NTLDR missing (again-sorry) please help-I'm desperate!

[hoppers]

Believe me, I have worked my way through the threads relating to this problem, with no result that seemed to even get me one step further.

System: AMD2500, ASRock K7S8X, 512MB, 80GB HD, old PCI graphics card

This is a brand new installation except for the graphics card which was taken from an old pc.

I do assume that this is not a hardware problem, I have replaced hard disk, ram and graphics card, and tried different cd-roms. I have replaced my own hard drive with the new one, trying to install on my otherwise running system from scratch, ntldr is still missing.

With a blank hard disk, installation of W2k did go as far as starting to format the hard disk but stopped at about 2% with the following error message: irq_not_less_or_equal, followed by DateStamp 384d5a76 – ntoskrnl.exe. After restart, it was kmode_exeption_not_handled. After next restart error loading operatig system.

I have formatted the hard disk (NTFS) with my old system and tried again. Result: ntlrd missing.

I have tried to start with the W2k floppies, everything seems to work fine until the last of the 4 is read, then the system supposedly starts setup – and the screen turns black and the pc freezes.

I have tried to install NT instead, it will start the installation but stop with the error message hal: no rtc device interrupt.

I have disabled UDMA as W2k supposedly had problems with ATA100 in the original version. (I do not quite understand that???)

I have the hard disk thrown out of the boot table. When loading, the cd-rom comes up, then the hard disk still shows up as ok – and ntldr is missing. This doesn’t make any sense, since I had disabled it in the boot sequence and the bios still shows that setting.

I have copied the W2k cd and replaced the ntldr file with one from my own system, did no good.

I have simply copied the W2k cd onto the hard drive. Result: boot.ini supposedly not o.k., /WINNT could not be found. I could not find any boot.ini on this drive, even when showing hidden files. It apparently wants to boot from there. There was one on my old pc though, which I used for formatting and copying. If it reads that file I thought it was worth a try. I copied it to the new drive, hoping it would overwrite whatever was there that I couldn’t see, and changed the contents to setup.exe, which is the starting file of the installation. Next try, same result - /WINNT was not detected.

I then deleted all files and changed the format of the primary partition to FAT32, inserted an old Win95 cd and hoped for the best. You won’t believe it: ntldr is missing! With a Win95 installation cd!

I would be grateful if I could at least get to recovery on the W2k cd that everybody is taking about! Or install any OS at all. I really have tried everything I could get my hands on.

I am at a loss what to do and desperate after spending 3 weekends with this problem. I need to get this running somehow! Please help!

Chris

[Atomic Rooster]

It could be hardware related. If the system was overclocked, you should set it back to normal. Also you may have a bad stick of ram. Could you try another stick?.

[squeech]

I realize that you have replaced your RAM, but that is still my first instinct with what you're going through.

I would try another stick of RAM and not necessarily the same kind. Perhaps swap it out with a different brand (which you may have done), put the RAM in another slot (or if you have multiple chips try using just one), or try a different size chip (I ran an install once on a board that refused to accept 256MB sticks of ANY kind ).

BTW, Welcome to TechIMO

[hoppers]

No overclocking! I'd be grateful to get anything running without messing around. <g>

Unfortunately, the only stick of ram I have available for switching is the same one. I have an almost identical system (exept for the grahics card) and thought since the first one is running without any problems, it would be a good idea to get the same stuff for a friend.

I have not tried another slot yet. Don't you always take the first one? If the stick is bad, why would that make any difference? And shouldn't I get an error message when the pc starts, it is running through the memory first?

Chris

[hoppers]

I have tried to put the stick into another slot, no change. I have put both sticks in, this looked a bit different.

Before, the machine tried to boot from floppy, then cd, then hard disk (try other devices is enabled in bios, so this is alright even though I took it out of the list - I just checked). It usually froze there, no key would restart, I had to use the reset buttom.

Now it says ntldr is missing press any key to restart and when I do, it only tries the cd, then the same error message s displayed. I try again, and all 3 drives are checked. On next try, only the cd, then all 3 again.

I restarted the pc several times until the old situation came up eventually.

Btw, the sticks are different after all, one is infineon, the other says infinity. The labeling on the chips is also different.

I already thought the cd could be corrupted if it is not recognized as bootable. But then how come, autorun is always bringing it up on my running system asking me if I wish to install. Ntldr is in the directory it should be and even replacing it did no good, so I assume this is not a cd problem?

Chris
(still depressed)

[DallasDon]

Ram can be finicky sometimes. I had a similar problem with Corsair ram. Fought with it a week, then bought on stick of Value ram, and it loaded with it just fine.

First try clearing the cmos. Can't hurt, and might help. Be sure no power is to the board, give it a couple of minutes first to discharge the capacitors.

Also try entering the setup and load fail safe defualts. This will have the processor and ram running in sync, probably at 100 MHZ. you can change it after you get it up and running.

Another slot might help. The bios may disable unused DIMM slots to facilitate faster boot up. You might have it "confused" with all that swapping around.

Good luck.

[hoppers]

By fail safe defaults, do yo mean reset defaults? I have already tried that and other than kicking the cd-rom out of the boot list, I could see no change.

Clearing cmos I haven't tried yet, will do when I get home tonight.

Buying another stick of ram will cost money I really don't have at the moment but I might have to.

I was about ready to trash the mb as this was the only thing I could not really check and there was not anything else left, but how come you all seem to think ram did it?

If it really is the ram, why doesn't it work if I replace the hard disk in my in PC with the new one and try to install? I would expect this should be no problem since this system is running smoothly.

An what exactly is the boot sector on a hard disk? Is it some hidden part that might have something written on it in the first attempt to install without showing up? And does this now cause the unability to start installation? I mean I have cleaned it several times and reformatted, this should have done the trick and allowed installation on my running system when I put in this drive instead of my own.

I am still somewhat confused. I wish I would at least understand what is goin g on, this would make it somewhat easier.

Chris

[Kronik Reloader]

I had the same problem 2 days ago , all i did was repartition my hard drive and all worked after that , youi might want to give that a try

[DallasDon]

You weren't specific about the ram,, that would help. I looked up your board , and its a pretty sweet board.

It will not support PC 2100 DDR ram, will run too hot if that is the ram you have.

On a new install, the ram can cause error messages if the Vcor is off by one tenth of a volt.

Plus, if the ram is a new version, and was developed after the bios on your board, it may have a hard time with it until you update the bios.

A common suggestion on new installs is to start with generic or value ram to install windows, then replace it with higher performance ram.
My suggestion is to return to the manual, try to post with only the cpu, ram, and video installed. The system should halt after testing all those components.

Then enter setup, and watch the system temps for about 10 minutes. It should level off between 40 and 50 centigrade,, not over 55.

Then triple check the IDE 1 to hard drive, IDE 2 to CD rom, Blue end of the cable to the mobo, other end to the drive.

Make sure the hard drive is jumpered correctly. You can check that by enter ing the CMOS setup screen and see it it says "primary master IDE 1, HDD-0, xxGB, etc.

Then set the 1st boot device to CD rom, and make sure 2nd or 35 isn't also CD rom. You can disable seek another device if you want.

Should start setup, and ask to format Drive C, format it as one partition, and then Windows begins loading.

Hope the link helps. The good news is the SECOND computer build takes a couple of hours, the first one may take a couple of weeks.

[hoppers]

Bingo!!!???!!!

The tip about monitoring system temps for a while was it I think! My running system stayed well within the parameters at 42° while fan speed remained at about 4788rpm (this one with an XP2600+).

The new system (XP2500+) showed a fan speed of only 3333rpm (shouldn’t be that much lower for that processor, should it?) and temperature started at 55° going up to an unbelievable 75° after just 15 minutes!

I have not had any reason before to monitor this and thus no experience with it, but even I realize that this difference in almost identical systems just cannot be right. Could the temp rise that far just because of the lower fan speed? I don’t think so. It started out way to high to begin with.

Both cpus came in a boxed version; I did not really want to worry about chosing a suitable cooler if I could have it along with the chip. I assume it is now safe to claim something is wrong with the cpu/cooler?

I will take the board out and check the cpu installation, but there is really not much to put in wrong there. This might take a few days though since it will take a little more time and I am not about to start this when I get home late at night. So please bear with me.

Could this account for the irregularities upon trying to get an os running? I have rewired and rechecked cabeling, everything is as it should be. I have disabled any boot device except the cd-rom. Searching for boot record ... ok is what it tells me. Then ntldr is missing, press any key to restart. This didn’t work as the system froze. I had to cut power completely and restart. Next time, same message, upon pressing a key it tells me boot failure and suggests I select a a proper boot device or insert boot media. Didn’t it just recognize one? Could this really be related to the temperature problem or is this something else?

Chris