Computer wont boot from new HDD

R

rtg

Geek Trainee
Hi

I've installed a new HDD recently. I want this one to have my operating system on and all applications, i then want to set up the old one as a storage facility for data.

I currently have windows xp pro installed on both HDD, however, if i try and set the new hard drive as the boot hard drive in the bios, when i come to boot up, i get the message:

'NO NTLDR... press ctrl + alt + del to restart'

I then have ot revert back to the original drive

the system wont allow me to format the original HDD either!?

I've installed all the drivers etc from the graphics card, mobo, etc etc and have completed file transfer using the windows installation program

What do i need to do??
 
NTLDR is the is the Windows NT (win2k and XP) boot loader. When the BIOS finishes its POST rutine, it hands off control to this file. NTLDR, along with NTDETECT.COM and BOOT.INI are required to boot your machine, and its possible that one or all of them is missing or corrupted.

You could copy these files from a XP installation disk to your new HDD, I'm not sure if your other XP installation has these though....

If that doesn't help;

Can you boot the system using your windows CD? Try setting all boot devices to cdrom in the BIOS, and see if you can boot the system. While you're in the BIOS, check and see if your hard drives are being detected properly.

If they aren't showing up as they should, youve probably found your problem. The windows CD contains the three files listed above, and the bios should find NTLDR on the cd.

I hope that works,

Greetings,

Marcus
 
Help Support From Microsoft
[link=http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320397/]You receive an "NTLDR is missing" error message when you start your computer[/link]
 
did you do a fresh install of Windows on your new HDD, or did you just copy all files from your old hdd to the new one? If you did the last one, you didnt manage to copy the masterboot record of your old hard drive.

Use this tool to copy your old hdd to the new one, or you can just do one of the following:

1. Boot with your new WinXP cd and choose the recovery console.
2. Use the Fixmbr tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type
Fixmbr [device_name]

Where [device_name] is the device pathname of the drive to which you want to write a new master boot record. For example, the device pathname format for a standard bootable drive C configuration would look like this:

\Device\HardDisk0

3. Use the Bootcfg tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type

Bootcfg /parameter

Where /parameter is one of these required parameters:

* /Add--Scans the disk for all Windows installations and allows you to add any new ones to the Boot.ini file.
* /Scan--Scans the disk for all Windows installations.
* /List--Lists each entry in the Boot.ini file.
* /Default--Sets the default operating system as the main boot entry.
* /Rebuild--Completely re-creates the Boot.ini file. The user must confirm each step.
* /Redirect--Allows the boot operation to be redirected to a specific port when using the Headless Administration feature. The Redirect parameter takes two parameters of its own, [Port Baudrate ] | [UseBiosSettings].
* /Disableredirect--Disables the redirection.
 
sorted now, thanks guys

i reformated the drive and installed windows again - works fine now
 
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