possibly on another partition?

 

[beers]

Is there another 'known good' optical drive you can test with, or do a USB installation? I'd write a file with a known checksum through a hashing algorithm like sha1 and see if you can read back the file and receive the same checksum, that way you can truly validate from a binary perspective that the exact same data was both written and read. There's not a whole lot of options that would prevent the bootloader from installing successfully other than the installation medium (DVD), the optical drive, the RAM used to shuffle data between the optical drive and your storage, and the hard drive.

 

[Da Mail Man]

Thanks for the reply!

Is there another 'known good' optical drive you can test with, or do a USB installation?
I BELIEVE SO...WILL LOCATE ONE TODAY.

I'd write a file with a known checksum through a hashing algorithm like sha1 and see if you can read back the file and receive the same checksum, that way you can truly validate from a binary perspective that the exact same data was both written and read. There's not a whole lot of options that would prevent the bootloader from installing successfully other than the installation medium (DVD), the optical drive, the RAM used to shuffle data between the optical drive and your storage, and the hard drive.
ALL THE ABOVE IS, TO ME, LIKE "COUSIN IT" FROM THE ADAMS FAMILY TALKING (GRIN)...I HAVE NO IDEA AS TO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING BUT, WILL TRY ANOTHER OPTICAL DRIVE.

 

[Da Mail Man]

Haven't had any time to do much today but, did boot up my other comoter which has xp and "7" on it and it boots just fine and gives me a darker screen of which to choose which os to boot from...Here is a screen shot from "my computer-"manage".

 

[Da Mail Man]

UPDATE -

Just now getting back to this...I had an idea (such that it is)...I have a 1TB empty hard drive not installed and a 40GB HD installed into my comuter.

I have "7" on the current computer 40gb hard drive and, a blank/empty 1tb hd.....

1).....What do you think about me creating 2 partitions on the 1 TB HD then, installing XP first onto/into the first partition then...,

2).....Taking the current "7" 40 GB computer HD's partition (has all the drivers, etc.) and copying that into the remaining partition on the 1 TB HD all using the same computer and hardware?

 

[johnb35]

Can't do that because it won't be a dual boot, you won't get the dual boot menu.

 

[Da Mail Man]

THANKS for the reply...

How about adding/using "EasyBoot"? (link below).

https://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

 

[johnb35]

You can try doing the "add new entry" but I never used it that way and so I don't know how easy/hard its gonna be.

 

[Da Mail Man]

Will I be able to "hide" a partition (either one) wuth the other then booting up?...It is NOT what I want to do but, just curious...I may try to load XP and copy 7 partition and then the aformentioned program and see what happens anyway...

 

[Da Mail Man]

UPDATE----AGAIN-
I read that other people have had the same problem I am having and it was narrowed down to installing XP that has SP2 on it, else the error messages I have been getting of PCI.SYS stop error followed by 4 banks of series of numbers appear.....XP PRO is currently loading and I hope I have not spoken too soon....Will advise.

 

[johnb35]

Loading original XP without a service pack won't cause that issue. If it didn't cause it way back when then it won't cause it now unless you have incompatible hardware.

 

[Da Mail Man]

Beats me....Have used the original disc I have been trying to use in the past with no issues......Tried another disc and all went in and complete...Will get back to you after I "tamper" with this for a bit.

 

[Da Mail Man]

UPDATES (and another question) -

I have managed to get the "dual-boot fuction" to work on my hd...I found a program which was spectacular for me...That program is called "Gag Boot Manager" (yeah, no kidding) and, if I can use it, ANYONE can use it....

But, in the mean time, I "f'ed" up my computer again (grin).

I currently have a 1 TB SATA HD and on it I have two (2) partitions:
**one partition holds XP Pro ( and listed as healthy boot drive)
**and the other partition holds Win 7 Ultimate (healthy system drive) as pictured......

I needed to repair the "7" partition and utilized a "7" disc hoping that there was a "repair" selection on it and there was not - (or I missed it).

I ran the "7" and hoped it would "over-write" the existing "7" but, got a message stating something like data currently on "7" would be saved to a file folder neamed "windows old"....

Windows XP still functions ok and is accessible.....

What I want to do is completely format the "7" drive PARTITION and totally re-install "7" and start from scratch....I am fearfull that I will damage or over-write XP trying to re-install 7 from scratch.......Further, is it safe to simply delete teh "windows old" file?

Can I simply format the "7 partition and re-install "7" or, is there more to it than that?
It appears that the "boot drive" is "7"...If I delete that - what happens then?...Should I see if I can make XP" as the primary drive the computer boots into and if so, how's that done?

 

[johnb35]

Windows 7 has always had the option to repair using the cd.

How to Perform a Startup Repair in Windows 7

A tutorial for completing a Windows 7 Startup Repair. A Startup Repair is a good first troubleshooting step if Windows 7 isn't starting properly.

www.lifewire.com

So it looks like according to your disk management is that windows 7 was installed first since its on the first partition.

To do it right, the oldest OS (XP) should be installed first and then install 7 but can be done in reverse using boot file editor program such as EasyBCD afterward.

You should be able to boot to the windows 7 install, delete the existing 7 partition and then reset it back up and install 7 again.

 

[Da Mail Man]

THANKS FOR THE REPLY!
(Caps are NOT yelling but, only segregate portions of the dialog).

Lesson - never work on pc in morning w/out coffee!

So it looks like according to your disk management is that windows 7 was installed first since its on the first partition.
OK

To do it right, the oldest OS (XP) should be installed first and then install 7 but can be done in reverse using boot file editor program such as EasyBCD afterward.
I HAD AN ISSUE WITH EASYBCD SO, "SCRAPPED IT" AND AM USING THE OTHER....CAN I MOVE THE ORDER OF THE PARTITION(S) W/OUT ISSUES?......MAYBE COPY THE XP PARTITION INTO THE "7" PARTITION THEN, OVER-WRITE OR FORMAT THE REMAINING PARTITION AND RE-INSTALL '7"....IN OTHER WORDS, HAVE TWO "XP" PARTITIONS AND, ON THE LAST PARTITION INSTALL "7"?


You should be able to boot to the windows 7 install, delete the existing 7 partition and then reset it back up and install 7 again.
HUMMNNNN.......NOT SURE IF I WANT TO TRY THIS NOW OR, IN THE MORNING (AFTER PLENTY OF COFFEE OF COURSE!)

 

[johnb35]

So take this with a grain of salt. Meaning it should work but not necessarily.

You have allocated 782.47 to the windows XP partition and have roughly have 760 gb free of that. You could take so much of that 760 gb and create a new partition and then install 7 to that new one. Then wipe the original windows 7 and use that for storage.