NTLDR is Missing Error Message

If you get an error message that says the NTLDR is missing during boot up there can be a number of causes. People automatically think this is a terrible error that cannot be fixed. Sometimes this is true, however most times it can be solved. If you are not good at technical stuff you can buy an emergency kit that will get you out of trouble. However if you can follow a few instructions and know your way around your computer, then it is not that hard and you should definitely give it a go.

What is the NTLDR?

Firstly NTLDR stands for new technology loader. The NTLDR is a special program that helps load other software and files that are required to get your computer system to they are ready to use level. The NTLDR is used for most of Microsoft Windows NT operating systems, including Windows server 2003 and Windows XP. If you are seeing the error message “NTLDR not found” then you are probably using Windows XP as an operating system.

A boot loader usually resides in the non-volatile portion of memory. The NT Loader is primarily run from the main hard disk drive, but it can also be run from storage devices like USB drives, flash drives, CD-ROMs, or even floppy disks. If an appropriate boot sector is given in the file, NTLDR can even be used to load a non-NT-based operating system.

NT Loader requires the following two files for its proper functioning:

• NTLDR – It contains the main boot loader.
• Boot.ini – It contains the configuration options.

The menu options are stored in the boot.ini file, and NTLDR allows a user to choose the desired operating system from the menu. It also allows users to pass some preconfigured options to the kernel. Boot.ini is protected from the user configuration, as accidentally changing some values in it can cause serious problems such as boot failure. A user needs to first unlock the boot.ini file to edit it.

NTLDR Booting Process

NTLDR (NT Loader) is a crucial component in the boot process of older Windows operating systems like Windows NT, 2000, and XP. Here’s how NTLDR functions during the boot process:

1. Accessing the File System:
   • NTLDR starts by accessing the file system on the boot drive, which can be either a FAT or an NTFS file system.
2. Hibernation Image Check:
   • If the file hyberfil.sys is present and contains a hibernation image, NTLDR loads this image into memory, allowing the system to resume from where it left off.
   • If no hibernation image is found, NTLDR proceeds to read the boot.ini file and presents the user with a boot menu.
3. Reading Boot.ini and Presenting the Boot Menu:
   • The boot.ini file is read to display a boot menu, allowing the user to select the desired operating system.
4. Loading the Selected Operating System:
   • If an NT-based operating system is selected, NTLDR runs ntdetect.com, which collects necessary information about the computer’s hardware.
   • For non-NT-based operating systems, NTLDR references the boot.ini file to load the associated files for that OS.
5. Executing Ntoskrnl.exe:
   • After gathering hardware information with ntdetect.com, NTLDR executes ntoskrnl.exe (the Windows kernel), passing the collected information to it to continue the boot process.

The bootstrap loader takes the control over the booting process and loads NTLDR. Ntdetect.com is invoked by NTLDR, and returns the information it gathers to NTLDR when finished, so that it can then be passed on to ntoskrnl.exe, the Windows kernel.

Ntdetect.com is used on computers that use BIOS firmware.

Other reasons the NTLDR is missing

1. First thing I do is check where the computer is trying to boot from. If it is trying to boot from the cd rom and not the hard drive, of course the file would be missing. If this is the case you should change your boot sequence in the bios.
2. This message also comes up when I leave my external hard drive connected to the computer. I am too lazy to change the settings in bios, so I restart the computer with the external drive off. Then it boots as normal.
3. Another rumor is that this error message comes up when you use a copied version of Windows. Sometimes I think this is also true.
4. The computer cannot access your hard drive either because it is not set up in the bios, it is not connected properly to the motherboard, it has a damaged boot sector, and so on.
5. If you have added a new hard drive and you get the message “NTLDR is missing” then it could be because you have Windows installed on the hard drive already. When installing a new hard drive it should be freshly formatted to avoid this problem.

How to replace the missing NTLDR?

If it is definitely trying to boot C: drive then try the following steps below.

NTLDR is missing for FAT32

If you have FAT32 partitions, it is much simpler than with NTFS.
Just boot with a Win98 floppy and copy the NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM files
from the i386 directory to the root of the C: drive.

For NTFS

1. Insert and boot from your WindowsXP CD.
2. At the first R=Repair option, press the R key
3. Press the number that corresponds to the correct location for the installation of Windows you want to repair.
   Typically this will be #1
4. Enter in the administrator password when requested
5. Enter in the following commands (X: is replaced by the actual drive letter that is assigned to the CD ROM drive.
   COPY X:i386NTLDR C:
COPY X:i386NTDETECT.COM C:
6. Take out the CD ROM and type exit

Another way is to put your hard drive into and external drive and copy the file from the cd that way.

Why am I getting the NTLDR is missing error message in Windows Vista and Windows 7?

When Microsoft came out with Windows Vista they discontinued use of NTDLR as the boot loader (program thats used to start-up your computer). They instead replaced it with 2 new components “winload.exe” and the “Windows Boot Manager”. So operating systems from Vista onwards no longer use NTDLR as the method of choice for starting the operating system. Therefore  the NTDLR does not exist but the error does?

It is like a Phantom error when people see the ntldr is missing error in Windows Vista.

To  repair Windows 7 or Windows Vista you will need to insert the operating system CD and choose the repair option. If you don’t have one you can buy a boot repair disc.  If there is an option to repair boot manager or startup repair then choose this. Hopefully this will repair your windows error messages for you without any hassle.

If this option isn’t available then start a command prompt and do a manual recovery.

For the manual recovery you need to try and fix the MBR and bootsectors:

Type the following into that command prompt:

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

Then type this to try and rebuild the BCD type:

attrib -h -s C:bootBCD

del C:bootBCD
bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd