#$%#$% NTLDR Is Missing!

May 16, 2008 By Jesse Petersen

That’s the last straw! I’m getting a Mac. I’ve been working with and on IBM PCs for over 15 years now. There just comes a time and place where one gets sick of fixing their own darn computer, and I’m there!

It was supposed to be a relaxing 30 minutes of gaming before going to bed. Key words: supposed to be. Tuesday night, my favorite game, World of Warcraft, issued a patch that everyone got with their next login, and they are notorious for breaking the plug-ins and addons that we as dorks like to use. That seemed like the case Tuesday. I couldn’t summon my horse to ride around without the game crashing. When I logged back in, I was on my horse. Rinse and repeat.

I should take the time to interject here that I had to install XP SP3 RC2 in order to get the game to run AT ALL after their major patch 2 months ago. Ever since then, the .NET-based plug-in updater refuses to run and allow me to automatically update my plug-ins. /ticked. To add to that, I’m seeing SP3 final release on the shelves for XP boxed copies, but my Windows update refuses to download it and it’s conveniently not appearing at download.microsoft.com as of 10pm last night.

Back to the game, last night, every time I tried to mine an ore node, the game crashed. Rather than break my keyboard, I decided to download new video drivers. That has been the source of stability issues at least a half-dozen times, so it was a sensible thing to do. Following the sensible brick road (I think it’s chartreuse) to nVidia for the manufacturer driver, I happily installed the latest and greatest stuff they have to offer.

Then came the reboot.

Allow me to help you get the full effect of my experience:
NTLDR is missing

Of course I know how to fix it, but that’s not the point. I shouldn’t have to fix it! Good systems don’t break so easily. What moron in the driver department overwrote my boot record with a video driver? What kind of oversight committee missed the option in the Windows CD menu that says: Restore NTLDR to X:\ drive?

I’m fuming.

I’m saving up for a Mac ASAP. Nothing has run as perfectly since our old Amiga 4000, and Apple is the next best thing.

If you left Windows for Mac, what was your last straw? How did you do with your transition and adjustment?

Filed Under: Mac, Personal Tagged With: Apple, driver, Mac, Microsoft, NTLDR, nVidia, SP3, Windows, World of Warcraft, XP

About Jesse Petersen
Jesse is in a word: a geek. I married my gorgeous wife in October 2006 and we enjoy the beach, mall shopping, and watching movies together. He returned to the University of South Florida and completes his Bachelor's Degree in Professional and Technical Writing in 2010. Jesse has several blogs running at this time, most notably the World of Warcraft blog: Gitr Knows WoW, which has been up and running since 2005. If you are interested in any of Jesse's computer services feel free to contact him any time.

  • Jerry
    Hi Jesse,
    I feel your pain. But I went the cheaper route - make that the FREE route - and now run Linux almost all the time. It's not just Window$, it Micro$oft in general. The straw that broke the camel's back was when Office suddenly decided that I was no longer worthy and I had to re-enter the product key. When I tried that it said I'd done it too many times and had to visit their web site. Duh! It's not MY fault I did that too many times! The web site told me the same bunk, so I called Micro$soft. The tech-droid ran me through the same script and guess what? Same result. He wanted me to uninstall and reinstall it and I said, "No way. I paid $283 for this package. It ran this morning. Just give me the number I need to enter to make it run this afternoon." He finally gave me the number.

    I still run Window$ once in a while because I haven't found what I need for video editing in the Linux world. If I had lotsa $$$$, I'd probably get a Mac and a high end video editor like the Adobe Premier I run now.

    But Linux has come a LONG way in the past few years. I'm far happier with it than with Micro$oft. The transition was a little shaky for the first few weeks as I learned the different ways things get done in Linux, but the KDE interface is very Windows-like, so daily use is almost the same. Adding and removing software and the file system were the biggest adjustments for me.

    If you're getting tired of high end gaming, Linux is pretty darn good. So are Macs, but what a price difference!

    If you need to run windows software, Wine and Virtual Box are two effective ways to get that done. Virtual Box is a full blown Windows emulator. You'll need a copy of Windows to make it work on Linux. Or a copy of Mac's OS, or any other OS you want to run.

  • @DJ:


    Well, there are a lot of Windows ports available. Phil mentioned one, and another is Crossover, which has a Mac and Linux version to run Windows programs.

    I'm just about to the point of quitting hardcore gaming anyway. I play WoW and a game here and there.

    Besides, there are so many fun, free Mac games out there, I might fall off the map of Windows gaming and get a Wii or PS3.
  • DJ
    Jesse, I feel your pain! You have no idea how many hundreds of the same type of problem I have had over the years with Windows-based computers. If it weren't for Mac's not running the latest-and-greatest games, I would have switched years ago. Once Jobsy figures out that there's a lot of money in high-end gaming, hopefully we'll all be able to make the Mac switch!
  • Phil
    While I have not made the switch as of yet, I to have considered switching over to the dark side (Mac). I don’t know if it’s the hype or not, but I do have a couple of family members that swear by mac, so I think it should be a good choice. Now a days you can just use boot camp on a mac to use windows, if the need arises.

  • @DM Osbon:


    WoW runs MUCH better on a Mac, actually. Tomas is a big Mac user.
  • Jesse that sounds crap...but can WoW be played on a Mac?

    I had been thinking the same thing for my next computer purchase, whenever that is, & change over to Mac from PC but I can't advise you much here as I know very little about the Mac.

    Hmm...
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