Major Problem, Acer Laptop, Virus etc

revolutionrock · 30 Aug 2008 at 13:54

Hi, I have a major problem.

I lent my brother my laptop as his Pc is broke. So a week later he comes to me saying its buggered etc, and it turns out he has got a Virus on it.

So i decided to re install xp, as i needed to do this anyway(selling it) so I started and it comes up with a whole host of errors

"NTDLR is missing" Error

And the like, so from this i don't have a clue. I tried a Vista disc, same , it came up with some error with the hd, and now the Dvd Writer(or it may be the hdd) is making an awful noise when its running a Cd , or using the Hdd maybe?

I am still not sure if i have formatted the drive or not!

Any help would be appreciated.

beermonster · 30 Aug 2008 at 15:06

download ultimiate boot cd and run the drive fitness test on the HD it sounds buggered.

Kristoph · 30 Aug 2008 at 16:40

Dropped it whilst it was reading/writing?

If it is the HDD that is dead, are you still in warranty?

iraiguana · 30 Aug 2008 at 20:10

Sounds like a busted drive, just pick up a cheap one and job done.

Dano · 30 Aug 2008 at 20:26

So i decided to re install xp, as i needed to do this anyway(selling it) so I started and it comes up with a whole host of errors

"NTDLR is missing" Error

At what point did these errors appear, as in how far into the XP install process did you get?

GarethDW · 30 Aug 2008 at 20:37

<pedantic> It's NTLDR - it stands for NT Loader and is the boot loader for Windows </pedantic>

Could be the drive is on its way out, or just that your Windows installation is hosed. Did you reinstall Windows? Was it successful?

revolutionrock · 31 Aug 2008 at 16:42

mp3kla said:
Dropped it whilst it was reading/writing?

If it is the HDD that is dead, are you still in warranty?

No and No it is well out now.

Dano said:
At what point did these errors appear, as in how far into the XP install process did you get?

Erm, I can't exactly remember, around 1/3 into it maybe.

GarethDW said:
<pedantic> It's NTLDR - it stands for NT Loader and is the boot loader for Windows </pedantic>

Could be the drive is on its way out, or just that your Windows installation is hosed. Did you reinstall Windows? Was it successful?

No, it has no OS.

Dano · 1 Sep 2008 at 14:07

Grab the drive manufaturers drive testing software from their website and run a diagnostic on it, it'll soon tell you if the drive is dying or not, although it does sound like it is indeed heading towards the light.