HOW TO SOLVE THE
“NTLDR IS MISSING” ERROR
Description and
Symptoms
The
error messages, alerts, warnings, and symptoms below are tied to this error.
Symptoms: When a computer is
turned on, the BIOS picks an eligible, bootable hard drive and then load the
NTLDR file. The NTLDR file is normally located in the root directory of the
active partition on the first boot drive. However, if the NTLDR file is not
found or is corrupt, then the loading process halts and the “NTLDR is missing”
error screen appears.
“NTLDR is missing”
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart.
The
exact error message may vary: while “NTLDR is missing” is the most common one,
the computer may also show “Boot: Couldn’t find NTLDR” or “NTLDR is Missing
Press any key to restart”.
Causes of this
Error:
This
error has been known to occur as a result of one of the following causes:
Cause 1: Computer is booting
from a non-bootable source. Sometimes this error can be caused if a computer
tries to boot from a non-bootable source, such as a floppy disk or a flash
drive. This usually happens if that computer’s BIOS boot sequence is configured
incorrectly.
Cause 2: when the
NTLDR-related files are corrupt or missing, this error may appear if any of
boot-related files (NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and Boot.ini) are missing or corrupt.
These files are normally hidden and system protected, but they can still go bad
because of user errors, power outages, or virus attacks.
Fixing “NTLDR is
missing” on Windows:
Windows
Setup CD/DVD Required!
Some
of the solutions below require the use of the Microsoft Windows setup CD or
DVD.
Fix 1: Unplug
all removable media:
Since
this error is often caused by BIOS trying to load from an external non-bootable
drive, the user may try to unplug all external drives, and remove all removable
media, such as CD/floppy disks, memory cards, and USB devices to make sure the
BIOS doesn’t try to load from any of them.
Fix 2: Change
BIOS boot order:
Alternatively,
it is possible to check the BIOS boot order to ensure that the PC tries to load
from an internal drive first.
To
check the boot order, follow these steps:
1.
Restart
the PC
2.
Press
the necessary key to open BIOS menu. This key depends on the computer
manufacturer and computer model. This is usually listed on the first screen
that appears on your monitor. It can be any of the following: Esc, Del, F2 , F8
, F10 or F12.
3.
If
the screen shows multiple keys, find the key to open “BIOS”, “setup” or “BIOS menu”
Use
the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab. Move the HDD drive to the top of
priority list.
Fix 3: Replace
NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files:
Windows
XP users can replace the required files for NTLDR to load correctly by using
your Windows Installation Disc. The files are named NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM.
Here are the steps
to replace these files:
1.
Insert
the Windows XP install CD
2.
Restart
the computer and boot from the CD
3.
Press
any key to boot from the CD
4.
Press
R when the Windows Options menu is loaded to access Repair Console
5.
After
this step, log into Windows by pressing 1.
6.
Enter
Administrator password if set.
7.
Use
the following commands to copy the NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM files from the
Windows installation disk to the hard disk:
copy
D:\i386\ntldr C:\
copy
D:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\
Where D:\ is the install CD’s drive letter
and C:\ is the Windows XP partition’s drive letter
8.
Once
these files are copied, remove the Windows installation disc from the disc
drive
9.
Restart
the PC.
Fix 4:
Change the boot-sector code:
On
Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 this error can
be fixed by writing a correct BOOTMGR-related boot sector code to the bootable
partition.
Here are the steps
to write a correct boot sector:
1.
Insert
the Windows Vista (or any newer version) install CD
2.
Restart
the computer and boot from the CD
3.
Press
any key to boot from the CD
4.
Click
on Repair your computer after selecting proper language, time and keyboard
input.
5.
Select
the Windows installation drive, which is usually C:\, and click Next
6.
Choose
Command Prompt when the System Recovery Options box appears
7. Write the
following command and press Enter afterwards:
bootcfg /rebuild
8.
If
the program finds a Windows installation and asks whether it should add it to
the boot list, press Y
9.
Remove
the install CD
10.
Restart
your computer
Fix 5:
Rebuild boot.ini file:
The
next steps are to rebuild the boot.ini file:
1.
Insert
the Windows XP install CD
2.
Restart
the computer and boot from the CD
3.
Press
any key to boot from the CD
4.
Press
R when the Windows Options menu is loaded to access Repair Console
5.
After
this step, log into Windows by pressing 1 using the Administrator password if
set any.
6.
Use
the following command when Command Prompt appears:
bootcfg /rebuild
7.
When
the systems prompts you about adding an identified Windows installation to the
boot list, answer “Y”(Yes)
8.
Enter
“Windows XP” as Load Identifier and “/fastdetect” as OS Load Options.
9.
Remove
the install CD
10.
Restart
your computer
