Cannot boot

[Gimmickbmx]

I have a Dell dimension E510 that is about 2 years old, intel pentium 4 cpu 3 ghz, BIOS version A02(10/13/05), the only thing i've done for it is added some ram about a year ago. I installed a couple of programs to try to clean up my computer a couple nights ago, then shut down. the next day when i turned it on it said:

"Loading PBR for descriptor 2 ...done.
NTLDR is missing
press ctrl + alt + del to restart"

I have tried pressing f8 during restart, it just continued and took me to press ctrl+alt+del.

I know i can press alt+f11 to get to dell's dsr partition, but i have programs and data i don't want to lose if i don't have to.

I've been to dell's website and saw i can update bios but i can't get to the internet on that computer it wouldn't work, and i tried saving the application on a flash drive and booting with that, didn't work.

I have the XP cd and can get to RC, but no command i have found has done anything to change when i boot.

I tried "Repairing Windows XP in Eight Commands" on this website. with CHKDSK /p it told me "found one or more errors on the volume"

I tried this website: on tinyempire -ntldr is missing. they had files to make a DOS start up disk on a flash drive, didn't work. with that one error message was: "<WINDOWS root>\system32\hal.dll"

I backed up the registry before it was broken and should have a few restore points. but i don't know how to get to them without being in windows.

Thanks for any help

[Gimmickbmx]

Is there any way for me to get to the restore point w/o being in windows?
Or how to do i take the hd out, connect to another computer and copy programs?

[Thrax]

Your registry is stored in C:\windows\system32\config in the following hives:

SOFTWARE
SYSTEM
DEFAULT
SAM
SECURITY
USERDIFF

These files have no extensions and may or may not be portable between OS installs. I strongly recommend against taking that route.

In the event you'd like to migrate data off of your hard drive and perform a fresh install, here are the guides we carry to do just that:

http://icrontic.com/articles/easy_data_recovery
http://icrontic.com/articles/repair_install_windows_xp

[danmiluk]

Is there any way for me to get to the restore point w/o being in windows?
Or how to do i take the hd out, connect to another computer and copy programs?

in windows repair console booting ooff the xp disc type go done the line

chkdsk
chkdsk /r
then fixboot

worked for me

[Junkymagi]

Put in your windows disk and boot from it.
There will be a repair option, skip the first time and continue installing, the second time you see the repair option, select it as that automatically reinstalls windows but leaves all your program and personal settings alone.

The last two programs you installed need to be gotten rid of as they are most likely what deleted the boot files. If you're browsing the internet and see a popup saying your computer is at risk, install XXX software to fix it, do NOT do it, it's an ad trying to get you to install unnecessary software. Most require you to pay for it to actually fix anything and lots of them install spyware adware software which slows your computer down a LOT and puts your personal information at risk.

[Mcdank]

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">i have the same computer as gimmick and am having the same problem. only mine just says the pbr 2 error, it says nothing about ntldr. My only problem is that i have no microsoft xp installation disk. This problem occured when i tried to system restore, the error popped up afterwards, now i can't even restore it. please please help.

also, a black screen sometimes comes up that says something about floppy diskette not found.
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[Mcdank]

one more thing i forgot to add. my specs are the same as gimmicks, except mine is BIOS version A04