How to Fix “NTLDR is Missing” Error (Windows XP, 10 and 11)
Seeing “NTLDR is missing. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart” when you turn on your computer? It means the PC can’t find the Windows startup file it’s looking for. I got this error years ago on a Windows XP PC and fixed it without formatting the hard drive. Today the message usually has a much simpler cause, such as a USB drive left plugged in. Here’s how to fix NTLDR is missing errors in 2026, on old Windows XP machines and on Windows 10 and 11 PCs that show it unexpectedly.
Quick answer: Remove all USB drives, memory cards and discs and restart. If the error stays, open your BIOS/UEFI setup and make sure your main Windows drive is first in the boot order. On Windows XP, copy the ntldr and ntdetect.com files back to C:\ from a Windows XP CD, or use Recovery Console with fixboot and fixmbr.
Table of Contents
What is NTLDR?
NTLDR (NT Loader) is the boot loader used by Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. When the computer starts, the BIOS loads the boot sector, which then looks for NTLDR to start Windows. If NTLDR can’t be found, you get the “NTLDR is missing” error.
Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10 and 11 don’t use NTLDR. They use BOOTMGR (Windows Boot Manager). So if you see “NTLDR is missing” on a modern PC, the computer is almost certainly trying to boot from the wrong drive, often an old disk or USB stick with leftover XP-era boot code.
Common causes of NTLDR is missing
- A USB flash drive, memory card, CD or DVD that isn’t bootable is set as the first boot device.
- Wrong boot order in BIOS/UEFI, or the main drive isn’t detected.
- Missing or corrupt
ntldr,ntdetect.comorboot.inifiles (Windows XP). - Damaged boot sector or MBR, or a loose or failing hard drive cable.
- A failed upgrade or a cloned disk with the wrong partition set as active.
How to fix NTLDR is missing (all computers)
- Remove external media: unplug USB drives, card readers, external disks and eject any disc, then restart.
- Check boot order: press the setup key at startup (often F2, Del, F10 or F12) and set your Windows drive or Windows Boot Manager first.
- Check the drive is detected: if the BIOS doesn’t list your hard drive or SSD, reseat its cables (desktop) or get the drive tested. It may be failing.
How to fix NTLDR is missing on Windows XP
This is how I fixed it on my Windows XP PC. Since NTLDR was missing, I put a fresh copy back:
- Get
ntldrandntdetect.comfrom thei386folder of a Windows XP CD, the PC’s recovery CD, or another PC with the same Windows version. - Boot from a bootable disc or USB drive with a command prompt. (In my case the XP CD wouldn’t help, but a Windows 98 boot disc worked.)
- Copy both files to the root of the C: drive.
- Restart. My PC then let me run the manufacturer’s system recovery (F10 on that PC), which repaired Windows while keeping all my files.
Alternatively, boot from the Windows XP CD, press R for the Recovery Console, and run:
fixboot
fixmbr
bootcfg /rebuildComputer Hope has more troubleshooting steps for XP-era systems.
Windows 10 and 11: fix BOOTMGR and boot errors
If your modern PC still won’t start after checking the boot order:
- Boot from a Windows installation USB (make one with Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool on another PC).
- Choose Repair your computer → Troubleshoot → Startup Repair.
- If that fails, open Command Prompt from the same menu and run:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcdOn UEFI systems, bcdboot C:\Windows recreates the boot files. If you need to back up files from a PC that won’t boot, a Linux live USB or the recovery Command Prompt can copy them to an external drive. Our guide to formatting a USB flash drive helps prepare one.
Frequently asked questions
Does “NTLDR is missing” mean my hard drive is dead?
Usually not. Most cases are caused by boot order or missing boot files. But if the BIOS can’t see the drive at all, the drive may be failing.
Why do I get NTLDR is missing on Windows 10?
Windows 10 doesn’t use NTLDR, so the PC is booting from another drive, such as a USB stick or old disk. Remove it or fix the boot order.
Will fixing NTLDR delete my files?
No. Copying boot files, Startup Repair and bootrec commands don’t touch your documents. Avoid formatting or reinstalling until you’ve tried these steps.
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Ron is the man!!! been fighting this laptop for two hours I set the booted to the cd rom with the hard drive out then shoved it in as the xp disk started loading and all is fine
thank you ron for another way to skin that cat
Further to my previous posting: I was able to see the new HDD in the BIOS, other time it was not even there. Anyway windows won’t recognise the new hdd
Do you guys think the hdd may be a problem?
Hi All,
I am also having this missing ntldr press ctrl+alt+del to restart after adding a new sata hdd into my pc. I’ve changed sata cable settings, gone into the boot menu and was able to boot from the other 2 sata hdds but windows won’t recognise the new sata hdd. After few changes pc didn’t boot and kept showing missing ntldr, press ctrl+alt+del to restart…Would you know how to fix this, please help
Really thanks to Jago first comment it returns that i have removed the first drive i boot from (Dvd-rom)which causes my cpu to give me this message. by changing the boot sequence the windows has started normaly; so before anything check that first
I had this problem and unplugged all my other hard disks except the primary one and it worked.
still trying to figure out what causes this.
it doesnt seem to be a software problem.
Roland Thank u very much, u method worked..what i did was to remove the power to the SATA hard drive and on boot up i quickly inserted back the power, it did boot from the CD but it displayed another error..it said no hard drive found..so i left it cos i know from there on i can handle it.
Ronald has a good solution. It is a last resort. I tried that before I read this forum, and it worked. For a while. It worked long enough to finish the XP setup, then I turned it off after the setup. I turned it back on and it started working, but I had to restart (forgot the keyboard -.-). When I restarted it started normally made the same sounds it normally does and then BAM blank screen. It hit the computer load screen. Then I see a quick flash of the BIOS showing me what I have in all the drive bays and the normal kind of stuff. But when it comes to the part where it SHOULD boot Windows XP, it just sits there, idling like an idiot. It sits there and neither the hard drive speeds up nor the little light on the front flashes (the one that tells you if its processing data). It sits there and never does anything. I probably killed my hard drive, but its my first build ever, so I imagine I was bound to screw something up. For some reason I cant get into BIOS (I think its because the computers hotkey to get there during start up is different then im used to (usually F1 or F2). But I am sure the boot sequence is as follows: 3.5″ Floppy, CD-ROM, and finally the HDD. As far as I know it sees that the HDD is there, but it doesnt want to boot from it.
Its formatted using NTFS instead of FAT32. I used Ronalds way (yes I hot-plugged my HD, but really, I dont care), and it worked. So if you are desperate, try it. Anyone think they know how I screwed it up, please help me out.
Thanks,
Shane
I tried a norton system works disk then win XP instal disk. Neither would boot even though I have the CD set to boot before the HD.
I will try the “tinyempire’ floppy cure as I just put it on a floppy. I doubt my floppy will be recognized.
What I am thinking is maybe my MOBO battery IS DEAD.
Have the same problem after upgrading to a bigger hard drive on my Toshiba Satellite 2800-10. I have tried all suggested solutions and think right now that he BIOS is too old to handle ´big (40 Gigs)’ disks. The way to boot up the system right now is to have a floppy with the ntldr in the floppy drive at boot up. The system somehow finds the floppy ntldr file and then resumes booting Windows XP Pro. Not perfect but it will do for the moment.
I also have a problem NTDLR is missing, can any one say using the Windows XP CD recovery can fix the problem by copying NTDLR.exe and NTDetect.com ?
I ran into this problem after replacing my IDE cables (I got some new ones that are better quality–old computer). I mistakenly plugged the master hard drive into a slave socket. After having a boot-up problem, I realized the mistake and corrected it.
However, my computer still fails to boot and shows the message “NTLDR missing”. I tried swapping back my original cables–problem persists.
If an attempt to boot from a master hard drive is done with it in a slave position, does this cause some writing to the hard drive that introduces this problem? It appears there are a number of ways to try recovering from the NTLDR Missing problem. Given my scenario, what’s the safest and simplest way to recover? Thanks!
Hi
I have a preinstalled version of Windows XP Media Centre on my laptop and have this NTLDR missing problem. As such there is no recovery console. I borrowed a friends version of XP (Home Edition or Professional – I can’t remember – just know it is not Media Centre Edition) accessed the recovery console and copied the NTLDR and NTDETECT files to my laptop. I reboot my comp and I still get the same error message. Is the problem still happening because I have got XP Media Centre on my comp and used the NTLDR from a XP Home/Professional edition? If so is there any place I can download the appropriate file from as I have asked all my friends and they dont have XP Media Centre edition.
I was able to access my c: and the files on it also using Knoppix originally however after trying some of the fixes on forums and using the recovery disk from my friends XP and the fixboot command I can still access my c: however the files I originally had are no longer there.
PLease help!
i had this probem after the first reboot when installing Windows xp sp2, but when i booted with dos and check for the ntldr file and ntdetect file they were there. So, i assumed that the problem was in the MBR. i then used a uility to fix the MBR from DOS (lots of them is on Herin’s CD), and restarted .. and everything were on its track again and completed setup as normal.
If you are having this problem with a wiped disk, rather than use the “pull the cable” trick you can any of a number of boot cds and simply mark the partition as non-bootable – the xp install cd will then proceed as normal.
Ronald … I believe your “2 cents” is do-able, but I messed up majorly. What I did wrong is that I got angry with my computer (Windows Vista) and started deleting files that should have never been deleted. Had the error just occured on its own, I honestly believe your technique would have worked for me. Everything you have said in both posts that I have read, make perfect sense. I just wish I would have found your posts before I did what I did. I don’t like to bother with those pesky shops either. Chances are they are going to charge me an arm and leg for something so simple as turning the computer on, when all I needed to know is where the power switch was … lol. At the point that I needed to fix my computer, I really didn’t care what I did to it. I honestly believe though, that my problem was the motherboard. This is an HP and this is the 2nd time I have had that problem. I just wish I could remember the forum I was in to say exactly what it was saying. It basically described everything (as your first post did), then it went on to say if that fails then I would need to replace the motherboard, which I did, and my OS loaded just fine. So like I say, if I would have found your post before I got so mad at my computer, I honestly believe your solution would have worked. I think you did a splendid job explaining a simple task. Thanks Ron!
Latisha
I had a similar problem with installing a new HDD. No booting WinXP bootable CD possible. After reading Ronald’s 2 cents I tried succesfully the following. Inserted XP CD – use HDD as external USB drive. Could only delete partition on HDD because the BIOS did not recognise drive. Switched off system. Removed external USB drive/power cables and connected internal flat/power cables. Start system and voila… I could boot from XP CD and format drive and install XP OS. I worked for me hope the same for you.
Dear Sir,
I don’t have any problem right now but there may occur problems so i want to say that please send me some useful ideas related computer troubleshooting i.e.(basic computer maitainance) so that i can solve many things as hardware technicians are doing now a days. I am from Nepal and I have keen intrest in computer maintainance. So plz plz plz send me tips so that i can do better in the field of computer maintainance . As i have already stateed below about my email. SO you can send it in my mail . I hope for your favourable reply. I remail Sir.
Your sincerely,
Rupesh,Nepal
Hi
I have same NTLDR missing problem. As i have installed XP without any changes to same drive, i.e. c:\. So now how can i go to previous xp configuration? i want to delete the recent xp, what should i do to do that?
Plz send me mail regarding this.
Thanks
Hey Kevin, I actually decided to put my hard drive in another computer and it booted up just fine. I read some more articles throughout the web, and I believe my problem was that the motherboard was weak. If you have another computer that you can put the hard drive in I would try that. Also, I hope you didn’t have anything important on that hard drive because I had to reload the OS and lost everything. I would definitely try to put the hard drive in totally different computer and try that.
I have the same problem as Tisha…any help would be great…I have try to boot from USB drive but that didn’t work either…still get the same message…
Cheers Ron. I tried everything on the net and left your option till last. Go figure….it work. THe CD boot first Option in BIOS was tried, but the NTLDR still came. I had no luck with the boot CD. Rather than going to the shops and paying someone to fix it I tried the dangerous option by Ronald. Even with the hard OUT of the boot sequence order, that loader error still came. Figures that no harddrive lets the CD rom boot properly
Ok, so here’s my problem … Ronald I actually thought yours was going to work!!! Of course with my luck it didn’t. I installed windows vista on my computer (huge mistake, I know). I didn’t like the program so I decided to go back to Windows XP. Little did I know, you can’t actually do that (so my computer says anyway). I decided to delete a few files (big mistake). I to get the same message NTLDR file missing..blah blah blah, restart. I’ve done everything that every article has told me to do, except the main topic here. I don’t have a floppy or A: drive. Anyway, Ronald I did exactly what you said to do, but as far as I get is to instead of saying NTLDR is missing now is says something about Disk Boot Failure. It doesn’t go on to your step 5 or 6. I’m in a dalemma here because I don’t have any previous versions of windows except XP. What do I do now? Suggestions from anyone would be GREATLY appreciated.
Ronald who posted #28 likes to live dangerously. Hot-plugging hard disks is a rather bad idea.
Most BIOSes that can boot from CDs also have an option to set up boot order. Go to BIOS setup, find the boot order option, and set it to boot from CD before the hard drive. Save and reboot. No need to disassemble or unplug anything.
I too had the similar problem..Even when i inserted a WinXP bootable CD it was not going to the setup. So this is what i did. I inserted a Win2000 setup CD. I went on the repair section and choose the recovery console. After that i choose the windows installation and checked for the files ntldr and ntdetect.com. But surprisingly i found that ntldr was renamed to ntldv. So i just renamed the file back to ntldr and rebooted. It worked…
Hi guys.
Here is my 2 cents.
“When your computer starts, the BIOS attempts to find the primary hard drive’s active partition to read the first sector for the MBR (Master Boot Record), it uses that info to load the rest of the OS…”
KEEP THAT IN MIND.
“NTLDR is missing, press any key to restart”
I HAVE SPENT hours looking at fixing this error after formating my sons PC (he had heaps of crap installed and wanted a fresh start).
I formated the C: (and kept all his data backed up on the partioned D: and E: drives). This will work on a “new” hd or recently formated hd.
I did not have the old school floppy disks (my son has not even seen one, lol!) to make a startup disk or to try and Download the fixntldr.exe from a working computer.
SO INSTEAD tried something dangerous as i was desperate (and note this was my sons PC so the stakes were not high – but i had to try for his sake).
SOLUTION: Remeber from the start..” ….computer starts, the BIOS attempts to find the primary hard drive’s active partition to read the first sector..”
OK.
SETUP BIOS to read CDROM first as you should have already tried (remember hit del key just after startup).
The stupid harddrive IS the problem and this “New Technology Loader” crap IS the problem.
STEPS I DID TO BYPASS THIS AND FIX THE PROBLEM:
1. TURN ON PC AND PUT IN XP CD-ROM
2. TURN OFF PC (LEAVE CD-ROM INSIDE)
3. UNPLUG THE HARDDRIVE CABLE AND POWER
4. TURN ON PC (NO HARD DRIVE = NO NTLDR is missing error!!!)
5. WINDOWS XP CD WILL BOOT UP AND START LOADING AS NORMAL (and you will not get NO NTLDR is missing error!!!)
6. IT WILL START LOADING THE CD AND BEGIN THE “COLLECTING INFORMATION PART” (you will not see the typical “NTLDR is missing, press any key to restart”
7. AT THIS STAGE CAREFULLY REPLUG THE CABLE AND POWER AS SOON AS YOU CAN (there is no rush actually, dont bump anything – have your son ready to poke a stick at u away from the PC and to call the ambulance if necessary if you get electricuted)
8. INSTALL WINDOWS NORMALLY
9. THEN FINALLY TELL YOUR SON “I’m the MAN!!!!!”
Try this guys when you have exhausted all your alternative options please. I actually broke a sweat on this PC problem.
NTLDR is missing, I have tried to install the XP, it says ” setup did not find any hard drives installed in your computer. make sure any hard drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer and any disk related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacturer supplied diagnostic or setup program.”
Please assist.
hI!
I tuned on my laptop this morning with the message (NTLDR is missing press any key to restart). Every time I pressed any off the keys it kept repeating the same message n can’t seem to get past it, I have tried putting in my XP disc, but nothing works,, its doing the same thing day in day out
steps to boot to recovery console…boot the xp cd in tghe top most drive..change the boot seq in the bios to boot from cdrom…from the main screen after booting of the XP os cd..choose r to repair xp via recovery console. Press 2 …no admin password hit enter …
from a c:\windows prompt type c:\ (enter)
type map.. to find the drive letter of the cdrom drive..
let say it E:
E:\cd I386>copy ntldr d:\ (which ever partition has XP
copy the ntldr file from the XP installation cd…after booting to recovery console
Last night i recieved this message saying ” NTLDR Missing” Please press any key to restart. Now i have had both 98 and xp installed for a long time. The problem arised when on c: I deleted some files accidentaly. My hard disk is detecting normally as a slave on another pc with all my backup taken. I want to eliminate this problem keeping 98 & Xp as it is. S.O.S.
I`ve bought a second hand computer that was already installed Windows 98 and i decided to upgrade it to Windows XP Home Edition when i run the setups it say NTLDR is Missing : Press any Key to Restart.I made research about this it is said that i should get Win 98 bootable CD i tried retailers in East London but i did not get it help where else can i find this Disk
pop in your recovery disk / disk you got to install windows with and then follow the instructions
Hello all,
Last night I was up all night trying to fix the missing NTLDR problem. After 18hrs of research I now have a green belt in XP and Win 2003 startup knowledge.
Here is the abridged version of the solution I had to implement to get Win 2003 to finally boot.
I drop to recovery mode and used fixboot to set the partition to bootable. Then used fixmbr to tell it to boot off the HDD. However, the drive I was trying to set wouldnt accept that it was supposed to be bootable. I had already copied the ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini file to the root of the hard drive, but when I would boot the computer it wouldnt even recognize the hard drive as bootable. I could however get a differnt hard drive in the computer to accept being bootable and tried to set the boot.ini on it to look at the hard drive with the installation on it, but still no go.
I spent 18hrs learning about how Win 2003 boots to figure out what I was missing. At about 2am my brother and I quessed that perhaps the tools we were using from the recovery console were not doing their job correctly.
We decided to use a linux solution to set the partition as bootable. We loaded Knoppix 5.1 (almost any version of knoppix should do) and used cfdisk. Its a utility to create partitions in linux. The key feature it had that we used to fix out problem was setting the partition to bootable. After we did that, everything the arthur said worked.
So, after this I must say that I am even more disappointed with the tools in Windows than usual. There were to tools that had failed to work, fixboot and another called bootcfg (which sounded like a cool tool but kept giving us errors and unable to complete its job.)
All in all i would say 3 cheers for the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows, Knoppix, and the author of this article site.
Later
Jim
Is there anything I can do if I want to be able to start windows off of 2 different hard discs, like so i can switch back and forth with the same computer?
tya_soft – doesnt all the information above suggest what you can do ?
I am also facing this problem with this annoying message “NTLDR is missing.Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to restrat”.Can any body suggest me how to fix it.Thanks!
when I try to install windows xp sp2,it loads files then shows some error on blue screen
hello i have the same problem..i deleted something then i have ntldr is missing..can i fix it by myself? and one more question…do i lose my all data?
wel…my problem on NTLDR missing.is that i cant load any OS(2000 or Xp).during the boot stage…it ask press any key to boot from CDRom.immediately NTLDR is missing ,press ctrl+alt+del to restart.that wil be the message that wil pop out.please i need to load my operating system on my PC
Hmmm… NTLDR dis thing has given me 24 hrs stress. After instaling xp on my drive this morning, guess wat i see, “NTLDR is missing press any key to restart” and ma key board wasnt functiong so i unplug the HD and put the xp CD in the CD drive, then start the pc and as soon as it read read the xp OS, i plugged in the HD and boom. I sets off instaling. I hav 2 partitions and on disk C: i decided to reinstal xp
am still not able to fix ntfs missing
I have this same problem
i have only a completely new hard drive in my lap top and no OS and i am trying to install windows XP home frm the cd however the ntldr error appears when i boot frm the hard drive as well as thee cd rom drive. i can therefore only go as far as into the bios and switch the boot types around. this has no effect i cannot access the cd and the harddrive is new (so there is no point booting from an empty hardrive)
PLEASE HELP
thanks
:):):):):):):)
i have only a completely new hard drive in my lap top and no OS and i am trying to install windows XP home frm the cd however the ntldr error appears when i boot frm the hard drive as well as thee cd rom drive. i can therefore only go as far as into the bios and switch the boot types around. this has no effect i cannot access the cd and the harddrive is new (so there is no point booting from an empty hardrive)
try booting a xp cd. then enter the recovery console by pressing “r” when it gives you the option.
follow the prompts untilyou 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. if you don’t know about dualbooting then go ahaed and try this it ca’t do any harm. saved me many times with all sorts of problems
um..the site that travis gave you has the ntldr file missing replacement on it. download it and put it into a floppy it will replace all the file inside that floppy so make sure it’s blank or no files on it. when you load it up the comp will search for the floppy and then you try from 1-10 if it still doesn’t work then you go into safe mode and do the same process over again it takes a lenghty time to do all this but it’s quite worth it if you want to get your computer to work again anyways if it still doesn’t work they suggest you get the window xp software and push repair and make sure it’s not an upgrade software another is that if it still doesn’t work i say you get professional help it’ll cost around 40 bucks…or you can skip right to the proffessional help…either way or get fustrated and attack yoru computer that works too
hahahahahah i do that too.
but I’m not yet finish all the travis gave
Please i need you to tell me the website i can get to download for NTLDR is missing online.
i have replace the damage motherboard but after replacing the display says “ntldr is missing” i used ntldr fixing procedures from the internet no chage? i used the single drive and devided to two and i use for booting is drive d:, c: is for back-up. “ntldr missing” displays after i replace a new mother board. pls help me… E-mail me at jazzistyla@yahoo.com
It is very excellent for defining the problem of ntldr & how to solve its problem.But in some others the solution is not so clear.
thank you!
I have a HP notebook came with win xp home its about 4 years old Hard drive crash so I got a new one and put it in but now I get error message NTLDR file is missing I do not have a floppy drive on note book how do I fix? I newbe terms please!!!
Just had this problem (21 June 2006!!!) and could not “Repair” obviously, because the install is looking for NTLDR etc.
By far the simplest method for me was to install a new copy of XP into a “junk directory on the same partition as my original copy of XP. I merely told the install process to use the folder c:\windowszzz.
That puts ntldr etc back in place and you can simply start using the old windows OS as though nothing had happened.
It took about an hour to do the entire fix. HTH
you could setup your bios to use the cdrom as a boot drive then boot the windows xp install cd and tell it you wish to repair an installation, from there you could copy the files. save you from using a win98 disk
I get this problem every few times I start my PC. I’ve discovered it’s caused by the computer ‘losing’ my C: and trying to boot from the D: (which obviously doesn’t have NTLDR on it). I have to go into the BIOS and change the boot properties to ensure that c: is the first hard drive in the list…??
No idea why this happens though??
Sad enough, you can’t change this in de BIOS.
The boot information is all stored in the MBR.
(Master Boot Record)
You need a bootable drive like displayed int his page.
I found that missing NTLDR in in windows XP was a sign of a corrupt hard disk. I installed a new hard disk, downloaded operating system from recovery disk from manufacturer, downloaded all windows updates & hardware drivers. The computer runs like new.
Ricardo McCarthy
how do u do this?