How to Replace Missing NTLDR Files With XP Home

Sometimes, when booting your computer with Wndows XP Home Edition, you might encounter a message that reads "NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Esc to Restart" and won't allow you to start the system. When BIOS starts your system it needs to access the part of your hard drive with NTLDR, or New Technology Loader, files to successfully begin loading Windows XP. If those files are damaged, corrupted, changed location or encountered another problem, you need to replace them by copying from the Windows XP Installation CD.

Things You'll Need

• Windows XP Installation CD

Instructions

1. Insert the Windows XP Installation CD in your CD drive, and turn off the computer. Turn the computer on again.

2. Press any key on your keyboard when the "Press any key to boot from the CD" prompt shows up.

3. Press "R" on your keyboard after the Windows XP Setup menu appears on your screen. This will bring you to the repair mode.

4. Press "1" and then "Enter" on your keyboard to get into Windows Installation Process.

5. Enter your Administrator password when prompted and press "Enter." If you do not use a password on your computer, just press "Enter."

6. In the command line type: copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\ and press "Enter."

7. Press "y" and then "Enter" to overwrite the existing "ntldr" file on your hard drive with the new one.

8. In the command line type: copy e:\i386\ntldr.com c:\ and press "Enter."

9. Press "y" and then "Enter" to overwrite the existing "ntldr.com" file on your hard drive with the new one.

10. Take the XP Installation CD out of your CD drive.

11. Restart your computer.

Tips & Warnings

• Letter "e" in "copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\" and "copy e:\i386\ntldr.com c:\" lines represents your CD drive, which in most cases is labeled "e". Check the label under under "My Computer". If it is not "e", then replace it with the one you have in both lines.