Newbie question???

**choopz** · August 3rd, 2006, 11:56 AM

Hi guy's,

Can one of you explaine to me why when I try to install Windows XP Pro
I get the following message; Cannot find NTLDR press Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot.
And when I reboot I get the same message.

**usslindstrom** · August 3rd, 2006, 12:57 PM

That happens alot.

One option to try.

You can boot to the command prompt. (Press F8 when it says Starting Windows XP). Go to the CD drive (usually D:\) And from the CD, copy ntdetect.com and ntldr over to the root of your hard drive.

**If you're at all confused by the above step, please seek local assistance**

OF Course it's probably even more simple than that. Make sure that your BIOS points to your correct booting device.

**choopz** · August 3rd, 2006, 03:02 PM

Thanks Uss.

**usslindstrom** · August 3rd, 2006, 04:18 PM

Did it work?

I hope everything manages itself out, and you're back up and running in no time. Nothin' worse than a PC that decided it had better things to do than work.

**sr71000** · August 3rd, 2006, 04:28 PM

uss.....he said it's happenin during the install. Sounds more like he's got a sata drive and needs drivers

**choopz** · August 3rd, 2006, 04:48 PM

Yes Uss, it did it for me I can not thank you enough like you said there is nothing worse than a PC refusing to work.

sr71000; Thanks for the reply.

**Douce33** · August 3rd, 2006, 05:29 PM

Yeah i think i got ripped off, my puter did that once and i brought it in and they said my HDD was bad so i had to buy a new one, F'n Futureshop!!!!

**FatalException** · August 3rd, 2006, 05:58 PM

Well, "NTLDR missing" can be indicative of a hard drive failure; it's possible that the surface of the disk was slowly going bad and that resulted in the inaccessible boot loader. If Futureshop ran a diagnostic on the drive (takes between half an hour and 3 hours depending on PC speed and drive size) they may have identified that as the problem... Don't count them out so fast. The exact same error message can be caused by a variety of things; working with PC's is almost like medicine - a patient has a headache. Is it caused by a blood clot? Perhaps they fell and bumped it? A tumor? Or is it just a headache?

**Douce33** · August 3rd, 2006, 06:00 PM

true enough, ive had bad experience with fshop before though cuz my Hd crashed and i brought it to them a month prior to this happening

**poopeyhed2** · August 3rd, 2006, 06:53 PM

Since you're installing Windows on it, there's nothing on there anyway, so just reformat the drive in the working computer. DO NOT hook it up through a USB 2.0 enclosure.