help please --computer down

Andrew_L.

Daughter's computer (belonging to Alison 74) has suddenly stopped working. She has asked me to post here for any assistance.

Screen shows "TLDR is missing" and "Boot from CD" (which she assumes applies to original Windows XP disc). Re-inserts disc, goes through "Repair Windows", "Install Windows","User Agreement", then "Press F8", but then returns to "TLDR is missing".

I'v taken this down over the phone so apologies if I've left anything out. If anyone can help I shall be most grateful and shall pass info on to Alison 74. Thanks

Spikeybabe

Yep it sounds like the Hard has a corrupt files and is that's first sign that you might have a virus or the hard drive is starting to fail. I would suggest that you contact some computer expert and don't take any rubbish that the data has gone because data can alway be recovered. Suggest to them that they take the hard drive and place in one of there machines and copy over the data. Some computer say the can't recover because of security this is rubbish because the windows security can be got round by placing in a windows professional machine and overide the NTFS Rights which will give you access...

Btw if you use the windows disc supplied with the machine it's going to overwrite ALL data so if you have anything on there that you want to keep then I suggest you can someone.

Cheers

mrs_deadline

Found what look like some short and simple instructions online, hope it will work for her:

https://www.datadoctors.com/help/questions/question.cfm?id=11095

Good luck!

nadeembutt

hi there,

Im new to this site (my first post) and im hoping that i can help, ive worked with pc's for over 10 years now, fixing, repairing installing, etc.

Id be more than happy to help with your problem.

Do you mean it says NTLDR is missing? Oppossed to TLDR mentioned in your post.

I can send you a floppy disc by post if you like which will boot you back into windows and sort the problem for you or i can e mail you the file (if you have access to another pc) which you will have to put on a floppy disc and then put into your pc. It shoulf resolve your problem.

Nadeem

Spikeybabe

nadeembutt wrote:

hi there,

Im new to this site (my first post) and im hoping that i can help, ive worked with pc's for over 10 years now, fixing, repairing installing, etc.

Id be more than happy to help with your problem.

Do you mean it says NTLDR is missing? Oppossed to TLDR mentioned in your post.

I can send you a floppy disc by post if you like which will boot you back into windows and sort the problem for you or i can e mail you the file (if you have access to another pc) which you will have to put on a floppy disc and then put into your pc. It shoulf resolve your problem.

Nadeem

But why is the file missing ? Copying the file back isn't going to fix the problem if something is deleting it.

jobbingmusician

Your logic is impeccable, but my experience is that files do sometimes just disappear, so it's worth trying a re-install first - usually solves things! :T

T4i

If it is NTLDR that corrupt or missing I see it quite often when fixing p.c's.

Not sure why so many people have problems with it, I get the impression some tweak programs change the attributes to not read-only and then somehow it gets deleted.

---

Windows XP users

1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
3. Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
6. Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter "E". This letter may be different on your computer.
   
   copy e:\i386\ntldr c:\
   copy e:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
7. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.

alison74

Thanks for all your help and advice.

I am in an internet cafe as I type this. I switched everything off, waiting for my dad to phone back with a solution and when I went to put the computer back on my monitor failed !!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Yep, co incidence would have it, it has packed up at the exact same time as my computer ! I want to cry !

Anyway, I have had to take the machine into my local repair shop who said it is fixable with the error that came up and they are going to charge a reasonable amount to fix it (I wouldn't go near PC world that's for sure)

My hard drive is partitioned to I won't lose all my music and pics etc which are all on the main drive, just all the programmes on my C:

I may have a lot of questions to come !

Should take a couple of days and get a new monitor (which the guy kindly checked for free)

I really appreciate the quick response.

It says something about this site that I come on here first for advice rather than anywhere else !!

T4i

Make sure they don't charge you a stupid amount for 5-10 mins work. They don't need to open the p.c up, al lthey have to do is insert a XP disc and copy across the missing/corrupt file. Shouldn't take them more than 10 mins.

kat21

Often a user will see the message "NTLDR is Missing" after attempting to install Windows 2000 or Windows XP, or upgrade a Windows 95-based or Windows 98-based computer to Windows 2000 or Windows XP. The message appears after the first reboot. This occurs only if Windows 95 or 98 has been installed on a drive with the FAT32 file system

your problem is the file allocation system what size hard disk is it and did you ever have windows 98 or 95 on that drive. Sometimes you may think you have formatted a drive but it doesnt do a good job, I always zero byte my drives to ensure a clean install,
To zero byte a drive you need to know the name of the hard disk drive and then go to the manufactures website download their utility disks and boot your computer to the A drive, follow on screen instructions and then leave over night to zero byte.
or if your installing windows you could choose to get your computer to boot to your dvd/cd rom, then insert your operation system disk (windows) when it prompts you do you wish to install go through all the procedures but delete the primary partition and reformat again when you re boot it will ask you if you wish to set up a new partition
kat21

alison74

T4i wrote:

Make sure they don't charge you a stupid amount for 5-10 mins work. They don't need to open the p.c up, al lthey have to do is insert a XP disc and copy across the missing/corrupt file. Shouldn't take them more than 10 mins.

Thanks for that advice, but the guy said it would take a day or two to scan the hard drive and fix it. How does he know which file is corrupt ? Surely he still has to scan the whole machine ?