Have you recently upgraded to Windows XP from an earlier Windows operating system? If yes, then there are chances that you would be getting startup problems in the new system. Such problems usually arise due to incompatible startup codes the partitions in Windows XP and the earlier systems. These problems can be easily sorted out by rewriting the startup code. However, if you are unable to start the system then you should use a Windows partition recovery software to recover Windows partitions.

Consider a scenario wherein you have a Windows 98 system that you have upgraded to Windows XP with FAT32 file system. However, when you start the system it fails to do so. An error message is displayed as a result, which is:

“NTLDR is missing

Press any key to restart”

Cause:

The root cause of this erroneous situation is that Windows 98 startup code ignores the BPB (BIOS Parameter Block) and starts the system even if the respective value is incorrect. However, this value is required in Windows XP, and thus, the system does not start if this value is incorrect.

Resolution:

To resolve this situation, you should correct the heads value in the FAT32 BPB to start Windows XP. To do this, perform the following steps:

  • Restart the system using Windows 98 startup CD.
  • Make a copy of the msdos.sys file by entering the following commands at the command prompt:

attrib -h -r -s c:\msdos.sys

rename msdos.sys *.ysy

  • Type the following command in the command prompt to rewrite the startup code with the correct BPB information:

sys c:

  • Start to the Recovery Console and run the fixboot command to rewrite the Windows XP system startup code.
  • Restart the system. It should run fine now.

However, if you are still facing the similar problems during startup then you should use a third-party partition recovery software to recover partition. Such partition recovery tools are read-only in nature that do not overwrite the existing data while scanning.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is a Windows partition recovery software that enables you to recover Windows partition from inaccessible FAT, NTFS, or exFAT file systems. It is capable of recovering more than 185 different file types, which can be customized even further, from various storage media such as hard drives, external hard drives, pen drives, iPods, etc. In addition, this partition recovery utility enables you to restore deleted emails from MS Outlook and Outlook Express. It is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.