NTDRL is missing error on Win98 Install

[Guest ciscokid1975]

Hello all, I'd like some help on a Win98 Install. I had win2K on an old PC

and formatted the HD then wiped it clean with Windows Washer via my Laptop. I

am now trying to install Win98 on the PC but I keep getting a "NTDRL is

missing error" when the CD-Rom tried to boot with the win98 CD. Can someone

help?

[Guest Don Phillipson]

Re: NTDRL is missing error on Win98 Install

 

"ciscokid1975" <u45729@uwe> wrote in message news:8932b161f8d7a@uwe...

> Hello all, I'd like some help on a Win98 Install. I had win2K on an old PC

> and formatted the HD then wiped it clean with Windows Washer via my

Laptop. I

> am now trying to install Win98 on the PC but I keep getting a "NTDRL is

> missing error" when the CD-Rom tried to boot with the win98 CD. Can

someone

> help?

 

Win98 has no filename beginning with NT, which indicates

the different hard drive format (NTSC) used by later MS

operating systems, e.g. NTLDR is an essential system

file of WinXP and WinNT.

 

You will find it faster to reinstal from scratch beginning

with the correct boot floppy (from http://www.bootdisk.com) and

advice/checklists from http://home.satx.rr.com/badour/html/w98_restore.html

 

--

Don Phillipson

Carlsbad Springs

(Ottawa, Canada)

[Guest John John (MVP)]

Re: NTDRL is missing error on Win98 Install

 

The computer is trying to boot from the hard disk, not the CD-ROM. Use

a Windows 98 Setup diskette to start the installation process. If your

disk is formated NTFS it will not be accessible to Windows 98, you will

have to use FDISK to delete and recreate the partition and you will then

have to format it, all of that can be done when you boot with the floppy

diskette. You can get a Windows 98 startup diskette from Bootdisk.com.

 

John

 

ciscokid1975 wrote:

> Hello all, I'd like some help on a Win98 Install. I had win2K on an old PC

> and formatted the HD then wiped it clean with Windows Washer via my Laptop. I

> am now trying to install Win98 on the PC but I keep getting a "NTDRL is

> missing error" when the CD-Rom tried to boot with the win98 CD. Can someone

> help?

>

[Guest Lee]

Re: NTDRL is missing error on Win98 Install

 

On Aug 25, 6:48 am, "ciscokid1975" <u45729@uwe> wrote:

> Hello all, I'd like some help on a Win98 Install. I had win2K on an old PC

> and formatted the HD then wiped it clean with Windows Washer via my Laptop. I

> am now trying to install Win98 on the PC but I keep getting a "NTDRL is

> missing error" when the CD-Rom tried to boot with the win98 CD. Can someone

> help?

 

NTDRL is not a 98 file so obviously your job at wiping was half mast

at best. Since NT was on this drive it would best to actually wipe

the drive with a zero writing program such as Bart's Disktool which

runs nicely from a 98 boot disk.

http://www.nu2.nu/utils/

 

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robert.bale4/formatinstall.htm

http://freepctech.com/guides.shtml

http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/

http://cquirke.mvps.org/reinst.htm

[Guest John John (MVP)]

Re: NTDRL is missing error on Win98 Install

 

Lee wrote:

> On Aug 25, 6:48 am, "ciscokid1975" <u45729@uwe> wrote:

>

>>Hello all, I'd like some help on a Win98 Install. I had win2K on an old PC

>>and formatted the HD then wiped it clean with Windows Washer via my Laptop. I

>>am now trying to install Win98 on the PC but I keep getting a "NTDRL is

>>missing error" when the CD-Rom tried to boot with the win98 CD. Can someone

>>help?

>

>

> NTDRL is not a 98 file so obviously your job at wiping was half mast

> at best. Since NT was on this drive it would best to actually wipe

> the drive with a zero writing program such as Bart's Disktool which

> runs nicely from a 98 boot disk.

> http://www.nu2.nu/utils/

 

I trust that there are no files left on the disk, there need not be any

files left on the disk to receive this NTLDR error. There is no need to

go through a lengthy wipe process to fix this, when you format the

partition and install Windows 98 the problem will disappear.

 

The error occurs because the partition was formatted by an NT operating

system and as such it has an NT boot sector. The partition could be

FAT32 or NTFS, it doesn't matter, as long as it was formatted by an NT

system it has an NT boot sector.

 

Very quickly condensed this is what happens when you boot a computer:

 

1- The Power Supply does a self-test, if the power is stable a "Power

Good" signal is sent to the processor.

 

2- The processor loads and executes the ROM BIOS, the BIOS does a Power

On Self Test (POST) routine, if the POST completes without errors the

BIOS reads the CMOS and determines which device it should boot.

 

3- When the selected boot device is a hard disk the Master Boot Record

(MBR) is read and loaded in the memory. At this point the BIOS passes

the boot process to the Master Boot Record.

 

4- A small piece of code in the MBR locates the Active Partition and

loads the first sector of the partition (the Boot Sector) into memory

and then in turn the MBR transfers the boot process to the Boot Sector.

 

5- The Boot Sector loads and executes the program that will in turn

start the operating system. This is where the NTLDR is missing error

occurs, because the partition has an NT boot sector the code is

instructed to find and execute NTLDR and of course as the partition was

cleaned of all files it cannot find NTLDR so it returns an error.

 

In the case of DOS/W9x the boot sector looks for the Io.sys file to load

the operating system, the boot sector which contains this information is

written when the partition is formatted and the operating system doing

the formating will write a suitable boot sector for its own use.

 

To write a DOS/W9x boot sector and return the boot process from NTLDR

back to Io.sys the partition can be reformatted with the proper

operating system or the SYS.COM command (SYS C:) can be used on the

partition (providing that the partition is a FAT version and not NTFS).

To return the boot process from Io.sys to NTLDR the Recovery Console's

Fixboot command can be used. When Windows is installed these details

will be looked after and done automatically by the setup program, there

is usually no need to do this manually.

 

Finally, this NTLDR error can also occur if an NT formated floppy is in

the drive when the computer is booted, one should always check that

before anything else.

 

John

 

References:

 

Chapter 19 - What Happens When You Start Your Computer

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windowsnt/4/workstation/reskit/en-us/booting.mspx?mfr=true

 

Description of the Windows 95 Startup Process

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/174018

 

The PC Boot Process

http://dotnetjunkies.com/WebLog/unknownreference/articles/12284.aspx