Error : "NTLDR Is Missing"

Error Type:

1. NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart

2. Boot: Couldn't find NTLDR
Please insert another disk

3. NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl Alt Del to Restart

CAUSE: While computer starts, the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System : This is to prepare the machine so that the other software programs stored on various media can load, execute, and assume control of the PC) attempts to find the primary hard drive's active partition to read the first sector for the Boot Sector or MBR (Master Boot Record), this information is used to load the rest of the OS(Operating System). In Windows XP the MBR is pointed to the NTLDR (New Technology Loader) and it takes it from there to load the OS. If you get "NTLDR is missing, press any key to restart" what's most likely going on is the BIOS either didn't look for the right drive, didn't find the right partition, it wasn't active, didn't find the MBR, or the MBR didn't list NTLDR in the right place i.e. MBR or the Boot sector is damaged, the location of NTLDR changed, or there may be a possible hardware failure.

Another cause can be that one or more of the following Windows boot files are missing or corrupted:

1. Ntldr
2. Ntdetect.com
3. Boot.ini

There can also be other causes like :

1. Computer is booting from a source that is non-bootable.
2. Computer HDD (hard disk drive) is not properly setup in BIOS.

Solution:

Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.

1. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
2. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
3. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter the password/ if no password is there then just enter.
4. Copy the two files to the root directory ( say c:\ ) of the primary hard disk from the the XP CD. These are stated as under:
   
   copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
   copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
   
   
5. After these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.