Member Avatar for kylethedarkn

Suddenly upon booting my computer i get the error ntdlr is missing press alt+crtl+del to reboot. I have tried some of the fixs online but they all include using the win xp disc to boot to command prompt. I dont have the win xp recovery disk, but i do have my emachines recovery disk which allows me to boot to command prompt. The fixes i saw all say that the command prompt should start with c:\ but mine starts with a:\>. also i cannot find which drive is my cd drive because i have 7 drives on my computer. I tried d:\ but it says invalid drive so i dont know if thats because my cd drive isnt the d drive anymore or because something else is wrong. Im posting this in the mod section because i think this is where the smartest of each forum gather. THanks for any help i get.

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Good follow-up from — loose or intermittent cabling is a surprisingly common cause of boot errors that look like missing system files. was on the right track thinking the disk wasn't being seen; this thread is a good reminder to treat hardware checks before diving deep into software fixes.

A simple, safe hardware workflow that helps isolate this kind of problem:

  1. Power down and unplug the PC. Photograph or note current cable routing so you can restore it.
  2. Ground yourself, open the case, and check both the drive data and the drive power connectors for the system (boot) disk. Look for loose, partially seated, bent-pin, or corroded connectors.
  3. If the machine has many drives, temporarily disconnect all nonessential drives and optical drives so the system has only the boot disk attached. This quickly shows whether a stray device is confusing the boot sequence.
  4. Swap the data cable with a known-good cable and move the drive to the primary port (SATA0/PATA master) to rule out a failed cable or a bad motherboard port.
  5. Reassemble and verify the BIOS/UEFI lists the drive as present. If the drive appears intermittently, suspect the cable, the drive connector, or the PSU rail supplying that connector.

Preventive and next-step notes:

  • Use replacement cables rather than reusing questionable ones; modern SATA clips help a lot.
  • If problems recur after reseating, test the drive on another machine and run the manufacturer’s diagnostic tool to check for failing media.
  • Keep a recovery image or rescue media handy and label ports/cables so troubleshooting goes faster next time.

This approach explains why a quick physical check fixed the issue here, and it gives a repeatable method if the symptom returns.

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Member Avatar for gerbil

Hey!! you're sposed to be on this side of the fence!!
Anyway, ur prob getting cmd showing a:\> cos your sys just is not seeing the boot drive, which is normally c. Can you get to recovery console with that emachines disc? Get it to do a chkdsk /p first off. if it finds a prob do a chkdsk /r to repair, n then a /p to check it, an then...
ntldr is about the first thing read of your boot disc [from the boot sector]... it then reads the boot.ini file to see where your OS lies. So your c drive could be in trouble, or just the boot sector...
"Im posting this in the mod section because i think this is where the smartest of each forum gather."--- sorry, i jump about. heh heh...

Member Avatar for kylethedarkn

Thanks for the advice but after doing a little more research i found the most common cause of this was loose wires. And sure enough when i tightened all of the wire in my computer no more error. Thanks anyways though.

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