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NTLDR missing problem

K

kilroyst

Member
I have an aging WD 80GB IDE HD. If I shut my computer down over night, when I boot up the next morning I get the NTLDR is missing message. If I shut down and retry booting several times it eventually will boot into Windows and behave normally except, after the POST screen and before the Windows splash screen I will have a black screen with a blinking cursor for 30 sec or so.

Is my hard drive mechanically on the way out? Or could there be another cause?

I've used Paragon's Drive Copy to ghost the drive to my external USB drive, just in case. If I dont manage to get a new HD before this one dies totally, what is the easiest way to get my ghosted copy onto the new drive?
 
Do a repair install over your current XP - you lose no data or software, just XP settings

Juat a small note:
If the HDD does actually boot eventually, it could be a PSU prob, whereby a warm boot has enough voltage to get the HDD going in time for boot. I'm wondering if you have a cheapo low watt powersupply.
If you have a rapid boot option in bios, I would try with it disabled.

BTW welcomr to AT
 
Thanks guys,

I did run CHKDSK in the recovery console with no errors. I have not tried repairing the Windows install though.

I did notice that when getting the NTLDR is missing message the HD was not being detected in bios. Leading me to believe its not corrupt, just not spinning up.

This is the system. Dont laugh its a dinosaur, I have a nice C2D gaming system I just built, but I use this one for my business, general browsing, etc.

Asus P4P800-E
P-4 3GHz Prescott
NVidia 5700LE
2GB Kingston Value DDR400
Ultra X-Connect 500w PS
WD 80GB IDE HD
Phillips IDE combo drive

I know the PS is not the best but the rails are stable according to the values in bios.


 
I don't know if this is a problem with some boards or just the DFI, but when I used to receive that error, in the BIOS my drive would somehow set itself to CHS(or CH5, something with a damn C) instead of LBA. If this even pertains to you, you may want to make sure it's set to LBA.
 
the xfinity 500W is fine
you dont have to apologize for system - its just fine
you will have to go to WD website and download and run DFT (drive fitness test)
try new IDE cable especially if rounded
please let me know what this is set at now and......
set IDE detect time out to 5 in your bios - page 85 in your manual
 
Originally posted by: kilroyst
Thanks guys,

I did run CHKDSK in the recovery console with no errors. I have not tried repairing the Windows install though.

I did notice that when getting the NTLDR is missing message the HD was not being detected in bios. Leading me to believe its not corrupt, just not spinning up.

This is the system. Dont laugh its a dinosaur, I have a nice C2D gaming system I just built, but I use this one for my business, general browsing, etc.

Asus P4P800-E
P-4 3GHz Prescott
NVidia 5700LE
2GB Kingston Value DDR400
Ultra X-Connect 500w PS
WD 80GB IDE HD
Phillips IDE combo drive

I know the PS is not the best but the rails are stable according to the values in bios.
Click to expand...

You call that a dinosaur ? There are a world of people out there that would like to have a computer like that !!!

Why don't you just get the hard drive diagnostic software from Western Digital and check the integrity of the drive ?
 
Sounds like the HD is fine but when off for long time it may not be getting up to full speed on a boot, hence the error, and the fact that it works after a subsequent reboot usually means the lubrication is probably wearing out. I had this happen on an 80gb seagate, the drive needed to "warm up" before it would boot properly. I did the HD in a zip-lock freezer trick where the lubrication would congeal after several hours in the freezer and when I connected it back to the PC the cogealed lube apparently spread more evenly. Since then it has been working great. Still use it in my 3rd system. Worth a shot, but BACKUP before you do anything.
 
I've seen this happen a few times at work. This error usually means boot.ini is incorrect and pointing to the wrong partition where Windows is installed.

If you can boot to DOS or use a Windows 98 boot disk. It might be a good idea to get a boot.ini from another PC (change its attributes to non-hidden and non-system). Copy the boot.ini to the target PC --> Reboot.

 
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