NTLDR Missing...Revisited

[munkee]

I have had this problem for a while. I have tried almost everything. Even got the update from MS(bcupdate2) the problem still exists. Did a fixboot. even installed SP2(thought it might help something)

Please it doesn't happen all the time. If I ever have to do a restart that's when it happens. I don't leave my PC on all the time, So when I turn it on in the morning it's usually fine. It seem to happen after the PC is warmed up.

IF I go to the BIOS to check the Boot sequence )when the ntldr thing happens) none of my hard drives, cd roms show up..then after about 40 seconds they all appear. I have a Toshiba DVD Rom drive and a HP CDRW drive. Usually my Toshiba always appears after my main hard drive...every once in a while the Toshiba is gone and the HP CDRW shows up. Could these be causing my problems?

What are the odds I have a hardware as opposed to a software problem? Is there anything else in the BIOS that may be set wrong? Again this doesn't happen all the time like it does for other people.

Win XP Pro
1024 megs ram
ASUS P4B533 MB

[Midknyte]

definitely sounds like some hardware issues. i couldn't find your other post. did you already scan the drive for defects?

reseat the ide cables.

double check the jumpers on the drives also. maybe try master/slave instead of cable select OR vice versa.

[rraehal]

I had an HP CDRW that caused my drives to disappear.

For example, if it was on my primary IDE channel my Hard Disk and CD ROM failed to show randomly. If it was on secondary IDE my cd-roms would disappear.

In addition to Mid' suggestions, I would remove the hp and see if the problem goes away. If it does you know why. If not, put the hp back and get rid of the other drive.

You may just need to find the problem by process of elimination. If you find one of the CD drives is your cause look for a firmware update.