NTLDR is missing, and now I can't even boot from Vista CD

Davedono

Member
Went thru the NeoSmart posted suggestions for repairing NTLDR, and now I can't even boot from the Vista installation CD. No idea wha t caused the problem. No new hardware. Does all this suggest some fatal hard drive problem? Help!
 
Are you dual-booting ?
If you only have Vista and you're getting messages about NTLDR (the XP boot loader), then most likely you're booting from the wrong device, possibly a second HDD which had XP on it in the past.
Check your BIOS HDD boot sequence to make sure you're booting from the correct HDD, and disconnect/reconnect the HDD cables a few times to clean the contacts. That can sometimes cause the "real" OS to disappear and the BIOS will try to boot the next available device.
 
I haven't got any other devices. Nothing that ever had XP pn it for sure. I have some back up hard drives, but nothing with an operating system on them. Very frustrating.
 
The message indicates not that there's an XP system (thats why "missing"), but that the MBR IPL is incorrectly looking for NTLDR instead of bootmgr, hence my suggestion. If those other HDDs were ever formatted under XP, they might have an XP MBR even if they never contained the OS.
Possibly your attempts at repairing NTLDR have put the wrong MBR on your Vista HDD.
Remember NTLDR doesn't exist in Vista. You should never see any message about it (or attempt to fix it).
Check your BIOS. Something must be amiss there if you can't boot the Vista DVD.
 
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