I deleted NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM from the root of my C drive on an IBM laptop running XP Pro. I thought they were the same as some other junk files I had there - I would have never guessed files that important would not be in a folder - but I was stupid and now I learned the hard way.

So, now I can't boot my computer. Next step - I tried to use the Recovery Consule and I can't because I don't know the Administrator password. The computer is almost 6 years old and I assumed the password would be blank from when IBM installed the O/S. But blank i.e. just hitting Enter doesn't work nor does any password I can think of.

Questions:

1.) What would happen if instead of hitting "R" for Recovery, I started to reinstall the O/S by hitting enter, but then picked the installation "1" and chose "Repair"? Can I do this without a password?

2.) Would the above "repair" preserve my data? Would things get messed up because my old Windows XP Pro CD predates SP2?

3.)

Thanks.

a repair instalation should leave most file as they were.


is the CD the one that came with the machine?

have you got all the drivers you'll need incase any are wiped?

as for the question I've removed, I'm sorry we can not advise on that issue

Thank you for the response.

is the CD the one that came with the machine?

Right now its not. Its the one that came with a new laptop (about a year old). Do I need to recover the CD that came with the machine? (I'd have to search all my stuff and hope for the best). Is the repair install going to ask me for a password or a XP key? What can go wrong if I don't use the CD that came with the machine?

As far as drivers - we had lots of trouble when SP2 came down (I think ibm mailed some drivers on CD that had to be fixed) - but if I can recover the data - I guess I'd have to make the best of dealing with other problems.

I'm actually pretty sure the password is blank and it just won't let me in. I even found this MS KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308402. I don't have a floppy drive though. Do you think there is a CD solution related to that 6 floppy solution they propose?

Also, I still had a couple of follow ups:

1.) Are those ultimate boot type cds legal and might they help?

2.) Is there a restore recycle bin utility I could run? Those 2 files are sitting right there - that's why its so frustrating.

3.) What would happen if I just copied those 2 files on a CD and chose boot from CD - would that work? I know the user passwords - its just the blank admin password causing me trouble.

Thanks Dan. I appreciate your time and thoughts.

the XP disc you have for the new machin ewill be XP pro SP2

licence key the machine should have the COA attached with the key on it but if the key is for a pre SP2 version it may not work with the SP2 disc

there may be a solution to the 6 floppies but I'm not aware of one

Thank You. I was hoping to avoid the repair/reinstall. Sounds like it may cause some havoc.

Is there any other way I could get a DOS prompt and just copy the 2 files in?

I found PC doctor on the machine last night. It gives me a DOS prompt, but I can't see any Windows files on C. Could I use this to just copy the 2 files from CD to the C drive?

are the windows files on C or another partition?

I don't understand about partitions or how to check that.

But, logically - I guess when ibm built the machine they would have isolated PC doctor, right?

Can you legally talk about BARTPE - something I saw on the internet - could that work?

Finally, last question - someone mentioned putting the 2 files and a boot.ini file from another machine on a floppy and booting. Would that work and would it work with a CD since I don't have a floppy drive?

OK, if there is no other solution - I'll stop asking questions. Thanks.

Partitions some builders put all the Operating System, Drivers and Software on a recovery partition that can be used to put the machine back to as new.


BARTPE I've just looked at the page I think as you have a legal copy of XP and it's not an Operating System you could try it.

I've Never used this software so cannot guarantee it will work

you could try putting the 2 files on a CD

For Completion and Future reference of others:

-BARTPE worked like a charm

-just putting the files on a CD doesn't work because a CD drive is not like a floppy drive - you need an iso image to boot Windows which BART PE gives you. I don't totally understand that, but I just used the directions on http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/start/. The process is totally self contained - I didn't need CD burning software or the XP CD because like most people probably will, I still had the i386 folder on the machine I used to create the BART PE boot CD.

-With the CD now in the laptop I used F12 to choose boot from CD and I got right into BART PE (the splash screen is interesting - don't let it scare you)

-Once BART PE was loaded I used the go button on the lower left and run the plugin/program a43. This is the program for file management.

After that I:

1.) went to the i386 folder and used control-c to copy the 2 files (ntldr and ntdetect.com)

2.) went to the root of my C drive and pasted them in.

3.) shut down the computer from the BART PE main menu

4.) rebooted

and all was well!

Thanks.

so all's fine now?

I'll make a note of the programme BARTPE and have a look into it.