NTLDR is missing

[StupidDog]

Hello and thanks in advance for your time.

I have a 500GB HD in an HP dx2200 desktop running XP Prof. SP3 that started freezing intermittently about a week ago. After several shutdowns with the power button, I expected there were some corrupt system files among other things. Ran SFC which gave me issues due to a non-existent recovery partition and had to use an XP Professional Student and Teacher disk cause it's all I had. I got an error message over and over again about needing to write to the dll cache but was unable to... Also tried updating all my drivers at hp.com which seemed to speed things up a bit. It finally died so I brought out my trusty Diskpatch start-up disk that I had used once before to save my wife's computer (got some serious points for that!) - Thank you very much! It worked flawlessly! Been reading some of the posts and figured you guys could use some good news.

What I have done with Diskpatch so far:
1. Did the obligatory SMART scan with excellent results.
2. Did a full read/write scan with no errors.
3. Forgot to mention that I got a message saying Diskpatch can not save files even though I have only used up a small portion of disk space.
4. Did a rebuild of Partition tables and boot sector all with positive results but noticed it's not finding much on the disk.
5. Refreshed the MBR
6. Got it to start seeing the disk again but all I keep getting is NTLDR is missing message

After reading through some related posts I was contemplating starting the cloning process but wanted to hear your opinion first. Also I should mention that I have a backup of the files from the disk and it would be great to have all my programs back but I have fallen into apathy mode at this point. 

Thanks,
Doug

[Tom]

So, in short, the disk is in good health (which is good) and Windows isn't (bad). I do not wish to sound unfriendly but I'm sure you've seen us mention this before; we don't do Windows support. You've performed some fixes already, and that seems to have gone well (kudos for that). You have the data, so I'm not sure what more we can do for you. Fixing the NTLDR thing is simple enough but requires a Windows XP original CD, and you need a way to access the volume to check if any other boot files (like BOOT.INI) are missing. Creating a Windows bootable CD could help you with this, but you'll need a running windows to build one:
www.nu2.nu/pebuilder
All I can do is point you to the Microsoft website, where numerous articles in the support section explain what to do when NTLDR is missing.

If you want us to verify the current state of the volume, post a fresh support analysis log.

Cloning is not needed in this situation.

[StupidDog]

Thanks for the quick reply, Tom. Needed a new perspective as to what to do next. I will follow your advice.

One question I forgot to ask for future reference...If I am cloning a 500GB disk, does the target drive have to be the same size or can it be just large enough to hold the volume of data present on the source drive?

(Give me a reason to go out and buy a new gadget so I can justify the purchase to my wife...)

Thanks again for your help.

[StupidDog]

One other question about BartPE if you can answer it...

If the OS I am trying to repair is XP Prof. SP3 but the disk I am building with is XP Home SP1, is that a problem?

[Tom]

If I am cloning a 500GB disk, does the target drive have to be the same size or can it be just large enough to hold the volume of data present on the source drive?

It would be best if the target disk as at least the same size as the volume/partition that needs to be cloned. But, if the data area is smaller and you can be sure that the clone will contain the important stuff, that should be okay. Still, because it's difficult to actually make sure of this, it's not good practice.

If the OS I am trying to repair is XP Prof. SP3 but the disk I am building with is XP Home SP1, is that a problem?

Not if all you are fixing is system boot files, but I can't be sure. Simply try, can't get any worse now can it?

[StupidDog]

With regards to your reply about the target drive size, is this because some data on the source drive could be located at the "end" of the disk and the cloning process would miss this if the target drive was smaller?

By the way, I have to say you guys are running a real class act over there...the patience you have for people is astounding and the product you sell does a great job at saving memories (and asses in some cases).

Thanks,
Doug

[Tom]

With regards to your reply about the target drive size, is this because some data on the source drive could be located at the "end" of the disk and the cloning process would miss this if the target drive was smaller?

Exactly. With NTFS it's always a surprise where data ends up, even though there are some ground rules. The point is: when dealing with a recovery situation (and potential loss of memories and asses) it's best to play it as safe as possible.

Thanks for the compliments, we try to make good support part of the package. Makes people come back...