"NTLDR is missing" error message appears during startup for Servers.
Symptom
The server receives the error message "NTLDR is missing" during startup on servers preloaded with or freshly installed with Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 using ServerGuide and the server is not able to boot to the operating system.
The Start Options are set correctly in BIOS and the correct storage adapter drivers were loaded during the installation of the operating system.
A reinstallation of the operating system to the existing partitions does not correct the symptom.
Solution
There are two methods for recovering from this situation.
Make the partition active
- Boot to a Windows 95/98 Startup diskette
- Run FDISK from the command prompt.
- Select Make partition active from the main menu.
- Ensure that the C partition is active (or whatever partition that contains the system files).
Recreate the partitions
Reinstall the operating system, ensuring that you first delete and the recreate all partitions.
Additional information
After pressing ALT+F1 during startup to boot to the system partition, that 55MB partition is immediately set as the Active partition and will remain active until it is manually changed either using the FDISK command or by deleting and recreating the partitions.
Even if the operating system has been installed to another partition, the system will only look to boot from the Active partition, regardless of the startup settings in BIOS.
Older System x:Windows 2000
Older System x:Windows NT
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