At the weekend I was provided with the task of trying to sort out the computer of my mates parents… I got it home and found the problem to be:
The computer would load up to the “safe mode” screen, where you’re given the option to Boot Normally, Last Known Good Configuation, Safe Mode etc… Once it got there, no matter which option was selected you would just be rebooted and set into a loop.
I got into the recovery console and discovered that NTLDR is missing, more commonly known as NT Loader.
Using the recovery console I copied the missing files accross to the appropriate directory, but to no avail.
Being as that didn’t work, I hooked the Hard drive upto my machine with the intention of backing up all their files, then performing a complete system restore, back to (what would effectively be) day 1. But, my computer is of the opinion that the hard drive is completely empty? Which of course, just isn’t true…
Does anybody have any other ideas? I’ve googled it a fair bit, and tried various tasks and tutorials, but nothing seems to be working?
Create a bootable Windows XP disc and boot from it. Once in there hit “R” and go into recovery mode. I’m sure the bootloader can be fixed by entering the command
/fixmbror something similar. Typing help will help you find the MBR commands.Most of the time it’s an early sign of your hard drive failing, if the above doesn’t work, use a Linux boot disc and copy the files to something like a USB stick.
Good luck.
Matt,
Thanks for that, I didn’t think of a direct fix command… I’ll have to try that, hopefully I manage it before the drive fails… Only pain is, it’s full of Uni Coursework…
Cheers!
Have you considered a hammer?
Would have been my next option had it not been someone else’s computer “/ Haha. I’ll suggest it to them though
Thanks for the optimism 