Missing NTLDR and switched Drives

Hi there,

I am running 2HD on Win XP.

Computer management suggests that drive C is the System drive ? with 66% free.
Drive D is the Boot drive with 31% free.

My settings now prioritize D which wasn't always the case.
Previously C was the main drive and D was the slave.

Due to a missing NTLDR I did what I thought was an XP repair but it seems that I somehow managed to have the hard drive preference switch..if any of that makes sense......though it seems nothing is imaginable with PC's.

Is ther some way I can get the HD lettering reversed..C to become D and D to become C.

I went into Computer management to try and change the letters but it was a bit beyond me.

HELP!
Then there is also the matter of the missing NTLDR from the system/drive somewhere though not sure which one.

 

PeteC,

I tried the following before posting but the outcome was that "The system cannot find the file specified "
Windows XP users

Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
Once in the Windows XP setup menu press the "R" key to repair Windows.
Log into your Windows installation by pressing the "1" key and pressing enter.
You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password.
Copy the below two files to the root directory of the primary hard disk. In the below example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive letter "E ". This letter may be different on your computer.

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:
copy ntdetect.com c:

I'm off to bed now 10:20pm. will follow through on this later on.

Thanks.

 

When you ran your Windows repair, did you wind up with 2 installations of XP? Is there another set of Windows files located on your D: drive? I may be way off base here, but when you stated D: was your *boot* drive and C: was your *system* drive, that was the first thing that came to mind.

B

 

Hi there folks, back again.

I’ll try to give a bit of clarity so I won’t have you guessing too much.
I have 2 Primary H/D
One Master the 2nd Slave.
The Master should be C and the slave D..that is how they have always operated.
Both run on XP Home.
A few days back I did a bit of a cleanup and obviously dumped something in the Recycle Bin
that shouldn’t have gone there and it got emptied automatically on re-boot so I have now programmed it not to do that in future.

Boot Master with Slave unplugged I get NTLDR is missing and the boot info readout does not recognise Master...only Slave. (strange)

Boot Slave with Master unplugged I get "Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the related boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware
The boot info readout does not recognise Slave only Master.(strange)

Boot with both drives plugged in boots up OK and boot info recognises both drives.

Went into BIOS to reconfigure the order of H/D but it made no difference and as they are set on auto I suppose the system just handles it.....however the boot Master and only Slave recognised
and boot Slave and only Master recognised is a bit mysterious to me.

I have noticed that any dowload now "automatically" wants to be installed on D whereas before C would be the drive it would load to.

Just wondering if removing and replacing the CMOS battery might rattle its brain back into
order??

I have extracted i386 on to a floppy.

 

How does THIS sound?

 

Sorry Pete..this is the best I can do.

Hi there folks, back again.

I’ll try to give a bit of clarity so I won’t have you guessing too much.
I have 2 Primary H/D
One Master the 2nd Slave.
The Master should be C and the slave D..that is how they have always operated.
Both run on XP Home.
A few days back I did a bit of a cleanup and obviously dumped something in the Recycle Bin
that shouldn’t have gone there and it got emptied automatically on re-boot so I have now programmed it not to do that in future.

Boot Master with Slave unplugged I get NTLDR is missing and the boot info readout does not recognise Master...only Slave. (strange)

Boot Slave with Master unplugged I get "Windows could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from the related boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware
The boot info readout does not recognise Slave only Master.(strange)

Boot with both drives plugged in boots up OK and boot info recognises both drives.

Went into BIOS to reconfigure the order of H/D but it made no difference and as they are set on auto I suppose the system just handles it.....however the boot Master and only Slave recognised
and boot Slave and only Master recognised is a bit mysterious to me.

I have noticed that any dowload now "automatically" wants to be installed on D whereas before C would be the drive it would load to.

Just wondering if removing and replacing the CMOS battery might rattle its brain back into
order??

Did the battery bit...no change..reset.

 

Sorry Pete...I know you are trying to help and I really appreciate that.

I am no tech nerd, I am an uneducated, self taught 68 year old and at times have difficulty with the jargon and abreviations.

Thanks for your patience and the manner in which you presented your last post.

C and D both have a WINDOWS folder.

Drives are jumpered...Cable select

i386...seems I don't have it on floppy then.....what I did was to do a search of i386 on C and D and just copied one of those to the floppy. as it fitted it seems it isn't what we are after.

 

Thanks Pete,

2300hours here and I'm off to bed, will follow your instructions in the morning......Monday9th.

nighty nite.

roy
THANKS

 

Some readers may get a surprise to see FORMAT in my suggestions.

But, I would go along with PeteC except that it may only cause probelms later. I think the Drive that is now D: should be formated, Jumpers changed as was suggested and left in place along with the CDROM. Otherwise there may well be problems with the CDROM ( and any software tha may be installed ) especially when the 2nd HD is reinstalled.

But in any case the Windows setup on D: will somehow need to be illiminated.

BillyBob

 

Kind of in agreement.

(Roy66 - suggestion - slow down and listen to whats being said instead of trying continued "shotgun" approach, hoping something finds its target and fixes your problem. In other words, be cautious, calculating and methodical - one step at a time.)

First, lets rehash - took quite some time, but Pete's initial suspicions were confirmed re: 2 installations. I also believe Pete's "fix" re; pasting those two files to the root directory should work. Think we're all in agreement that second hard drive (the current D which appears to be bootable) should be temporarily disabled before attempting the fix. And, as referenced - this could become a problem when it is re-enabled or thrown back into the mix.

I don't agree with master/slave jumpering because cable select should be just fine and will circumvent the need for multiple jumper setting changes. Think about it - master with no slave, master with slave and slave - may also require removing drives to access jumpers depending on Roy's drives, skill set, knowledge and tools. Cable select will work fine - just keep C on the last header, whether D is plugged in or not. And, its not going to impact the OS or BIOS re: seeing that C should be master.

So where are we under CS jumpering scenario and whats next? As mentioned in earlier posts - disable D and run the fix as outlined after booting to XP CD. Then try booting with D still disabled. If successful, you're halfway home. Now reconnect D and try booting. If successful in booting to C with D attached, then copy what you need from D to C and as BB suggested, wipe D and re-format (you can even do a quick format if so desired). If not successful, you can run FIXBOOT from the CD after rebooting once again from the CD. Alternately, you can boot from a 98 start disk and FDISK D (second drive), deleting the partiton and building a new one. (note - this also trashes all data on D). Another alternative is to use something like Partition Magic to deactivate D if its causing a boot problem when both drives are present. Regardless, longer term you want to get that second XP installation out of your system.

Good Luck Young Man ..........

 

I agree with pretty much everything that has been posted EXCEPT Removing the 2nd drive before the repair install.

I am looking more at the future than the present.

In order to get Windows back to the C: drive properly the one on D: will need to be removed anyway. And seing as now it does contain a Windows folder plugging it in later MAY CAUSE BIG proplems unless it is formated ( or otherwise cleaned up ) first. And with XP just deleting the Windows folder MAY NOT be enough.

FORMAT the D: drive and leave it in place. Re-install XP to the C: drive and I believe you will have a much more reliable and easier to handle system.

Any existing programs on D: will most likely need to be reinstalled anyway to make them more solid and reliable also as they may well be looking for Windows to be on D:.

Question.

Does the 2nd HD have more than one Partition on it ? If by chance it does then it will mess things up even more by plugging it in later.

BillyBob