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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had same issue treid everything finally checked hard drives and found c drive was not my active drive through my computer/ manage/disk management and make sure c dive is your active drive this worked for me hope this helps you
Power surge shut down my computer. Now, it won’t let Windows come up at all. Gives the “safe mode” option, but when I try that, it still won’t come up. Then throws up the “hit F1” message. What is this problem and how do I fix it?
While this wonderful way of rewriting an OS disk and reinstalling it may work well for those of you with Cd ROM drives, it doesn’t work for those of us with netbooks.
This happened to me last night and since I have no CD ROM drive and no way of booting up I had to ALT and F10 and completely wipe the hard drive in order to restore my OS. Granted, I lost all of my programs and documents, there was no other way on a netbook to actually fix this problem unless I borrowed a CD ROM drive and reinstalled that way.
Not to netbook users, save EVERYTHING on your computer to an external website because if this happens to you and you don’t have CD ROM drive, you have no option but to start from scratch.
Interesting. Just pulled up your blog post doing a search for XP repair.
I like XP but it can be tough to fix sometimes. (But it is still easier for me to understand than NT!)
Thanks for posting.
I found out that the ‘ntldr’ can also occur due to your hard drive not being set as ‘Active’. I recently partioned my 120GB and my new partition was marked as the active drive, so the pc reading the new partition with no information on it, kept giving the ntldr error at start up.I had used a Hirens Bootable CD to access the drives through partition magic and reactivate the drive or in my case the partition that have the OS was installed on.
hope this helps some of you guys out there!
bless
when I tuned on my hcl laptop this night it showing message (NTLDR is missing press ctrl alt del to restart). Many time I pressed same the keys it kept repeating the same message n can’t seem to get past it, please send me any deatil about to resolve problem from my PC
My problems:
1. nltdr missing
2. #2-07 fail
3. hal.dll missing
4. annot boot disk
5. I/O error accessing boot sector
What happen: I am sure i had deleted the nltdr hidden files .
Tried.
1. fixntldriso.zip from tinyempire.com { none of the ten steps worked but it helped to find the above errors.
2. ALso tried to run windows xp setup but it states that i do not have a hard drive.
3. resorted the bios options to default but no luck.
Can somebody help
coz FORMATTING IS NOT AN OPTION SIMPLE
IS THERE ANY BODY OUT THERE?
Subject: Problem Fixed
I was having this problem since last 4 weeks, my computer had been lying dead all this time.
Anyways, after reading lot of blogs and talking to MicroSoft customer support, here is my solution that I fixed:
1. Boot (F12) using CD (Win XP Installation disc).
2. There are two options, either to install or to repair.
Choose to install (don’t worry, the hard disk will not be formatted, repair option will show up again)
3. In the next screen, choose, repair.
From here, the whole process will take 2-3 hrs, when all the system files will be checked and updated.
Note: The drivers for attached hardware devices need to be installed again, otherwise, all other setting remains the same.
My Documents will not be lost.
Reason:
I think I cleaned up third party application or deleted NTLDR. After the sytem was restored, I saw the file in my recycle bin.
All the best for you.
Hey guys when i start my computer it says NLTDR is missing and it dosen’t let me do anything except restart and when i restart is says its misssing again. So i put the Windows Xp reinstallation CD in because i wanted to restore my computer. My computer got infected by virus so i want to reinstall it but the NTLBR thing is annoying the crap out of me. anyways when i put the reinstallation disk in it dosent do anything it just says NLTBR is missing.
Any help would be more than appreciated
thanks.
O yeah, My computer is a Fujitsu LifeBook T4220 Notebook with windows xp and if it helps at all i have a Recovery and Utility Disc and a Drivers and Application Restore Disc for my computer. Should I use any of them?
-thanks
Yo, I’ve been having the same exact problem with my laptop computer. Unfortunately most of the tips on the web all require the windows xp cd and I don’t have that. Is there anyway to re-install or create a new NTLRC file? Please reply
-thanks
Try FIXBOOT command once you are in the recovery console prompt c:\windows\
How can you boot from the windows cd?
I was running Vista and I just installed linux and tried configuring easybcd.. but it didn’t work the way I wanted so I deleted the files from easybcd and the mdr on Vista… Hoping it would boot using the linux grub… which it obviously donesn’t.
Now I get the missing NTLDR message, even when my cd is in the drive and my bios used to be set up to boot from cd first.
I have a medion laptop md96850 and I can’t connect my HD to another computer cause it doesn’t fit…
I hope someone replies with something usefull…
Sorry, further to my last comment, Change the boot of the CDROM first* (not last)
Further to peoples comments…
in the bios if the hard drive still boots and wont let the CDROM start, try change to boot sequence and have the CDROM last. Otherwise if that fails, disable the harddrive from the boot order and the CDROM should start and allow you the opportunity to attempt a repair..
1.First insert your xp installation CD and
Restart your computer ( ctrl+alt+del )
2. both your computer with windows xp cd
3. in the installation menu choose (R) for repair consol
4. now enter your windows drive like 1, 2, 3, 4
5. enter your administrator password if dont have then leave it blank
6. go to cd room drive
7. now type copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
8. now restart your computer and enjoy your fixed windows.
I do the above at that time the window come blue screen that means RAM damp so can U get other solution pls.
help me
Best wish
Hi guys
How can solve NTLDR is missing problem
follow this step
..
1.First insert your xp installation CD and
Restart your computer ( ctrl+alt+del )
2. both your computer with windows xp cd
3. in the installation menu choose (R) for repair consol
4. now enter your windows drive like 1, 2, 3, 4
5. enter your administrator password if dont have then leave it blank
6. go to cd room drive
7. now type copy d:i386ntldr c:
copy d:i386ntdetect.com c:
8. now restart your computer and enjoy your fixed windows.
Thanks
mohancy[a]gmail
i follow these instructions and worked:
Using the Windows Recovery Console
The Windows 2000 and Windows XP CDs supplied by Microsoft has a tool called the Recovery Console which can be used to repair errors that prevent Windows XP from starting using the command line. OEM versions of Windows XP, including computers that were supplied with Windows XP preinstalled, may not have this utility.
Insert the Windows CD and start the computer.
When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R.
Type a number corresponding to the Windows installation you wish to repair (usually 1) and press Enter.
When prompted, type the administrator password and press Enter.
From the command prompt, copy NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from the i386 folder of the CD to the root folder of the hard drive. In the example commands given below, C: is the hard drive and D: is the CD-ROM drive. You will need to change the drive letters if appropriate:
COPY D:\I386\NTLDR C:\
COPY D:\I386\NTDETECT.COM C:\
Remove the Windows XP CD from the drive and restart the computer.
Quick solution for this and similar HDD problems:
1. get “MBRtool” (1.6MB)
2. put it on CD (or other bootable drive)
3. Boot from CD, MBRtool shows its own menu
4. use MBRtool to wipe MBR (master boot record)-
the drive in question should be number 0
5. install or repair OS with original CD
you will need this too, if you try to install a second hand notebook HDD.
Pattar (5/12/8) almost had it right. After I started building computers I decided to keep all of my old hard drives. After I transfer the data I format them and install a clean Windows installation and they come in handy for just this purpose. You could just buy a new small hard drive if you want to save your data. It has to have an OS installed on it.
You do the easy things first and when you get to the point where you have to wipe your data, try this:
Open your computer and disconnect your hard drive cable from the problem drive. Disconnect the other connector on that same cable from whatever it is attached to (2nd HD or CD usually). Connect the clean windows HD to the cable at the primary spot and the problem HD to the secondary spot and make sure you have the jumpers arranged correctly for master and slave. Remember to check the bios to be sure you are booting from the new clean windows HD. Start the computer and use the OS on the clean windows HD to save your data or copy the whole of the HD somewhere else. If you bought a big enough new drive you can just copy the whole drive. Seagate makes a nice utility from this and can work from a floppy. This way you keep your data and the new drive, if you bought one, does not cost as much as lost data. If you just borrow a large external hard drive you can copy to that, format your old drive, reinstall windows clean, copy your data back. BB
my computer does not start it says ntldr is missing pliz help me to start my computer
Phew: I read all the comments. (I fixed my problem. It may apply to you.) Nothing worked. We work with kids and I was trying to reinstall xp on a messed up drive. So we wiped the hd drive clean. Then, when trying to get xp installed from the cd set up disk, it would not boot giving the ‘ntldr’ message. You cant add files if you cannot boot. I gave up and decided we could not fix it, but I happened to leave the pc on with the disc in the drive and when I returned more than ahour later, it appeared to have started to boot. And then it did load windows without any drivers exept usb. The motherboard was an asus a7n266vm. Without a lan driver and no interent we got the drivers on a diffrent machine from asus and installed them which then required a reboot and (naturally) the machine hung before booting at the same place but without the message. I cleaned the xp cd and put it back in the drive and tried again. It booted from the hard drived. (this is this case for this machine) With the drivers installed I went to the internet and to MS support and found voluminous info on the ntldr problem. Explaining ‘how and why’ which may help those of you still trying to tackle the problem. Good luck. Phew! P.S.
I did a search for the ntldr file and the result said no files present. So I copied the file from our working machine (its in the 1386 folder). When I copied it to the c: drive it asked, (No kidding)did I want to override the existing file?
I had the same problem and the boot disk cable was not inserted all the way. I pushed it in all the way, and it booted just fine. Try that.
Hii Jak,
i m agree with u
i have done all the as u done
but i could not get any thing
i cant solve this error plz help me out.
Hi Jak,
i use the above method on 08/02/09 it works.
in your installation of window xp they require you to do partition right?
pls dun have too many partition, delete all and create into 1. it will work.
provided u keep all ur previous driver k… cos now i’m experiencing sound driver missing…
I’m getting the error of “NTLDR missing” press ctrl+alt+del to restart.
I tried the following steps
1. insert windows xp cd
2. both your computer with windows xp cd
3. in the installation menu choose (R) for repair consol
4. now enter your windows drive like 1, 2, 3, 4
5. enter your administrator password if dont have then leave it blank
6. go to cd room drive
7. now type copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
but still did not overcome the problem pleaseeeeee hel me out
I tried the following steps
1. insert windows xp cd into your computer
3. in the installation menu choose (R) for repair consol
4. now enter your windows drive like 1, 2, 3, 4
5. enter your administrator password if dont have then leave it blank (press enter)
6. go to cd room drive
7. now type copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\
8. then type copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
after this I just decided to reinstall all of windows xp
Thanks Jak for this info is worked wonders!
Anita
hi segun,
u got to run window xp cd agn to go to dos promp.
how? when window xp setup, it will ask u to ‘Enter’ for installation or press ‘R’ for the repair console. Use this repair. Try it.
as for password u hv to confirm..
i also have the same problem. but i cant get to the ms-dos. i input my password and it says its not valid. i dont know if there is another password for administrator.i need an information so as to log on to my c:\>.tnks
Hi all, finally is window xp started :)
i get rid of all the partition and combine them to 1
now can load everything well….
thks to all….bye
I’ve the same problem.. calling for help.
Tried all methods already. My question is:- if i format the d drive and installed win xp to d only, but my c drive is where the bios is, can i format it too to combine the 2 c and d?
pls help..
I recovered all my data from an inaccessible disk to chkdsk, fixmbr or fixboot with the free testdisk from sourceforge, win version, PC option.
I brought new system last week.while installing xp pro,but am switch on my cpu then put my os cd but NTLDR missing error is coming my pc.so pls how s this error slove.
Similar to a lot of these posts:
NTLDR missing press Ctrl+Alt+Del msg appears
Put in XP bootable disc, when it gets to Recovery Console I press ‘r’ – msg: No Hard drives found press F3 to exit – I have made the bootable file from NTLDRmissing.com and tried his ten steps – I have seen all of the error msgs listed on the site.
I tried BART PE and can see all of my C and D drive files, and ran Hard disk disgnostics from CMOS – disk drive is fine…
any ideas?
I bought a new PC, while istalling xp prop, files not copied 100%( did 74%), then problem came while copying. Thes as per the instruction I went reinstallation, while it restarting it was prompting that “ntldr missing. alt+ctr+del for restart”. I did all BIOS set sequence but it won’t work. HDD not showing in BIOS master/slave.while starting asking for shit +tab. And giving all drives not sufficient to RAID and creat array, but no key is active there.
plz help me to solve this.
I have a problem trying to format my system, after several power failure, wat i saw on my screen was NTLDR is missing. i tried reformating the system, perfomed ALT CTR DEl it still persisted. eachtime i put a new operating system and press any key,no respone. i want some who could help me restor my system.
hi there, i havent a clue about computers and i have an acer aspire 3630 laptop someone gave me and im gettin NTLDR is missing press any key to restart every time i turn it on, id really like to get it repaired as soon as poss but i wouldnt b able to do it myself. how much would it cost roughly to get it repaired?
any help appreciated. its for my sons xmas
Thankyou
PLEASE HELP ME!
I have the NTLDR is missing!
I have the XP CD (Professinal)
I press r for recovery and this comes up
the recovery console provides system repair and recovery functionality.
type EXIT to quit the recovery console and restart the computer.
The path or file specified is not valid.
What do i do next??
Thanks
Liam
Hi guys,
I have a case of “NTLDR is Missing” :) I’m lost. I have an old Hp, running xp(home edition). My pc didn’t come with the xp cd and I don’t have recovery disks. You know the hp story :)
Pressing f8 doesn’t do anything. Pressing f10 takes me to the HP System Recovery system, but if I opt for standard recovery, it takes me back to NTLDR is missing.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Hello folks,
I get that error each time I want to add a secondary HDD. I DID set the master/slave HDDs properly but still… What’s going on???
Thanks for your help.
Say I was doing a search on NTLDR found this site. I get that error message if I leave a floppy disk inserted and try to start windows. Is this normal?
Even though it says to press any key you still need to remove the floppy disk to start windows.
Hope this helps anyone who may unmistakingly do this. I still would like to know if there is a way to correct or not correct this.
Hello guys need help too..i dwnloaded a sofware in cleanin pc..and might have deleted some wndows files..but after cleaning using the software..windows was workn perfectly..but when i restarted my pc..i got ths ntldr missing and cant get my wndows workn..right now am using my mobile phne searchin for ..guys any idea what hapend?o any solutions for this problem?thanx in advance
After starting the computer it shows the message NTLDR is Missing but my main problem is next as after this message display is going blank and i cant read any instruction. Is there any problem to motherboard? I read several topics about how to solve the problem of NTLDR Missing but not found solution of this type where display is going blank. plz suggest the solution.
Thanks in advance.
..i have my systerm running..n then when i added another hard disk (some data in it not os)..the systeme read as ntldr is missig..when i boot the system.. can u help me plz.
Hello,
I’ve been wondering, why did this problem happen to me. I bought a brand new HDD and i trying to install windows XP on it since i want the new HDD to be my primary. So i go to BIOS and set the boot order to CDROM 1st, Floppy 2nd and HDD 3rd. What happen is the error NTLDR is missing show up. I cant use the floppy boot disk method coz the HDD is completely new.
Im about to try Ronald 2 cent method, but i will wait until that time come. Ive had read at many site. Most of them says that i boot a non-bootable disk, lol. Well, i used the windows XP cd that i used before.
Well, it came up in my mind that maybe my cd were broken, so i tried at another computer, no problem at all. If any other possible way to fix this problem i would gladly appreciate it before i tried to hot-plugged lol.
Regards.
Zack
I’ve been trying to fix it for hours and hours and no luck until i found this excelent software: Ultimate boot CD for windows.
It works!!! Thank’s God for it!
hi guys.. i had the similar problems like very one. My problem occurs quite differently..i didn’t install any new hardware or software. The message “NTLDR is missing” occurs after i knock my computer plug off by accident while i was cleaning my house. I tried many things like putting the boot disk. but it didnt read the boot disk or show the screen for me to choose 1st do this… So i start playing around with the bios boot setup utility. Since i am not a computer guy, i tried to do little stuff that i can to fix it.. anyway i come upon “Hard Disk Drives” which i played around the order of my hard drives in priority sequence. I had 4 hard drives in my computer, so i tried to change the 2nd drive to the 1st drive and then F10 to save and the exit to restart. It might said incorrect OS or SO. i forgot which was it. No big deal, just go back to bios by pressing Delt and change the order around of hard drive sequence. After the second tried, it went into windows. I was so happy and amazed how playing around will fixed my problem. somehow my hard drives sequence change during the accident. And my comp is trying to detect the original hard drives contain windows file as well as NTLDR. Obviously the NTLDR is missing since it wasn’t detecting the correct hard drive. This is just my personal experience. I hope this will help some people which have similar problem as me. I am just glad i don’t have to format my computer because i just had my comp formated 2 months ago.
Dear Friends, The NTLDR Missing Message is an easy error to repair, do these steps to solve this on.
1. insert windows xp cd
2. both your computer with windows xp cd
3. in the installation menu choose (R) for repair consol
4. now enter your windows drive like 1, 2, 3, 4
5. enter your administrator password if dont have then leave it blank
6. go to cd room drive
7. now type copy d:i386ntldr c:
copy d:i386ntdetect.com c:
8. now restart your computer and enjoy your fixed windows.
Thanks
A lot of people get frustrated when they see “ntldr is missing” No need to panic. Use your recovery disk, [Windows reinstallation cd]. Boot from cd, when ask, to repair or install a fresh copy of windows press R to repair. When repair starts press 1 for c:windows. If you have put a password to access windows, type your password, if you didn’t put a password just hit enter. At the c prompt type C:i386ntldr C:i386ntdetect.com. The file will be copied on your hard disk. When finished, just type exit and remove recovery disk. That should do the trick.
but if i hit the enter 3 times, it wil restart the computer..
Okay, I’ll jump in. My husband was doing something on the computer, Saturday. He told me he was “changing from the ‘new’ Yahoo mail page back to the ‘classic’.” It locked up, so he rebooted. I think he said it did it again, so he rebooted, again. He also told me he got a message (on the Yahoo screen) that said his display needed to be changed in order to view the “new” yahoo mail page. Then he just turned it off. When I booted up, nothing happened. Nothing! Black screen, with the front light on the box staying orange, the color of “hibernation.” I pulled the hard drive out and put it in another machine and booted. “Missing NTLDR; Press any key to restart,” appeared. I’m not sure why there would be a difference between the two machines and the appearance/lack thereof of the error message. Any ideas? I’m still in the process of repairing, by the way, and there seems to be a wealth of information on this subject. I’m glad I’m not the only one perplexed by this.
NTLDR missing message showing. We can copy the NTLDR file and fix it through the CD – Drive to the path at System32 are windows ? We can do like that???