How to Restore NTLDR and Ntdetect.com From the Windows XP CD

Use Recovery Console to restore NTLDR

By
Tim Fisher
Photo of Tim Fisher, Lifewire GM and Writer
Tim Fisher
Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability
  • Emporia State University

Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the SVP and General Manager of Lifewire.

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Updated on March 14, 2023

What to Know

  • Boot from the Windows XP CD > select R key > choose Windows installation > enter administrator password.
  • In Command Prompt, enter copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\ then copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\
  • If prompted to overwrite, select Y key > remove disk > type exit > Enter.

This article explains how to restore NTLDR and Ntdetect.com from the Windows XP CD. These steps apply only to Windows XP.

How to Restore NTLDR and Ntdetect.com

Entering the Recovery Console to restore the NTLDR and Ntdetect.com files from the Windows XP CD is easy and usually takes less than 15 minutes.

  1. Boot your computer from the Windows XP CD and press any key when you see Press any key to boot from CD.

  2. Wait while Windows XP begins the setup process. Don't press a function key even if you're prompted to do so.

  3. Press R when you see the Windows XP Professional Setup screen to enter the Recovery Console.

  4. Choose the Windows installation. You may only have one.

  5. Enter your administrator password.

  6. When you reach the Command Prompt, type the following two commands and press Enter after each one: 

    copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\ 

    copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\ 
    • d represents the drive letter assigned to the optical drive that the CD is currently in. While this is most often d, your system could assign a different letter.
    • c represents the root folder of the partition that Windows is currently installed on. Again, this is most often the case, but your system could be different. Substitute your drive information in the code if necessary.

  7. If you're prompted to overwrite either of the two files, press Y.

  8. Take out the disc, type exit, and then press Enter to restart your PC.

    Assuming that missing or corrupt versions of the NTLDR or Ntdetect.com files were your only problem, Windows XP should now start normally.

What Are NTLDR and Ntdetect.com?

The NTLDR and Ntdetect.com files are important system files that are used by your computer to start the Windows XP operating system. Sometimes these files can be damaged, corrupted or deleted. This is usually brought to your attention by the 'NTLDR is Missing' error message.

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