My HP desktop is starting up and no geting to the main desktop. It will just reset back over and do it again. also claim that the NTLDR is missing. i've tried system restore but it does nothing to help the problem. it just happens again. what do i do?
also a friend gave it to me when he got rid of it i dont know the model, but i do think its in the 98-02 range.
i have used it after that he gave it to me for a year or 2.

Sorry to read about the trouble. You might check out the Microsoft support page

How to troubleshoot the "NTLDR Is Missing" error message in Windows 2000

Or you might try this page.

Simple "ntldr is missing" fix with boot floppy, CD-R, or USB flash

Hope this helps.

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A site that I visit lists probable causes as:

Computer is booting from a non-bootable source.

1. Computer hard disk drive is not properly setup in BIOS.
2. Corrupt NTLDR and/or NTDETECT.COM file.
3. Misconfiguration with the boot.ini file.
4. Attempting to upgrade from a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer that is using FAT32.
5. New hard disk drive being added.
6. Corrupt boot sector / master boot record.
7. Seriously corrupted version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
8. Loose or Faulty IDE/EIDE hard disk drive cable.

The NTLDR stands for NT Loader, which means it helps in loading the OS. In your case, it has failed to find the NTLDR to load the operating system.

My questions are:

Have you checked your BIOS settings? Are you booting to your hard drive or from a CD-ROM, or a floppy drive? First things first. Power up your PC, take out all disks from floppy and CD-ROM (assuming you have a CD-ROM). Power down the PC. Power it back up and go into your BIOS. The key to go into BIOS is either F1, F2, F12, F5, Space Bar, or DEL. It depends on your BIOS (Firmware). When the system is going through the bootup process before it gets to the desktop you should see a black screen with a lot of text. Look for a function key listing that will tell you how to get into your BIOS. If you see the function key and the system goes past that screen then reboot and upon rebooting, press and hold down the function key that will allow you access into the BIOS. Once into the BIOS, go to the boot section. Verify what drives are there and what is listed first as your bootable device. It may be a hardware issue such as a bad hard drive, but you also may be able to fix this problem by upgrading your operating system to a new operating system provided that your hardware supports it. Let me know if you have any questions and I may also need more information from you to further troubleshoot.