Boot Error

Hi, welcome to the Geeks to Go Forums tux266

Here are several reasons why this error may occur: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.
6) New hard disk drive being added.
7) Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
8) Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
9) Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.
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Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file

Windows 2000 users
Windows XP users

Windows 2000 users

If your computer is using Microsoft Windows 2000 and you are encountering the NTLDR error. Create the below boot.ini file on the floppy diskette drive.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from another computer using the same Operating System. Both of these files are located in the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. For example C:\NTLDR and C:\NTDETECT.COM should be the locations of these files on many computers.
Please keep in mind that these files are hidden system files, if you need additional help with viewing hidden files in Windows please ask.

Once these files have been copied to a floppy diskette reboot the computer and copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files to the root directory of the primary hard disk drive. Below is an example of what commonly should be performed from the A:\> drive.

copy ntldr c:
copy ntdetect.com c:

After the above two files have been copied, remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer.
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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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Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
It's possible your computer's hard disk drive may have a corrupt boot sector and/or master boot record. These can be repaired through the Microsoft Windows Recovery console by running the fixboot and fixmbr commands.
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Verify that your computer hard disk drive is properly setup in the BIOS / CMOS setup. Improper settings can cause this error (which drive boots first).
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If you are getting this error message while you are attempting to upgrade to Windows 2000 or Windows XP from Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME running FAT32 please try the following recommendations.
Boot the computer with a Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME bootable diskette.
At the A:\> prompt type:

[B]sys c: <press enter>[B]

After pressing enter you should receive the [B]"System Transferred"[B] message. Once this has been completed remove the floppy diskette and reboot the computer.
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Also check the IDE hard drive cable - unplug it and then plug it back in.
If you have another IDE cable swap it out for the current one, to make sure it's not a faulty cable causing the error.

Thanks Salient. I will work through your suggestions and let you know the result. regards, Bernie

This page drastically simplifies what salient is having you do:
http://www.tinyempir...ldr_missing.htm