NTLDR missing

i have a problem, i formated a slave h.d. and when i put that slave into master, switching all the appropriate plugs and switches, i had my xp cd in the cd rom, and as soon as i turned on the computer, i got a message telling me an NTLDR file is missing and it wants me to restart, is there anyway to fix this problem, i dont feel like spending 40$ to a computer shop for them to fix this problem, but i also hear its pretty hard to fix, but im willing to give it a shot

 

You could give these suggestions a try:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318728

 

Sounds like your BIOS is not set to boot from the CD. You want to do a fresh install? Heres an easy way to do this.

1. Get Win98 Setup Bootdisk
2. Boot PC without CD-ROM support.
3. FDisk new drive.
4. Restart, no CD-ROM support, format new drive.
5. Restart WITH CD-ROM support.
6. Create folder C:\WinXP
7. Copy entire XP CD contents to C:\WinXP.
8. Run C:\WinXP\i386\winnt (setup program for XP)
a. Ignore error about smartdrv not being installed
9. Happy computing!

~Rich

 

whats the Win98 Setup Bootdisk , and FDisk new drive

 

Go to bootdisk.com and download the windows 98 (OEM) bootdisk. After you boot without CD-ROM support, at the prompt type this

Fdisk

Then remove all existing partitions on the drive (option 3 I believe), and create a new primary partition (option 1 I beleive). You should be able to google fdisk to find help on it.

Keep up posted on your progress.

~Rich

 

My post says to REMOVE ALL EXISTING PARTITIONS, then ADD A NEW PRIMARY PARTITION. I left the removal of partitions generic cause I was unsure of what format he was using.

~Rich

 

thanx you so much, my last question hopefully would be, where was i suppose to create the C:\WinXP file to???, because i installed the entire cd, with 2 partitions, and it seems to be working fine

 

kay, i just got a new problem, as i was taking out the new hard drive that i installed win xp on, i noticed that a pin off of the back came out with the ide cable, what should i do about that? or is one pin not going to matter much? i didnt try connecting it yet

 

if ur hold the hard drive so the pins are facing you , than beside that you have 4 pins on top and 4 on the bottom, than on the right of that i think its the power supply, onle 4 bigger pins, so its something like this O=broken pin, X=full blank area

O*******************[****][****}
**********X*********[****]

 

so would that be a problem, because im thinking about putting that hard drive as a slave drive? or could it be the master drive, and another drive as a slave?

 

when ever i unpluged the ide cable, the pin was still inside the ide cable, when i look at the hard drive its self, the breaking point is parallel with the plastic in the back

 

Hey, what is the drive model. How old is the drive? If it is a newer drive it can be fixed properly but it can be expensive.