Microsoft KB Archive/321455

= &quot;NTDETECTd&quot; error message when you start a Windows 2000-based computer =

Article ID: 321455

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q321455



SYMPTOMS
When you try to start a Windows 2000-based computer, you may receive the following error message on a blank screen:

NTDETECTd

-or-

Ntdetect d



CAUSE
This behavior may occur if Windows startup files are damaged or missing.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, run a fast repair from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM. To do this, follow these steps:
 * 1) Insert the Windows 2000 CD-ROM into your computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
 * 2) Restart your computer. You may have to change the BIOS settings to start (boot) from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer again.

Note If you cannot start from the Windows 2000 CD-ROM, insert the Setup Disk One floppy disk in the floppy disk drive, and then restart your computer. For more information about how to create setup disks, search Windows Help for makeboot.
 * 1) When the &quot;Welcome to Setup&quot; screen appears, press R to repair the installation of Windows 2000.
 * 2) On the &quot;Repair Options&quot; screen, press R to start the Emergency Repair process.
 * 3) Press F to perform Fast Repair.
 * 4) Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the repair process.

Warning If you choose to use the information contained in this article to perform repair on a Windows 2000 Server computer that is functioning as a domain controller, please be aware that the repair process will overwrite the Active Directory database. Before you run the repair process, make sure that you back up the Winnt\Ntds\ntds.dit Active Directory database.

For additional information about how to back up the Active Directory, search Windows Help for Back Up System State Data.

Backup media for Active Directory has a limited lifespan; therefore, existing backups will eventually become obsolete.

For more information about the lifespan of an Active Directory backup, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

216993 Useful shelf life of a system-state backup of Active Directory



MORE INFORMATION
For more information about differences between the Manual Repair and Fast Repair processes in Windows 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

238359 Differences between Manual Repair and Fast Repair in Windows

Keywords: kberrmsg kbprb KB321455

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.