Hi there,

I really hope someone in this forum is able to help me. I have Windows XP Professional installed on my home computer. Regrettably, I was a "starving student" at the time I got my computer and I took the offer to have one of my classmates load me up with software...you can probably see where my problem comes in....I don't have access to the discs used on my pc and my computer will not boot - the screen has said the following: "NTLDR is missing. Press any key to restart. Analyzing network media type, this will take several seconds...OK". It continues to count numbers and then eventually it tries to reboot itself and does this over and over. Then the screen displays: "Not found. Boot failure. Insert boot diskette in "A". Press any key when ready."

Can someone please explain to me in layman's terms (baby computer language) how I would go about getting a boot disc if this is even what I need to do? I obviously don't want to lose everything already on my computer. My brother suggested that I try this route before I throw my hissy fit and come to the realization that I am in big trouble!!! Any help is appreciated.

Hi there Miss Molly , welcome to PCHF.


So the software on the laptop isn't legit , as par our rules i cant help you with anything related to those.

But is the XP legit? Did that came with the laptop , and do you have that disc?

Sadly, no....but thank you for your reply.

If you can get a legit XP disc then we can still try to help you , but without it we cant im afraid.

When you say I should get a legit disc...does this mean that I would have to re-load my windows again and lose everything? Is it just one disc? Again, this gal from Canada really appreciates your help!!!

If it isn't a hardware problem , then there is a change that with an XP disc the problem can be resolved without reinstalling windows , it depends on what the cause of the error is. It could be from an simple fix with the xp disc , to a new HD needed to fix this.

Is it a Windows XP quickboot diskette I am trying to obtain? I have seen info on bootdisk.com that talks about this....