"NT Loader is Missing"

[stimpy1]

I swapped a hard drive out of a machine that had 98SE on it for one that had Windows 2000 PRO. I get an "NT loader is missing" message at startup and that's it. Any idea on resolving this? Thank you.

 

[Smilin]

Either the wrong partition is set active, or you have the wrong drive set to boot in bios.

 

[stimpy1]

Originally posted by: Smilin
Either the wrong partition is set active, or you have the wrong drive set to boot in bios.

So how would I set the correct partition? There is only one hard drive in the computer. It is set to boot from the hard drive in BIOS just like most computers. It's in the Master slot and it's set to boot from there. It also correctly identifies the new drive in BIOS.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

WAIT. Was this Win2K installation performed on this computer or another one? If another YOU CANNOT DO THIS. A Win2K cannot have the mobo changed on it. Won't work. If you try it, you'll just get a BSOD on bootup.

You CAN do it with a Windows XP install but you HAVE TO do a repair install of XP afterward to force it to detect all the new mobo hardware.

This is not the reason you're getting the "NT Loader" error though. That's a seperate issue. Either you the first partition on the drive is not bootable or you have a floppy disk in the floppy drive.

AT ANY RATE if you want to put Win2K on this system you'll need to install it CLEAN.

 

[stimpy1]

Originally posted by: FlyingPenguin
WAIT. Was this Win2K installation performed on this computer or another one? If another YOU CANNOT DO THIS. A Win2K cannot have the mobo changed on it. Won't work. If you try it, you'll just get a BSOD on bootup.

You CAN do it with a Windows XP install but you HAVE TO do a repair install of XP afterward to force it to detect all the new mobo hardware.

This is not the reason you're getting the "NT Loader" error though. That's a seperate issue. Either you the first partition on the drive is not bootable or you have a floppy disk in the floppy drive.

AT ANY RATE if you want to put Win2K on this system you'll need to install it CLEAN.

The 2k was installed on another computer with a different mobo. The hard drive with 2k on it is now in a computer that previously had 98SE. Looks like I need to install clean. Should I say goodbye to all the files currently on the hard drive?

 

[montag451]

Backup your files that you require: documents etc.
Make sure you also backup [write down] any user settings/passwords/dialup etc accounts
Make sure you know all the hardware that is in your system, and download new drivers from the net so you can install them with the new win installation

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: stimpy1

Originally posted by: FlyingPenguin
WAIT. Was this Win2K installation performed on this computer or another one? If another YOU CANNOT DO THIS. A Win2K cannot have the mobo changed on it. Won't work. If you try it, you'll just get a BSOD on bootup.

You CAN do it with a Windows XP install but you HAVE TO do a repair install of XP afterward to force it to detect all the new mobo hardware.

This is not the reason you're getting the "NT Loader" error though. That's a seperate issue. Either you the first partition on the drive is not bootable or you have a floppy disk in the floppy drive.

AT ANY RATE if you want to put Win2K on this system you'll need to install it CLEAN.

The 2k was installed on another computer with a different mobo. The hard drive with 2k on it is now in a computer that previously had 98SE. Looks like I need to install clean. Should I say goodbye to all the files currently on the hard drive?

You can do a repair/inplace upgrade on 2000 just like you can on XP. Boot with your 2000 cd, hit "enter" at the first screen (NOT "R") as if you are doing a new installation. It will detect your previous install and allow you to hit "R" to repair at the next screen. You'll need to re service pack and winupdate when complete.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

You can do a repair/inplace upgrade on 2000 just like you can on XP. Boot with your 2000 cd, hit "enter" at the first screen (NOT "R") as if you are doing a new installation. It will detect your previous install and allow you to hit "R" to repair at the next screen. You'll need to re service pack and winupdate when complete.

I'm an IT tech and have NEVER had any luck doing a repair install with Win2K after swapping mobos. Worth trying, but unless you have identical chipsets (going from one NForce mobo to another for instance) I doubt it will work.

 

[Smilin]

The process and changes made by it are identical between 2000 and XP. The fact that you've had great success with XP but never had it work with 2000 indicates you've had some poor luck 🙂 Sorry.

Works great for me and it's MS recommended. See kb249694


edit:
PS.. Everyone here is an IT tech.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: FlyingPenguin

You can do a repair/inplace upgrade on 2000 just like you can on XP. Boot with your 2000 cd, hit "enter" at the first screen (NOT "R") as if you are doing a new installation. It will detect your previous install and allow you to hit "R" to repair at the next screen. You'll need to re service pack and winupdate when complete.

I'm an IT tech and have NEVER had any luck doing a repair install with Win2K after swapping mobos. Worth trying, but unless you have identical chipsets (going from one NForce mobo to another for instance) I doubt it will work.

FP: The advice you're giving out here is wrong.

You can freely move XP and 2k installs between motherboards - it's really not an issue, as long as the HAL is the the same (in Device Manager, look under the Computer object - APIC, PIC, Uniproc, etc. are some choices)...if that's not the same, you'll need to do a repair install. For modern PCs this isn't much of an issue.

Otherwise, the other culprit that causes a BSOD is different HDD controllers - and that's easily fixed (assuming the new box boots without additional drivers not in XP natively) by just changing your HDD controller's drivers from whatever they were on the old MB to "PCI Standard IDE" prior to shutting down for the last time on the old motherboard.

"Chipset" drivers, video drivers, and the like aren't an issue (except the HDD driver, as mentioned above). As long as you can boot the OS, you can fix any of the other drivers.