How to unravel my mess with Windows Installation NTLDR

[MADM]

Hi
Its a long story with a bad ending (so far) but I will try to be as brief as possible.
Recently I got a secondhand laptop that was running Windows 7.
I also got a home made copy of Windows7.
Thinking I was clever, I decided to reinstall Windows from the disc to erase any left over stuff from the previous user.
The home made disc worked but when I went to register it with the HP activation code I got an error message and was unable to activate.
No probs, I decided to try to restore from Windows.old and just leave it as it was.
Now the really dumb thing - I had heaps of trouble trying to restore but I just happened to have a XP disc so decided to install that instead.
When trying to install that I got a blue screen saying something about possible virus or hard drive damage and restart.
So I went back to trying to recover from Windows.old.
This time with more success but when I went to restart I got an error message saying NTLDR is missing and now nothing happens.
I have tried rebooting with both the windows 7 and xp discs without success.
Yes, I know, I should have left it alone!
Any idea what to do next?
Can it be fixed from here (remembering I cannot get it to reboot at all)
Thanks

 

[AddRAM]

Are you saying the key on the COA will not work to activate windows ?

Did you install the same version that`s on the COA ?

 

[MADM]

Thanks for the reply.
No, that's not what I'm saying.
I an saying I cannot boot into Windows,
When using Windows 7 disc (or no disc) I get an error saying NTLDR is missing.
When using the XP disc I get a blue screen saying Windows stopped to avoid doing damage etc..

 

[Ranger4]

It seems that your "NTLDR is missing" was caused by you attempting to install XP as this error is associated with XP & not Windows 7.

You cannot reinstall Windows 7 from the Windows Old files that are on your computer, it is there so you can recover folders & files, but not the Operating System or any Software Applications. If you reformat the HDD all these will be erased.

To see if you can fix the current problem, hit the Delete key or one of the F keys repeatedly on starting the computer so you can access the BIOS. Make sure that the boot order shows the CD/DVD drive as the first boot option, Save that & then install your Windows 7 disc, restart the computer & see if it will start from that disc. If so you will have to carry on with the installation until it completes.

If it works check what AddRam said in his Post #2.

 

[MADM]

thanks for the reply

I ended up wiping the hdd and doing a complete clean install of XP
problem now is that the computer is so slow I can make a cup of tea between clicks!
I am guessing its possibly a driver issue (?) so am trying to download all drivers from MS and HP
Difficulty is that that particular computer is not connected to the internet so I need to save everything to a thumb drive and load.
It would be nice if HP would bundle up ALL their drivers in one big download

thanks again for replying

 

[Ranger4]

Have you downloaded & installed all 3, I think it was, service packs for XP. Not having that computer connected to the internet does make the job much harder & slower.

Anyway, have fun & good luck.