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| Thread ID: 71513 | 2006-08-08 02:52:00 | another PLEASE HELP!!! post (NTLDR and BIOS) | Redoak181 (10934) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 476975 | 2006-08-08 02:52:00 | Okay, My acer laptop with windows XP pro became very slow almost to the point of freezing, then a msg came up reading "Windows is shuting down" with a countdown timer. (I've seen this message before when trying to close svchost.exe.) When the laptop restarted I got the message: "NTLDR is missing" "Press any key to restart" Any key did not restart and I can't get around this problem. I can't press my precious F8 key to get into windows in safe mode, can't do ANYTHING! The only thing I can do is press F2 to get into the BIOS. It's PhoenixBIOS Setup Utility, System BIOS ver: 3A12, VGA BIOS ver: Montaro-GM 2965. Please help me fix this problem, this is my mom's work computer and there's a lot of important information on it she can't afford to lose. I've checked around on the internet and people say to reset BIOS, I don't know how to do this and I'm not even sure this is the correct solution. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me out, I beg of you. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, -Joey ps: The laptop does not have a boot disk, nor a floppy drive, just a CD-ROM drive. I don't have an XP CD but my mom might be able to get one tomorrow. Thanks again so much. |
Redoak181 (10934) | ||
| 476976 | 2006-08-08 03:33:00 | I don't have much to offer . . but a lot of help is coming your way soon . . . In the meantime: I would like to take this moment to recommend that EVERYONE with a Windows OPSYS run at least Belarc Adviser ( . belarc . com/free_download . html" target="_blank">www . belarc . com) or Magic Jellybean ( . magicaljellybean . com/keyfinder . shtml" target="_blank">www . magicaljellybean . com) and print out the results for when the burn-down is needed . This MIGHT be the time to boot from Windows and fdisk the whole thing and start all over . There will be other (I am sure) answers that are not as damning . . . and I sincerly hope so . . . but what you shouldda done is run one of those utilities a long time ago . Not being able to get into Safe Mode is a killer problem . . . especially without a floppy drive for a boot disk . . . but like I said . . . there will be others as soon as they see this post . |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 476977 | 2006-08-08 03:40:00 | Might also help if you tell us what you were doing on the comp when the slow-down occurred . Were you playing games or on line for example? Were there any warning signs or symptoms before the slow-down, is the computer protected by a firewall and antivirus, plus any other background information that might help with diagnosis . It is a bit over the top to talk about fdisk or reinstallations of Windows just yet, and of course there's the question of the vital data on the computer that your mother can't afford to lose, and whether a current backup has been made . Professional assistance may be required if the data is to be saved . Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 476978 | 2006-08-08 03:43:00 | What has happened is that your hard disk's main directory has been damaged . The boot process is starting, so the disk still works . But (at least) one essential file is not accessible . NTLDR is the "NT LoaDeR" which takes over and loads the operating system . The rest of the files might still be OK . Don't" . . . fdisk the whole thing and start all over . . . ":( You might be able to use the Recovery Console of a CD to "repair" Windows . But you should preferably get help from someone who has experience of doing this . ;) |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 476979 | 2006-08-08 03:45:00 | Billy.... Isn't there a LINUX utility to do just that?...get the files off a corrupted drive? :confused: |
SurferJoe46 (51) | ||
| 476980 | 2006-08-08 03:53:00 | Lots of different ways to fix this. If you have a floppy drive these instructions may help: www.tinyempire.com You can also use something like Bart PE to start your computer from a CD-Rom and copy the nt loader across using Bart PE's explorer (I think this works, can't remember off the top of my head if Windows allows you to copy the nt loader whilst running Bart PE). |
stevesumner (4849) | ||
| 476981 | 2006-08-08 04:26:00 | Most likely scenario is that you were 'making radical changes' either by installing/uninstalling programs repeatedly and the NTLDR file gets 'pushed out of place'. There is no easy fix, even if you had access to the floppy. If you did you could attempt to replace the NTLDR file from a command prompt, but I can tell you that I tried recently and it did not work :( If you can get hold of the XP CD you could try a repair install, but again this didn't work for me and even if it did there's a good chance that all your files etc would go west. |
Shortcircuit (1666) | ||
| 476982 | 2006-08-08 04:27:00 | Billy.... Isn't there a LINUX utility to do just that?...get the files off a corrupted drive? :confused: Yes, it's called SuSE... and it will get the files off by cleaning up your Windows install for good :D |
Shortcircuit (1666) | ||
| 476983 | 2006-08-08 08:43:00 | Redoak, you are not knowledgeable enough to fix this . If you try to follow heaps of complicated instructions that may or may not be valid, you will likely make it worse . Probably the safest thing to do is remove the hard disk and copy its data to somewhere else . A good laptop repair place will know how to do this . And their charge will be a reminder to make sure it is backed up in the future . There, someone had to say it . |
linw (53) | ||
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