ntldr missing error message Windows xp home

I have followed the instructions but I am still getting the NTLDR error when I reboot my system :-(

It sure sounds like you are booting off the hard drive instead of off the PC.

According to p. 34 of your manual, you may press F12 IMMEDIATELY after turning on your PC to see your boot options menu. It is at this point you must select the CD as your boot device!

The other option is to press the DEL key IMMEDIATELY after turning on your PC to access the BIOS and then select "Advanced BIOS features" to alter your boot order (so the CD is first, see p. 46).

If you are still having problems, the CD you burned is probably bad and you should burn another one. (This thread is pretty long now. Did you burn the RC-only CD, using Jose's instructions? If not, what are you using?)

It sure sounds like you are booting off the hard drive instead of off the PC.

Not really sure what that means.

If you are still having problems, the CD you burned is probably bad and you should burn another one.

I do not believe the issue is with the disc. He is able to boot into recovery console with no problem. I believe the problem is multiple corrupted files. Perhaps even a partition created by malware that is causing the issues.

He is able to boot into recovery console with no problem.

Oh, I thought he was having problems booting into RC. At four or five pages, I start getting confused, I suppose!

He is able to boot into recovery console with no problem.

Oh, I thought he was having problems booting into RC. At four or five pages, I start getting confused, I suppose!

OK, I just re-read the thread. It looks like OP can boot into RC after all. It's just that when he chooses to boot into regular Windows XP (on the hard drive), he has problems.

OP: Did you ever successfully run chkdsk /r after booting off the CD? I re-read the thread, and I'm not sure you did that.

If the problem turns out to be malware-related, I think a Clean Install is probably indicated at this point.

OK... Just saw this nugget again:

ok did that but now im getting another new error, I get to select window to run but then get this message:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt

\minint\system32\config\system

You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.

Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair

I went into the repair option but could not find how to fix this, I have just run a chkdsk /r but I am still getting the same file.

I think when you attempted to rebuild your boot.ini file, there was some leftover stuff and you are now being given a choice of Windows installations to boot off of. (This is why I had earlier relayed Jose's instructions to rename the old boot.ini file.

The "minint" reference might be a clue.

When you boot off your hard drive, describe in detail everything you see on the screen. So far, all you have told us is "I get to select window to run," but I am unclear as to what you mean by that.

Thanks for your help Daavee.

First, Windows Xp does not need a boot.ini file to load. So, the post is off there. Secondly, minint most often refers to a recovery partition which would explain the OP's reply about going into repair. I agree 100% that we need a better explanation from the OP regarding what he/she is seeing.