debian and xp dual boot--ntldr missing error

[uarpit]

hi..i hav a dual boot of xp and debian...and by mistake i deleted some important file...and wen i tried to boot xp, its showing ntldr missing error... I tried booting from xp cd and its not reading the cd...and in my bios settings cdrom is the first booting device...iam able to use debian properly but it reads only cds with data files...so how shud i fix the xp ntldr....and if it includes uninstalling debian how do i do it without xp..? if anybody can help...thank you...

[jayd512]

Hello and Welcome!

You're going to have a problem getting XP going again with out being able to use the install CD. The only way I know to fix that issue is to boot from install CD, choose Rescue option. Type

fixmbr

You may need to track down an working CD to boot from.

*EDIT*
Gotta love it... the problem is so common that it has it's own website! ntldrismissing.com

[jayd512]

I also found this link which may prove to be of some use.

Good luck!

[uarpit]

thank you jay.. i tried the first option...but its not working...the reason i guess is the grub..and debian is my primary os folowed by xp...so iam not able to boot into xp bootable cd or floppy or usb...so i guess if i could remove the grub and make windows as my primary os, then i can use these bootable disks...it would be of great help if u culd advice me on this...or correct me if iam wrong....thanx again..

[jayd512]

I think I gave a little mis-information in my first reply (about fixmbr) as that's not the issue. Sorry about that. But the main problem that you're going to have is getting the ntldr files re-installed properly, because for that you are definitely going to need an XP CD that will boot for you. After that, follow the link from my second post. It's the full instructions on the fix. Failing that, you might actually be able to get further support from a Windows support forum.

By the way, GRUB doesn't interfere with Windows booting up. The reason is that GRUB doesn't directly boot Windows. It's a chainloader, meaning that after it looks at the available partitions and filesystems, it passes the process of booting off to the NT Loader program.

[uarpit]

so now that iam not able to boot though any windows cd or usb etc.., what do u suggest..?? should i remove linux completely and then try fixing xp....if so can u please guide me with the removal procedure of debian...??

[jayd512]

If it were me, I would ask around and see if a friend or family member happened to have an XP install disk that I could use, or perhaps find a way to copy the needed files from their computer on to a floppy or thumb drive. That's really the only thing you need from the CD anyway. In fact, you might be able to call either Microsoft or the manufacturer of your computer and request a new restore CD. And, in my opinion, removing Debian wouldn't make any difference. As I said, GRUB isn't the problem... the Windows NT Loader is.

After that... I'm out of ideas

[wowbag1]

Hi,
If you put in ntldr in the search on this forum you will get loads of other threads that cover pretty much all the issues with this problem. Have a read its very informative.

wowbag1

[uarpit]

thanx jay for all the info..ill try those out...and thanx wowbag for ur sugestion too...il try and gather more info...

[jayd512]

Good luck on the recovery... I really do hope you get it all sorted out! I'm just sorry I can't be of more help at this point! But, just a reminder here, the link I provided earlier is to a support forum specifically for Windows XP. I think you may have some better luck there than what I can provide.

Best of luck on it, and please let us know how it turns out!