OT: need advice from computer wiz.

[Jagermeister]

I need some help or advice from someone who know's a lot more about computers than I do.

My computer has been running very slowly over the past year, and, being the computer savy person I think I am, I proceeded to download a freeware registry cleaner and let it do its job of cleaning up the registry thereby, in theory, speeding up my computer. Well, out the window with theory, reality is, it screwed my computer up........bad.

When I boot up the computer I get the following error:

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

Now, the first big problem is I don't have any installation disks. This is my old work computer (I was recently laid off and given the opportunity to buy my computer). Since this is my old work computer, I contacted my old IT department for help and their attitude is they don't have enough time to fix and maintain current employee computers let alone fix those of ours who were let go.

Is there anything I can do within the BIOS? I've tried resetting to default parameters but that didn't help. Can I somehow download the missing files and get them on the computer?

The research I've been doing on the internet leads me to believe I may need to reinstall the operating system, which, since I don't have the disks, sent me on an impossible errand of finding a store that still sells XP. Looks like it's all Vista now, however, I don't think my computer has the minimum requirements to run Vista. I think I may be up a creek!

The computer is a Dell running (or used to run) Windows XP.

Thanks for any help or advice.

 

[damo252]

I don't have an install disk for you to use, but I would think about getting any data off of the hard drive that you may want to save. once you reinstall the operating system you will lose all of that info.

You could also try booting in safe mode to see if you can get it to boot. You can do this from the BIOS screen. If that works I would then Diable/unistall a single item at a time to see what is causing the problem

 

[hudson2212]

It looks like the files can be replaced if you can build a bootable CD to start everything. That would require a little effort and a copy of the XP disk, so it may not be easy for you to get. Even if you can get it fixed with a boot disk, I would highly suggest a wipe and reinstall. Who knows what else that software may have done to your machine. I would just use the boot disk to get in and copy any files you want to keep.

Any software like that off the internet should be avoided. Even if it was legitimate software, and not something malicious, tweaking the registry is a good way to kill the Windows installation if you do not know what you are doing.

Windows does have a tendency to slow down over time. It likes to collect "garbage" (settings for various websites, download logs, and a lot of other crap) This eventually bogs it down as it has to process most of this stuff. A clean install is the best way to speed it up.

You can also look at what is running after you first start up and maybe reduce that down. Software like Acrobat and Itunes love to be running all the time, but you really only need them on when you are using them. You can adjust what is started at bootup with msconfig, but I suggest reading up on any processes you do not recognize before you shut them off.

If you need to get a copy of XP, there are a couple of options. You can get OEM versions of XP from Newegg, although you will have to buy some kind of hardware to qualify. Like memory upgrade, or some such. You will not find XP in a retail store anywhere because Microsoft wants you to buy Vista. You can also get XP off of eBay, but be very careful and read the whole listing to make sure it is a new never installed copy, and make sure the feedback on the seller is good.

Sorry to hear you are having issues. Nothing can kill a weekend like a busted PC.

Good luck.

 

[stugray]

I have a Dell XP install disk that you could have.

As for booting into safe mode: You dont do that from the BIOS screen.
When you turn the computer on, start pressing F8 every few seconds.
This should open the boot options menu where you can choose 'boot to safe mode'.

If that still doesnt work and you need to get files off of the machine, you can use a bootable Linux disk ( ubuntu or Knoppix ).
This will boot you into linux & give you access to the filesystem.
You could then copy all of your files onto a USB memory stick.

After that, reinstall XP from the Dell OEM disk that I have.

It's even all legal. Once you pay for the Dell machine, you own the right to the OEM version of XP.

Stu

 

[Ebmorri]

Without the "NTLDR" file you can not boot into any mod eof windows. You can recove that file with a windows cd and do a repair. Once that is done you would also have to reinstall alot of patches.

I would say the best thing to do is get a replacement hard drive, put that in your system without the old drive, and do a reinstall. Once tha is complete I would use a USB to IDE/SATA ataptor to recover your data.

 

[murfman]

Or you can put a new HD in and run the old one as a slave, off of the same ribbon cable, then you can get the data off and reformat the old drive to make it bootable.

 

[roadracn]

Start over and dont use a dell disk. just use a strait windows disk, pm me or give me a call, if you can get it to me I will do it for you, or at least show you how

 

[Jagermeister]

Thanks for all the replies. I tried hitting F8 as soon as I turn the computer on but is doesn't do anything. The only two options I have are F2 and F12. F2 is the BIOS and F12 is the boot menu and I tried every option in there to no avail.

Luckily, I routinely back up all my files to an external hard drive. And I had just done that right before all this happened so I don't think I will lose any data if I reformat.

Stu- I'd like to pick that disk up from you if you don't mind. That'll be a life saver. I'll pm you shortly.

Thanks again everyone. The computer I'm using to post these messages is old (still has a 3.5" drive) and doesn't have ms word or excel, which I really need all of a sudden because I have to update my resume. Once I get the os going again on my old work computer I can obtain a copy of ms office and be on my way! Thanks again.

 

[roadracn]

I have a copy of office if you need it...