NTLDR is an abbreviation for NT Loader. This is the boot loader for all Windows based Operating systems on NT technology, like Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. It is run from the primary hard drive, but can be executed from a removable media like a CD-ROM. This requires boot.ini file to be present to function properly.

This error usually appears in the following formats:

“NTLDR is Missing

Press any Key to Continue”

“NTLDR is Missing

Press Ctrl Alt Del to restart”

There are various causes for this error message:

1. PC is booting off a CD-ROM or USB drive or any external drive/device
2. Corrupt files and file configuration
3. Corrupt sectors on Hard Drive
4. BIOS problems

Solution

1. Restart the computer to check if the problem still occurs. If this is intermittent, there is a high probability that the connection to the hard drive is loose.
2. Check if you have a floppy drive or CD/DVD in the CD/DVD drive. If you have any, try booting the computer without these disks.
3. Check the settings in BIOS. You should check for detection of Hard Drive on the BIOS Screen. A sample screen looks like below:

Make sure that you have something listed against IDE Primary Master / Hard Drive / First Boot Device, depending on the BIOS that you have.

4. If the above steps don’t help (in most cases they don’t), try to extract and restore the booting files from Windows installation Disc. If you don’t have the disc, you can borrow the disc from someone else. This does not violate the piracy norms set by Microsoft. To do this, follow the steps below:

• Set the First Boot Device in BIOS to CD/DVD drive. Enter the Windows installation disc in the drive and restart the computer. You will see a prompt to “Press any key to boot from CD”. At this prompt, press any key on the keyboard to boot from CD.
• On the selection screen that comes after the setup has loaded all the files, press “R” to go to recovery console. You may be prompted to enter your administrator password on the screen here.
• The next screen will look like a command prompt, with a black screen and blinking cursor. On this screen type the following commands:

                                                                                       i.      Copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\

                                                                                     ii.      Copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

Here, d: refers to the CDROM drive and c: refers to the partition in which Windows is installed on your machine.

• If you get a prompt to replace the existing file, press “Y” to confirm
• Once this is done, take the Windows disc out of the drive and type “exit” to restart the computer.

This should replace the existing corrupt files with a set of new files. On restart, your computer should boot properly without any error message.

 5. If these steps also don’t resolve the issue and you still get the same NTLDR missing message, boot from the Windows installation disc and go to the recovery console prompt again (As explained in first few steps above). On the recovery console, follow the steps below:

• Type “bootcfg” and press Enter
• You will get a prompt to “Add installation to Boot List?” after you press Enter key. Type “Y” to say Yes and press Enter key again
• You will get another prompt to enter the name of the installation. On this prompt, type “Windows XP Professional” or “Windows XP Home” depending on the version of OS that you are using and press Enter.
• You will get another prompt to enter OS Load Options. On this screen type “/Fastdetect” and press Enter Key again.
• Now take the Windows installation disc out of the drive and type “exit” to restart the computer.

These steps will reconfigure the Boot.ini file on your computer.

6. If you are still getting the NTLDR missing message, you will need to go to the Recovery Console again and attempt to fix the Boot Sector on the hard drive. This command will rewrite the boot sector information. To do this, follow the steps below:

• Go to the Recovery console as described earlier
• On the command prompt, type “FIXBOOT” and then press the Enter key
• Once the process is over, take out the Windows installation disc and type “Exit” to restart the computer.

This should resolve the issue if the issue is with Boot Sector information on hard drive.

7. If you still face the NTLDR Missing message, the problem could be with the Master Boot Record (MBR) on the hard drive. To fix this, follow the steps below

• Boot to the Recovery Console as described above
• On the command prompt, type “FIXMBR” and press Enter key
• This will rewrite the existing MBR on your hard drive. Please note that if you have installed any recovery software, it will not function in pre boot state if you perform this step.
• Once the process is over, take out the Windows installation disc and type “Exit” to restart the computer.

8. If the problem still exists, you will have to perform Repair Installation of Windows.