NTLDR is missing
You're trying to install Windows XP over 95, 98 or ME, and you get an error message that says "NTLDR is missing. Press any key to restart." This can happen when the original Windows 9x/ME installation was on a large capacity drive using the FAT32 file system, under certain conditions. You'll need to overwrite the boot sector before you can upgrade to Windows XP.
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article - 314057
SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to install Windows XP or to upgrade to Windows XP on a computer that runs Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), you may receive the following error message after the first restart during the installation process:
NTLDR is missing
Press any key to restart This behavior occurs only if Windows 95, Windows 98,
or Windows Me is installed on a large-capacity drive that uses the FAT32 file
system.
CAUSE
This behavior can occur if your existing Windows 95, Windows 98, or
Windows Me installation was cloned and then applied to a drive that has a
different geometry from that of the source drive of the cloned copy.
One possible scenario is as follows: You are running Windows 98 on a 4-gigabyte
(GB) drive. After you upgrade, for example to a 30-GB hard disk, you use a
third-party disk-imaging utility to make a mirror image of your Windows 98
installation and apply the image to the new drive. At a later time, you then
upgrade to Windows XP, installing Windows XP over the cloned image of Windows
98.
For this behavior to occur, the following conditions must exist:
· The system/boot partition is formatted with the FAT32 file system.
· The computer boots by using INT-13 extensions (a partition larger than 7.8 gigabytes with a System-ID type of 0C in the partition table).
· Because of the cloning procedure, the Heads (sides) value in the FAT32 BIOS Parameter Block (BPB) does not match the geometry of the physical drive.
The Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code ignores the Heads value in the BPB and starts those programs even though the value is invalid. However, the boot code in Windows 2000 and Windows XP needs this value, and the boot process does not succeed if the value is invalid.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, correct the invalid Heads (sides) value in the FAT32 BPB to enable the Windows XP boot process to continue. The easiest way to update the field is to rewrite the Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code by using the following procedure:
Restart the computer by using a Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me startup disk that contains the Sys.com file (this file is included by default).
Make a backup copy of the msdos.sys file in the root directory of your system drive. To do this, type the following commands from the command prompt:
attrib -h -r
-s c:\msdos.sys
rename msdos.sys
*.ysy
At a command prompt, type sys c:. This
command rewrites the Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me boot code with
accurate BPB information. If this command runs successfully, skip to step 4.
If you are using a Windows Me startup disk and you receive an error message,
"Cannot find the system file in the standard locations on drive C:",
one or more files in the Windows Me installation have been removed. Use the
following steps to place the correct files on the drive so that the sys
command can locate them:
Start a command prompt by using the following commands (that is, type the commands and press ENTER after each command):
c:
cd\windows
If Windows is installed in a folder other than the Windows folder, adjust
the commands accordingly.
Try to switch to the Command folder by using the following command:
cd command
If an error message indicates that the path is not found, use the following command to create the Command folder, and then run cd command again:
md command
Switch to the EBD folder by using the following command:
cd ebd
If an error message indicates that the path is not found, use the following command to create the EBD folder, and then repeat the cd ebd command:
md ebd
In the EBD folder, use the following commands to copy the Io.sys file from the root of the hard drive and to rename the Io.sys file as Winboot.sys:
attrib -s -h
-r c:\io.sys
copy c:\io.sys
winboot.sys
Winboot.sys is the file that Sys.com needs.
Switch back to drive A, and then run the following commands:
a:
sys c:
Type the following commands, and press ENTER after each command, to restore the original msdos.sys:
attrib -s -h
-r c:\msdos.sys
copy c:\msdos.ysy
c:\msdos.sys
Press Y to overwrite the existing MSDOS.SYS file. You should receive a
"1 FILE(S) COPIED" verification that the file was overwritten.
Restart the computer to Windows
95, Windows 98, or Windows Me, and then try the Windows XP installation or
upgrade procedure again.
NOTE: Alternatively, after you run the sys c: command, you can
boot to the Recovery Console, and then use the fixboot command to
rewrite the Windows XP boot code. This procedure enables the original
installation to proceed typically.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article