Removed XP from dual-boot, NTLDR is missing

[steiner666]

Ok heres the situation: I'm working on a customers netbook that had windows xp installed on it originally. They installed win7 RC on a different partition of the same disk and decided that they liked it so much that they would just remove windows XP by formatting C. Now of course they're getting an NTLDR is missing error. At the moment, I have no external CD/DVD drives available, only another workable PC with XP on it and a 2GB flash drive. I'm wondering what the best way is to get their system back up and running. Is there any way to set the computer to boot from the win7 installation on D: w/o being able to use the disks? Thanks

 

[steiner666]

well n/m, as usual i solved the issue prior to getting any sort of response. used a boot cd and copied the win7.iso as well as some other needed files to an external drive, plugged said drive into another machine and extracted the .iso to it and set it as active. went into netbook boot order and set removeable drive to be first, doin a fresh install of 7 now.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Ok heres the situation: I'm working on a customers netbook that had windows xp installed on it originally. They installed win7 RC on a different partition of the same disk and decided that they liked it so much that they would just remove windows XP by formatting C. Now of course they're getting an NTLDR is missing error. At the moment, I have no external CD/DVD drives available, only another workable PC with XP on it and a 2GB flash drive. I'm wondering what the best way is to get their system back up and running. Is there any way to set the computer to boot from the win7 installation on D: w/o being able to use the disks? Thanks

Common mistake thinking MS will install a 2nd OS on another partition. Most of it wilol wind up there but various boot files still reside on the old OS boot partition. IMO, letting MS manage your boots is a bad idea.

 

[reconviperone1]

I just set the bios back to default, and there went the error, now i have xp, and windows 7 back on

 

[Snow_Patrol]

Why on earth would you have to do a re-format? You could have just stuck the bootable flash in, logged into the command-line repair utility, type in 'fixboot' and then re-started the netbook. NTLDR is the file responsible for loading the OS into the main memory and the loading of drivers and essential services at boot-up. And then, while you're at it, you could also run 'fix mbr' to reset the boot loader and only have the 'Boot into Windows 7' option. If you're a repair technician, why didn't you know this off-hand?

 

[13thmonkey]

don't have a go at the community because they didn't respond within 1hr 20 mins, we have lives to live you know.

 

[Snow_Patrol]

don't have a go at the community because they didn't respond within 1hr 20 mins, we have lives to live you know.

lolwut? Any technician worth his or her salt can diagnose and fix a missing NTLDR problem in 10 minutes easily. Its not that hard, or that complicated really, because its one of the first things you get drilled into your head in college.

 

[13thmonkey]

not you... the OP's comment

well n/m, as usual i solved the issue prior to getting any sort of response

wasn't exactly praising of this free community support service.

lolwut? Any technician worth his or her salt can diagnose and fix a missing NTLDR problem in 10 minutes easily. Its not that hard, or that complicated really, because its one of the first things you get drilled into your head in college.

 

[captaincharisma]

why do a complete reinstall? did you try a repair first?

im sure the windows 7 CD/ISO still has a repair option right?