Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: daddog on July 07, 2007, 12:42:57 PM
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A few days ago my son was looking over my shoulder when a squishy ball he was squishing, burst all over my keyboard and computer. I unplugged it immidently, but now when I boot up my system I am getting an NTLDR error. The “only” way it will boot up is to use my windows disk.
I did a Google search and came across this to repair the problem.
Here's How:
1. Enter Windows XP Recovery Console. The Recovery Console is an advanced diagnostic mode of Windows XP with special tools that will allow you to restore the NTLDR and Ntdetect.com files.
2. When you reach the command prompt (detailed in Step 6 in the link above), type the following two commands, pressing Enter after each one:
copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
In the command listed above, d represents the drive letter assigned to the optical drive that your Windows XP CD is currently in. While this is most often d, your system could assign a different letter. Also, c:\ represents the root folder of the primary hard drive that Windows XP is currently installed on. Again, this is most often the case but your system could be different.
3. If you're prompted to overwrite either of the two files, press Y.
4. Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC.
Assuming that missing or corrupt versions of the NTLDR and/or Ntdetect.com files were your only issues, Windows XP should now start normally.
I have tried twice and both times when I get to step 2 and enter those commands it says “access denied”.
Anyone have any other ideas?
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1. How big was this squishy ball and did it contain like a gallon of liquid? :confused:
2. Did this liquid get inside the case of the computer? As in getting to any electrical components?
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Even if the fluid got in, it probably wasn't the cause of this issue. My guess is the sudden shutdown may have damaged or scrambled some of the data on the drive. I'm guessing that even after you fixed this issue, another would pop up after it. That is, of course, a total guess.
If all else fails, buy yourself a new hard drive and replace the old one, leaving it outside of the case. Do a fresh XP install and get everything configured. Place the old hard drive back into the computer and try to access any files you need, then copy them to the new disk. Keep, reuse, or recycle the defunct one.
That's a last resort though.
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It's been awhile since I've done this, so I don't remember all of the steps. I've taken the hd with the error and placed it into another system and copied the ntldr and ntdetect files to the bad drive. (assuming that both systems are using the same os) and have had success.
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Daddog, what you have will work.....but...you need to be logged on as an Admin user (ie, have access to all files, folders etc). To me, that looks like your logged in as a lower level user, which is denying you access to the relevant files. When you software built the machine, you would have been asked to set up an Administrator account, use this one to copy the files across fella, should avoid the "access denied" snag.
Hope this helps,
Wurzel
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The problem is that he cannot get far enough to reach a logon screen due to the problem. NTLDR is one of the files that is used to select the operating system to use, IIRC. I don't believe you can change what user account you're under in the Recovery Console either. I don't know that for a fact, though.
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Yep, I know, but he's booting up via his windows disk.....so should have the ability to log in as the admin fella.........copy the files across, remove disk, reboot and (fingers very tightly crossed).....it should be ok....unless his hdd is porked obviously...
Wurzel
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He isn't booting into Windows with the disk, though; he's booting from the disk into a program called the Recovery Console which then works with the hard drive. It's like a DOS program from forever ago.
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Ah misread that bit, using the recovery console he should be able to write to all the folders/files he needs.........wonder why he's getting the access denied bit.......could be his hdd is on its backside.....will do some digging see if there is another way round this one........
Wurzel
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Ok, more recovery console stuff for ya.......
try booting a xp cd. then enter the recovery console by pressing “r” when it gives you the option.
follow the prompts until you find a command line line that looks something like this
c:/windows>
enter the following two commands
fixmbr
fixboot
do not do this if you have a dual boot system. it will render the second boot os useless.
NTLDR missing? Link may be useful (http://tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm)
Wurzel
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I had a similar thing happen a few years ago. I ended up scrapping the whole HDD and getting a new one. Some times its just easier to make it happen that way. I was able to access the original drive and was able to pull most of the stuff off of it that I needed. I then formatted that drive and sent it to the dump.