NTLDR is missing

I have a computer I use for music creation only (Windows XP). Recently I fired it up and all was working fine. Unfortunately I then tried to plug in the USB mouse but accidentally plugged it into a SATA port on the back (directly to the motherboard).

The computer then hung and I had to force reboot.

After that I began receiving the error message "NTLDR is missing" error message.

I researched this and tried everything I could to get it to boot again. Nothing has worked including resetting the bios, even flashing the bios. Nothing worked.

Do you think I broke/damaged my hard drive?

This is genuinely a critical event as this hard drive holds extremely important data.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

 

NTLDR missing
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/for...tes-ntldr-making-windows-xp-unbootable/page-2
Boot to your Windows XP disk. Enter Recovery Console. At the command prompt, type in copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\ then press enter. Then type copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\ then press enter. Of course, replace the drive letters shown previously with your own if you operating system differs from C or your CD drive differs from D.

Next, type at the command prompt: bootcfg /rebuild then press enter. Wait for it to scan for installations. When it prompts "Add installation to boot list?" type Y then press enter. When it prompts for load identifier, type in the EXACT name of your OS, such as "Windows XP Professional" or "Windows XP Home Edition", then press enter. At the final prompt for OS Load Options, type in /Fastdetect then press enter.

Type exit, then enter, which will restart the computer.
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if you do not have recovery console installed then burn a cd with it, since you have sata drives, then I will give instructions for Hiren's boot cd as this will not matter about sata drives.

Courtesy of Jose Ibarra
Make yourself a Hiren's Boot CD which you can download from here:

http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/

The ZIP file is large, so the download will probably take a little while to complete bit it is worth it. Then unzip the download to extract the Hirens.BootCD.ISO file that will be used to create your new bootable CD.

Creating a bootable CD from a .ISO file is not the same as just copying the .ISO file to a blank CD. You have to use software that understands how to burn a .ISO file to a CD to create a bootable CD.

In the Hiren's ZIP file are the BurnToCD.cmd file that you can double click to launch it, but I have never used it and prefer to use ImgBurn.

If you need a free and easy CD burning software package, here is a popular free program:

http://www.imgburn.com/

When installing ImgBurn, DO NOT install anything from UniBlue or the Ask toolbar (never install the ASK toolbar for anything).

Here are some instructions for ImgBurn:

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61

It would be a good idea to test your new bootable CD on a computer that is working.

You may need to adjust the computer BIOS settings to use the CD ROM drive as the first boot device instead of the hard disk.

These adjustments are made before Windows tries to load. If you miss it, you will have to reboot the system again.

When booting on the Hiren's CD you will see a menu of options. Choose the Mini XP option. Then it will appear that Windows is being loaded and you will be presented with a desktop that has the look and feel of the Windows Explorer interface you are already used to using.

One way to check the disk for errors is to open My Computer and right click your afflicted drive and choose Properties, Tools, Error-checking, Check Now... put a check mark in both the boxes and then Start.

Sometimes that doesn't work, so you can also click Start, Run and in the box enter:

cmd

Click OK to open a Command Prompt window and enter the following command (assuming XP is installed on your C drive)

chkdsk c: /r

This disk checking can take a long time (perhaps several to many hours) depending on the size of the volume, the amount of data on the volume and what the disk checking finds to do.
Let chkdsk finish and correct any problems it might find.

Depending on the the speed of your system, the size of the volume, the amount of data on the volume and what chkdsk finds to do, it may take a long time for chkdsk with error correction to complete (several to many hours) or it may appear to be 'stuck'. Be patient. If the HDD light is still flashing, chkdsk is doing something so don't interrupt it. It will finish eventually one way or the other. Keep an eye on the percentage amount to be sure it is still making progress. It may even appear to go backwards sometimes.

You may have to run the chkdsk c: /r more than once.

 

ALSO: some good information on ntldr is here:

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm

 

Thanks Elizabeth! I tried everything and finally said the heck with it, backed up my data, formatted and installed Windows 7. I very much appreciate your time and effort!

 

Sorry this did not help. good luck with win 7