MetaChat - My home computer isn't working!!!

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28 November 2008

My home computer isn't working!!! My last post was about YouTube not working properly for me anymore. I uninstalled and reinstalled Flash, and then it worked. But the next time I turned my computer on, I had a new and much more serious problem.
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When I turn the computer on, I get this message:

NTLDR is missing

Press Ctrl + Alt + delete

I do this, and then the computer goes to the Intel screen/startup screen, and then after a few seconds, goes back to the first message. Rinse, repeat. How on earth do I fix this?

post by: Orange Swan at: 10:22 | 7 comments

I'm facing down a computer-less weekend unless I can figure out how to fix this today. I'm of two minds about this. It's a twin "The horror! The horror!" and "The productivity! The productivity!" response.

posted by Orange Swan 28 November | 10:38

"NTLDR is missing" is a common problem; here's what looks to be a pretty good set of solutions. Probably techie people know better than me though.

posted by Hugh Janus 28 November | 10:54

*Deletes long reply including fixes above. Shakes fist at Hugh Janus*

posted by essexjan 28 November | 10:59

Do you have multiple hard disks in this computer? Basically your computer is looking at the hard disk it thinks it needs to boot from, and it cannot find NTLDR, which is the file that starts up NT/XP, if I remember correctly (been awhile since I did tech support for a living). If your computer has more than one hard drive, it may be trying to boot from the drive that doesn't have your operating system on it. If that's the case, the fix is usually to go into your BIOS (usually by hitting the delete key right when you turn the computer on) -- and look around for a "boot" section and choose the correct hard drive from which to boot. Save the settings, exit and you'll be back in business.

That's the easiest fix. If you only have one hard drive you'll need a boot disk. If you have your original installation disk, you can try booting from that and see if you're offered a "repair" option. If so, choosing that might fix the problem.

Screw you Hugh! :-P

Here's what Microsoft says about the problem.

posted by WolfDaddy 28 November | 11:01

[madly prints out linked pages]

Thanks, people!

posted by Orange Swan 28 November | 11:09

Shakes fist at Hugh Janus

Sounds risqué.

posted by Hugh Janus 28 November | 11:13

OrangeSwan, the linked pages contain direct downloads of files you need to save onto a USB flash drive or some such.

posted by essexjan 28 November | 11:17

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