How to Fix the "NTLDR Is Compressed" Error when Booting a Cloned Drive
Boot up your computer and log in as any Administrator., Locate the two volumes and verify you can access both volumes; in My computer, check you have two "Local Disk" volumes as hard drives/disks. ,Enter the target volume, then navigate to...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Boot up your computer and log in as any Administrator.
Type in "cd \" (without quote marks) and press enter. , You should see something along the lines of "A SHR <your_volume_letter>:\ntldr"
That should remove the system and hidden attributes on the file. ,, The blue font is important, it shows the file is compressed. if it isn't blue, there is another problem which you should research. ,, Click the "Advanced" button. ,,,, The output should be something like "A HR <drive_letter>:\ntldr"
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Step 2: Locate the two volumes and verify you can access both volumes; in My computer
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Step 3: check you have two "Local Disk" volumes as hard drives/disks.
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Step 4: Enter the target volume
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Step 5: then navigate to WINDOWS/system32/cmd or cmd.exe
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Step 6: You will enter the Command prompt for that volume
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Step 7: a black screen with white writing.
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Step 8: Type "attrib ntldr" and hit enter.
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Step 9: Type "attrib -s -h ntldr".
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Step 10: Go back to windows explorer
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Step 11: and go to the root of the drive (where you navigated to WINDOWS)
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Step 12: If all is done correctly
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Step 13: you should see a file called "ntldr" IN BLUE FONT!
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Step 14: If the writing is blue right click on "ntldr" and click "Properties".
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Step 15: You should see two attributes at the bottom of the window "Read-only" and "Hidden".
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Step 16: Make sure the TOP two are checked and the BOTTOM TWO ARE NOT.
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Step 17: Click OK and check the Hidden attribute before clicking OK again.
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Step 18: Go back to the Command Prompt
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Step 19: Type "attrib ntldr" and hit enter.
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Step 20: Type "attrib -h ntldr" and enter
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Step 21: THEN type "attrib +s +h ntldr" and enter.
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Step 22: Restart your computer and boot the target volume.
Detailed Guide
Type in "cd \" (without quote marks) and press enter. , You should see something along the lines of "A SHR <your_volume_letter>:\ntldr"
That should remove the system and hidden attributes on the file. ,, The blue font is important, it shows the file is compressed. if it isn't blue, there is another problem which you should research. ,, Click the "Advanced" button. ,,,, The output should be something like "A HR <drive_letter>:\ntldr"
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About the Author
Evelyn Evans
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