If your computer suddenly stop working with a message saying:

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl Alt Del to Restart

and you can’t start Windows, then maybe the file ntldr or ntdetect.com is corrupted or deleted.These files are always located in C:\ . Note that they are hidden system files so if you want to see them, just read this.

Now just follow the steps below.

  1. Insert the Windows XP bootable CD into the computer.
  2. When prompted to press any key to boot from the CD, press any key.
  3. Now that you are in the Windows XP setup menu press the “R” key to repair Windows.
  4. Log into your Windows installation by pressing the “1″ key and then Enter.
  5. You will then be prompted for your administrator password, enter that password or if you dont have an active password just press Enter.
  6. Copy the files  ntldr and ntdetect.com to the C:\ ( root directory of the primary hard disk ) . In this example we are copying these files from the CD-ROM drive, which in this case has drive letter “F”.  Note that this letter may be different on your computer. For example :  if your hard drive has 3 partitions (e.g. C , D , E ) then most likely your CD drive will be F. Just keep in mind that the drives  are arranged in alphabetical order.
  7. Perform the following commands:                                                                            copy F:\i386\ntldr C:\

    copy F:\i386\ntdetect.com C:\

  8. Once both of these files have been successfully copied, remove the CD from the computer and reboot.