When ever I start windows xp I have to have the windows xp cd in the cd drive in order to start up window, if i don't i get a message that says ntfs or something is missing. Does anyone know why this is happening?
I am going to say back up any data you may need first. This is because I have no idea what condition your PC / HD ...etc is really in. Also if you have any infections on your pc. More than likely this will go off with out a hitch. boot off of your xp cd , where you get the message press a key, press a key. When you get to the part where it says run the recovery console by pressing R do that. you will then need to log onto your install of xp, so you may need your administrator password, if you do not know what it is try no password first, then try the word password. after that type in fixboot. taht should fix it in a normal system that there is no underlying other faults.
also try going into the BIOS and see if all 3 of your selections are set to boot up from the CD drive, if that is the case, set your primary to boot up from the HD.
no not a bios setting, if it was they would be getting the error ... boot device not found or someting simular. They are getting an error like ntldr can not be found ... so the hd is being read it is something like boot.ini is pointing to a ficticous partition. tyknappy .. to try my suggestion you will have to go into your PCs bios and make the first boot device the cdrom drive.
the only way i can boot into windows is when its set to boot from cdrom, and it only boots when the windows xp cd is in the drive
