re: XP installation problems
Thursday, November 15, 2001 at 10:33 am
Windows XP Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by whales
(16 messages posted)
I got this response from the Microsoft website..
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"NTLDR Is Missing" Error Message When You Upgrade or Install Over Windows 95 or Windows
98
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The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
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SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to install Windows 2000 or Windows XP, or upgrade a Windows 95-based
or Windows 98-based computer to Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you may receive the following
error message after the first reboot:
NTLDR is missing
Press any key to restart
This behavior occurs only if Windows 95 or Windows 98 is installed on a large-capacity
drive that uses the FAT32 file system.
CAUSE
This behavior occurs because the Windows 95 or Windows 98 installation was improperly
cloned on a different-geometry drive and the following conditions also exist:
The system/boot partition is formatted with the FAT32 file system.
The computer boots using INT-13 extensions (a partition larger than 7.8 gigabytes
(GBs) with a System-ID type of 0C in the partition table).
The Heads (sides) value in the FAT32 BIOS Parameter Block (BPB) is inaccurate. This
must match the geometry of the physical drive.
The Windows 95 or Windows 98 boot code ignores the head value in the BPB and boots
even when it is invalid. The Windows 2000 and Windows XP boot code uses this value
and causes the boot process not to succeed if it is inaccurate.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, correct the invalid Heads (sides) value in the FAT32 BPB
to allow the Windows 2000 or Windows XP boot process to continue. The easiest way
to update the field is to rewrite the Windows 95 or Windows 98 boot code by using
the following procedure:
Restart the computer with a Windows 95 or Windows 98 Startup disk that contains the
Sys.com file (this file is included by default).
At a command prompt, type sys c:. This command rewrites the Windows 95 or Windows
98 boot code with accurate BPB information.
Restart the computer to Windows 95 or Windows 98, and then attempt the Windows 2000
or Windows XP installation or upgrade procedure again.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed
at the beginning of this article.
Additional query words:
Keywords : kbenv kberrmsg kbsetup w2000setup
Issue type : kbprb
Technology : kbwin2000Search kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Pro kbWinXPHome kbWinXPPro
kbWinXPProSearch kbWinXPHomeSearch kbWinXPSearch
Last Reviewed: November 13, 2001
© 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use. Disability/accessibility
Privacy Policy
Article ID: Q255220
Last Reviewed:
November 13, 2001
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On Thursday, November 15, 2001 at 7:10 am, Carlos wrote:
>Hey Luis, it sounds like the HDD you first tried to install XP on is toast as far
>as Win95 is concerned. If I were you I would go ahead and reformat the entire drive
>and try a clean install of XP on it and see how that works. Especially since you
>were smart enough to backup your files on another HDD. Good luck.
>
>--Carlos
>
>
>On Thursday, November 15, 2001 at 4:49 am, Luis E. Rodríguez wrote:
>
>I got a new motherboard and Windows XP Home edition with it. My existing hard drives
>were transferred over to the new system which already had Windows 95 running on
>them.
>
>I tried to install Windows XP as an upgrade and it didn't let me so I went from
>the
>full install option by booting from the CD. Everything appeared to be OK until
>the
>first reboot. I get a message telling "NTLDR.EXE is missing" and does not proceed
>any further. I tried booting again from the CD but the setup process starts all
>over again.
>
>Help!!!!!!
>
>I tried to reinstall Windows 95 again and found that the XP setup deleted my entire
>\windows directory and now I have a crippled system because very few programs run
>due to missing files.
>
>Why does this "ntldr.exe is missing" thing happens? Would the XP setup work if
>I
>choose to format the partition where I will install XP?
>
>
>I already copied everything
>else (should have done that at the very beginning) into the other hard drive, so
>nothing else would be lost.
>
>Thanks.
>
- Written in response to:
- re: XP installation problems (Carlos: Thursday, November 15, 2001 at 7:10 am)
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