NTLRD missing

When I turn on my laptop I get a black screen saying "NTLDR is missing. Press CTRL ALT DLT to restart." I can press F2 to enter setup or F12 to enter boot menu, but after I save and exit is goes back to the same black screen with grey text. I can't get my laptop to boot up.

I've searched google and it said that only XP and early Windows' OS's use NTLDR, but I had Vistax32 and Ubuntu installed. XP (or anything earlier) was never installed on this laptop.

Welcome
Although normally an XP problem, this notice may be due to a boot problem. One fo the many causes of a boot problem is a failing HD. Be sure to back up your stuff on an external hard drive as soon as possible. You should then test your hard drive.

Try this: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/204930-bootmgr-missing.html

richc46 said:

Welcome
Although normally an XP problem, this notice may be due to a boot problem. One fo the many causes of a boot problem is a failing HD. Be sure to back up your stuff on an external hard drive as soon as possible. You should then test your hard drive.

Click to expand...

But how do I back up my files if I can't get my laptop to boot?

If you cannot use Ubuntu to back up your stuff or it cannot load you probably have a hardware problem such as hard drive
Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek

richc46 said:

If you cannot use Ubuntu to back up your stuff or it cannot load you probably have a hardware problem such as hard drive
Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek

Click to expand...

Ok. Thank you for the help.

You are welcome. Hope that you get good results.

I didn't specify this in my original post, but my HDD makes a clicking noise when I turn on my laptop. I recently learned that this is called "the click of death." So disk failure is the obvious culprit. I just hope I'm able to recover my data, or at least some of it.

Do it as soon as possible. After you have given up and feel all is lost, take the hard drive put it in a baggie and then put that into another baggie and put the whole thing in the freezer overnight. This is not a joke.

richc46 said:

Do it as soon as possible. After you have given up and feel all is lost, take the hard drive put it in a baggie and then put that into another baggie and put the whole thing in the freezer overnight. This is not a joke.

Click to expand...

Yes, I did read up on the freezer trick. I'm going to try it.

But since it's now known my HDD is failing/failed. I guess I should start looking into buying a new one. Is it cheaper to buy a new HDD and install it in my current laptop or would I be better off just buying a completely new laptop?

If your computer is getting old and not the best specs, buy new. If it is a relatively new machine with good specs, just fix. You may consider Solid State drive.

Yeah a clicking sound combined with the ntldr missing is an indication of failure. Replacing the hard drive would definitely be cheaper than buying a new laptop but I can see rich's recommendation about replacing your laptop if you can afford it. If you have docs that you want to keep get an external drive or a large usb and use linux or another computer to back them up. Use this hard drive as little as possible.

richc46 said:

If you cannot use Ubuntu to back up your stuff or it cannot load you probably have a hardware problem such as hard drive
Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek

Click to expand...

I'm trying to do this. I booted ubuntu 12.04 from a flash drive, but there doesn't seem to be a places menu at the top (like in the screenshot from the link you provided.) This is what it looks like:

I am not a linux expert but i believe that it should have automatically mounted your hard drive and put a link on the desktop so perhaps it has failed.

richc46 said:

take the hard drive put it in a baggie and then put that into another baggie and put the whole thing in the freezer overnight. This is not a joke.

Click to expand...

Hey man, no offense, but I just watched this:
[YOUTUBE]ad1uVAB5bNA[/YOUTUBE]
I hope I didn't just ruin any chance I might have had of recovering my data.

richc46 said:

Do it as soon as possible. After you have given up and feel all is lost, take the hard drive put it in a baggie and then put that into another baggie and put the whole thing in the freezer overnight. This is not a joke.

Click to expand...

I made it quite clear that it should be attempted afer all was lost and had given up.
It does work. I originally learned about the method from a well known expert. She actually tried it and wrote that it works. It will help temporarily (but not in all cases) and will last until the drive gets cold.

richc46 said:

It will help temporarily (but not in all cases) and will last until the drive gets cold.

Click to expand...

Do you mean hot?

townsbg said:

richc46 said:

It will help temporarily (but not in all cases) and will last until the drive gets cold.

Click to expand...

Do you mean hot?

Click to expand...

LOL yes

As demonstrated in the video he found that ruins hard drives. Does the double baggie prevent that? How would this allow him to get his data back?

The hard drive is suppose to contract a little and that allows it to be used. I told him to use it as a last resort.
http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/2006/01/freeze-your-hard-drive-to-recover-data.html
http://lifehacker.com/5515337/save-a-failed-hard-drive-in-your-freezer-redux
It works, if done correctly. It may not work well enough to get back your stuff, but if done correctly it does not hurt.
Maybe they let it stay without the baggie, The baggie prevents condensation, which would freeze and ruin the drive.

EDIT:I just watched the video this so called genius did not double bag it in a baggie.
LOL he even mentions condensation, which is preventd by the baggies.