NTLDR is missing, what should I do? Recovery NTLDR is missing

Today, there are a lot of cases where when you start Windows any version, starting with NT and ending with Windows 8, there are errors. About them written a huge number of articles. But the most unpleasant situation is the appearance of a message even before the start of the boot of the "operating system" of the type "NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart. What are the reasons for its appearance and what to do, we will now try to solve.

What is NTLDR?

To begin with, a few words about what the concept of "NTLDR" is in general. In fact, it is an abbreviation obtained from the abbreviation NT Loader. This is the main bootstrap component of the "operating system", which contains three components responsible for running it: files ntdetect.com, boot.ini and, in fact, the file ntldr itself.

If, at system startup, the boot loader determines that at least one of them is missing or damaged, the system instead of a normal startup will display something like "NTLDR is missing ..." on the black screen. What to do, let's understand.

Incidentally, it should be noted that the file ntdetect.com plays the role of a kind of a determinant of the type of launch, the file ntldr contains the boot code, and the file boot.ini with the commands contained in it tries to form the startup process and its main parameters on the basis of the other two components.

Why does the download error occur?

So, we have on the monitor screen an error message "NTLDR is missing". What to do? First of all, do not panic. In fact, most often, a hard disk is simply not detected. Of course, it may happen that the Winchester "flew". But let's start from the situation that it works normally and does not go into such extremes.

As for the operation of the hard drive, you must immediately check the connection of the cable. It's not enough, maybe it just fell out of the connector or it's not inserted securely. This is often observed when the insides of a stationary computer (not a laptop) are cleaned from dust.

On the other hand, the reason may be that the hard disk is simply disabled in the BIOS as the first priority device for downloading "OSes." It is clear that you just need to change the boot parameters in the Boot Device Priority menu or something similar (depending on the manufacturer and BIOS version).

Sometimes there may be a situation associated with the accidental removal of the above mentioned components of the load or their damage due to infection with viruses or malicious codes. About the recovery option for such a case will be told a little later. Well, with viruses and so everything is clear - you need to scan the system for threats.

Less often, but still there are situations when there is an excessive number of files in the root directory (C: \). Here, the specificity of the operation of the NTFS file system itself is triggered. The matter is that at a considerable quantity of files in the root directory it distributes them on arrays, to each of which the certain index is appropriated. The files themselves are ordered strictly in alphabetical order. When loading, the access occurs only to an array with the first ordinal index, in which all three components of the load may not be present.

In such a situation, it is better to use tools for the safe cleaning of computer garbage in the form of optimizer programs, and in the parameters it is necessary to specify not only the removal of residual, but also unused files or empty folders.

NTLDR is missing: how to fix the error in the simplest way?

Now directly about fixing the situation programmatically, if the error is repeated again and again. Consider as an option the lack of the necessary boot components in the root directory.

The problem is solved quite simply. On a working computer with the same version of the system, you just need to copy the files to a floppy disk or flash drive, and then transfer them to the desired terminal, pre-setting the boot priority in the form of a floppy disk or a removable USB device.

The system should boot without problems, after which you can copy the files to the root directory.

Using the Recovery Console

But, for example, the text "NTLDR is missing" is again displayed on the screen. What to do in this situation (if the first method did not help)? Of course, use the Recovery Console. It can be either on the original installation disk with "Windows", or on the system emergency disk, for example, for the "seven".

It is clear that the drive in the BIOS is installed as a priority device for downloading. After startup, you need to press the "R" key to directly call the Recovery Console and select the required option (as a rule, you need to press the "1" key) and confirm the selection ("Enter" key). Restoration will start automatically.

You can use bootloader recovery by going to the command line, where you need to enter "C: Windows \ fixmbr" or "C: \ Windows \ fixboot". In principle, both methods work.

You can do even easier - to copy the original files from the disk directly to the root directory. For example, the drive in the system has the designation in the form of the letter "E". To copy, enter the following lines:

- copy e: \ i386 \ ntldr c: \;

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

After that, you can simply remove the disk from the drive and reboot the system.

NTLDR is missing: what to do (Win 7)

In Windows 7, if you understand, by and large, you can also perform the above actions, but, as practice shows, there is a simpler option.

Suppose, when downloading the "seven" on the screen appeared something like "NTLDR is missing". What to do with this trouble? Use a specially designed for Windows 7 utility called Multiboot (by the way, it was specially developed for Windows Vista and 7).

Now it's a little thing. You need to boot from any drive such as LiveCD or something else to access the execution of the downloaded program file. After it is launched, the menu will automatically be shown with the item "Restore the Windows 7 bootloader on all disks" and click the "Run" button. That's all.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it remains to say that if a system start error occurs with the subsequent issuance of a message such as "NTLDR is missing," restoring the system startup is not that difficult. And anyway, they say that fear has eyes that are big. Here, many users and start to panic, believing that the hard drive just fell down. Not the best situation, but, as practice shows, basically the reasons can not be at all in this.

However, in some cases, even with a hard drive failure, you can use unique utilities such as HDD Reanimator to remagnetize it and restore the damaged sectors of the disk surface.