NTLDR is missing - how to fix NTLDR error on Windows XP
If you get the dreaded NTLDR is missing error message upon bootup for your Windows XP computer, you can resolve it in a few steps.
1. Restart your computer. Try the easy fix first.
2. Remove any USB or firewire hard drives or CD/DVD drives. Your computer may be trying to boot up to these 
devices by mistake.
3. Make sure your BIOS is set to auto or to recognize your hard drive as the primary boot device.
4. Restore the NTLDR and ntdetect.com files from the Windows XP CD. You can do this by booting to your Windows XP CD and entering the XP Recovery Console. Then type in 2 commands where d: is your CD/DVD drive:
copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
Type exit and restart your computer
5. Repair or replace the boot.ini file. Boot up to the Windows XP CD and go to the Recovery Console. Type in:
bootcfg /rebuild
Type “Y” to prompt: Add installation to boot list?
Type “Windows XP Professional” or “Windows XP Home” when prompted for the name of operating system
Type “/FastDetect” when prompted to Enter OS Load options
Type Exit and Restart your computer
6. Write a new partition boot sector to the Windows XP system partition.
Boot to the Windows XP CD and go into the Recovery Console.
Type: fixboot
Type Exit and Restart your computer.7. Repair Windows XP Master Boot Record
Boot to the Windows XP CD and go into the Recovery Console.
Type: fixmbr
Type Exit and Restart your computer. Please note that if you get a warning that your partition is not standard and you might lose your data, then you should recover your files first before attempting this.
7. Re-secure all connections. Unplug and re-plug IDE/SATA hard drive(s), CD/DVD drive(s), video and internal 
cards, and re-seat the RAM modules.
8. Update your BIOS.
9. Perform an XP repair installation. You can do this if you have the exact same Windows CD that came with your computer. Instead of going to the recovery console, go to the steps as if you’re going to install Windows XP fresh. Then, type the “r” option which will allow you to run the repair which essentially re-copies all of the Windows files again over the current possible corrupt or missing ones.
10. When all else fails, back up your files and reinstall Windows XP.
11. If you’re unable to reinstall Windows, you might have a bad hard drive and may require data recovery to obtain your files. Then, you can install Windows on a new hard drive.
The above steps may be attempted to fix the NTLDR error. It is always wise to back up your files first prior to performing these steps. You may enlist a technical support company to help diagnose and repair your computer if you don’t feel comfortable with this computer repair process.
August 30th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
All of the above recommendations failed for me - my ultimate success in loading XP an this relatively new sata Seagate 160 MB hd depended on a different approach.
After many attempts doing a FAT32 load both with the Install CD and via an xcopied I386 directory on the HD itself, I gave up. NTLDR IS MISSING simply would not go away. Fdisk, Fdisk mbr, many full formats, all the tricks 20 years of PC repair taught me and N-O-T-H-I-N-G worked. I made at least 25 attempts. I’m a DOS veteran and don’t like to load XP on an NTFS hd. I like the control DOS gives me.
Here’s what worked - it was ultimately simple, but effective - for me at least. I installed the target hd in an existing XP PC, formatted it in XP as an NTFS drive, and reinstalled it into the target PC. Then I succeeded in installing XP via the install CD, retaining the NTFS format. No problems were encountered.
I would like to know why it would not install on the same hd with a single FAT32 partition, set, of course, as the primary boot partition. After 20 years of Windows installation experience I was for the first time forced to accept a compromise…. but the installed XP OS does work just fine.
What did I do wrong under FAT32?
September 1st, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Thanks for your input. Inherently, Windows XP is not capable of installing Windows XP on a FAT32 if the partition is bigger than 32GB in size. However, there is a work-around, as is always with Windows’ limitations.
Check out the below read which offers a way to use Windows XP on FAT32 for your 160GB hard drive. By the way, I’m not sure why you’d want to use FAT32 over the more stable NTFS, but that’s up to you of course.
http://www.petri.co.il/install_windows_xp_on_large_fat32_partitions.htm
Best,
New York Computer Help