ok so i get back from a short two day vacation and turn on my mothers emachine T3302 and get the error message on the black screen. I googled this message and got results "ntldr is compressed" I do not see the n in front but it may be there and i just cant see that far over on the screen. Anyways, the results i get are to insert the XP cd and run the command lines something attributes... however I only have an emachine recovery cd. I believe that this cd was the only cd shipped to handle reformatting this XP system. The cd gives only two options, "full destructice" and "Non-destructive back-up" so i tried non destructive and reboot, same message. I try the destructive and voila same error message. any insight? i am posting this using my 2000 windows ME sony vaio. could i use my windows ME to fix the error and then use the recovery cd to put XP back on the emachine?

which version of XP are you running?

You can download a copy of the Recovery Console for use with XP Pro or XP Media Center Edition (do not use this download if you run XP Home). The download is in .iso file format – a burnable CD image.

1. Verify iso files are a known file type on your computer and determine the software which handles it (most multi-media software like Roxio and Nero will manage iso files) In Windows Explorer, click Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types. Scroll down and look for file type iso
   a. If iso exists, note which program is shown to handle it
   b. If iso doesn’t exist, see this link for a freeware tool you can use. You should install the tool before you do the download.
2. Click this link to download the file rc.iso and save it to disk.
3. Use your multi-media software (or the freeware too) to burn the .iso file to CD

im using XP home.... and now ive reinstalled the XP Home.. trying to run recovery console... to no avail. i downloaded and burned a copy of the boot disk from ntldrismissing.com and booted fine. its just that now i have to have the cd in my XP machine in order to boot to windows. I copied the files in my C: (primary) but still need the cd. D: (recovery) : is there a specific folder i should have copied these boot.ini and ntldrdetect and other file to?

I'm not sure i follow. you say you reinstalled XP home? so you have an install disk and reinstalled XP home? then what happened during the reinstall that you need the recovery console? and what happens you can't use recovery console on your install disk?

ok..

I have an emachine.

this emachine came with a (1) recovery disk

this recovery disk when loaded and pc rebooted allows for (2) options.

Option (1) FULL Destructive Re-Format.
Option (2) Not- Destructive/backup Re-Format ie. creates a backup partition.

Whereas, I have no option to fix XP.

This (1) recovery Cd, allows for me to reformat. back to factory issue. so im assuming that the cd just loads Windows that came on the pc. and not actually puts XP on my pc.

So I just did a full destructive reformat.

I have NO XP home cd. just this one recovery cd.

I was under the impression that with a FULL XP cd I would be able to run Dos commands from the cd itself if windows could not be loaded. not to say that I still need the console to run these commands. it would be nice to know for sure though.

Also, device manager says that my hard drive is working properly.

I would like to not have to insert the new "boot cd" each time I want to start the PC considering it isnt even mine, but my mothers.

does that help or do you need specs? it is a T3302. and its only a couple years old. I know how MS is with errors and such so I know it prolly needs to be upgraded.