NTLDR is missing

Hoping to get some direction regarding an issue I am having with getting this repaired.
I have a Inspiron 6400 Dell XP. I ran MSE last week on April 9th and somehow this NTLDR got deleted or damaged. I googled and found it has to be repaired using the install disc. The problem I am having is I cant get in to install. I put the CD in and the laptop sounds like it is reading the disk but the message that comes on when I turn on the computer " NTLDR is missing" and restart just recycles itself. If I go in through Media Direct button I can get that menu to come up but cant do anything about fixing the repair. HELP.....trying this forum before I have to pay and take it to the computer doctor.:eek:
 
first, have you set the bios to boot from the cd first and not the hdd??

press F2 to get into setup and change the boot sequence.

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Watch for a Press any key to boot from CD...

When the Windows XP Professional/Home Setup screen appears, press R to enter Recovery Console.

To the Which Windows installation would you like to log onto question, press 1 and then Enter.

If you have not set a recovery console password just hit enter

after this then do this:

type the following two commands, pressing Enter after each one:

copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\

copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

In the command listed above, d represents the drive letter assigned to the optical drive that your Windows XP CD is currently in. While this is most often d, your system could assign a different letter. Also, c:\ represents the root folder of the partition that Windows XP is currently installed on. Again, this is most often the case but your system could be different.

If you're prompted to overwrite either of the two files, press Y.

Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC.

above from this link

Here are a list of recovery console commands

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here has other possible causes of ntldr is missing, if the above does not fix problem


also if you want to watch someone repairing this on you tube, just go to youtube and type in ntldr is missing and you will find many videos.
 
Aloha Elizabeth23,

The problem is I have tried pressing F2 and other keys and I get nothing but that message. the screen reads:

Loading PBR for descriptor 2...done
NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

and it just cycles over and over.....appreciate any other input you can give
 
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