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  • #2214176

    Operating System Not Found

    Locked

    by rprzybylow ·

    Please help. I refuse to put this PC down. She’s a Pc for a customer of mine. I will try to keep this short.

    I put her drive on my usb to sata & IDE Adapter, Ran Avast, But in the Middle of scan Fricking, cute little Kitties Knoecked it off table. Don’t know if that did anything.

    Ram Malwarbytes, forund 7 Trojans removed them tried to boot up the Unit but I receive an error “operating system not found”

    Bios Disabled Network boot (keeping it short) Boot order HDD first

    Here is what I have done within the Recovery council.
    C: CD ..
    C: ATTRIB -H C:\\boot.ini
    C:ATTRIB -S C:\\boot.ini
    C:ATRIB -R C:\\boot.ini
    C: del boot.ini
    C: BOOTCFG /Rebuild
    C: CHKDSK /R /F
    C: FIXBOOT

    Still operating system not found

    WTF? I know it would be easiest to just swap out drives and reinstall and after hours of reinstalling, she would have her pc back. I would be known as “the last tech that worked on it, but all he could do was put in a new drive and move the files.

    Well I want to be better than that. What can I do to get this fricking windows xp to boot up.

    Oh and I also tried a inplace upgrade

    Robert

All Answers

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    Replies
    • #2828793

      Clarifications

      by rprzybylow ·

      In reply to Operating System Not Found

      Clarifications

    • #2828788

      Repair mode

      by nimmo ·

      In reply to Operating System Not Found

      What OS is this? I’m guessing XP since your trying to rebuild the boot.ini.

      Something you can try is to put the OS disk in and select the recovery mode.

      You don’t want to select the first option because it’ll just drop you into a command prompt, wait until you get to the part asking if you want to install or repair (select r).

      This will re-install Windows operating system files without touching user data.

      http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/doug92.mspx

    • #2828780

      improper discoonection of usb harddisk

      by navi147 ·

      In reply to Operating System Not Found

      hi

      when you connect a ide or sata via usb you must stop the disk and then remove safely ( by clickicking on usb icon in taskbar active programs pane … remove safely ).

      My solution for your problem is recover files from the hdd using data recovery software, and install fresh Operating system.

      Data recovery s/w like – Getdata back.

      • #2828740

        Did you run chkdsk in Windows or…

        by smartacew0lf ·

        In reply to improper discoonection of usb harddisk

        Recovery console? The reason I ask is this. It really sounds to me as though you likely ruined that drive. If it was knocked off the table during a write process, you can almost bet on it. Unfortunately, chkdsk when invoked from within Windows, will tell you nothing of the final disposition of the scan. (At least I don’t know of a switch to enable a report). To know for sure, I always run the chkdsk /r from Recovery Console. The final disposition of the task is always left on the screen that way.

      • #2828664

        The drive was dropped running

        by oh smeg ·

        In reply to improper discoonection of usb harddisk

        It’s not telling the user that there is no HDD present just that there is no OS Found which tends to point to the fact that the HDD has suffered physical damage.

        So it looks as if it is being seen by the system but the system can not find a OS to boot from. Not a good sign here as it implies that the drive itself may have gone to [b]Silicon Heaven.[/b] And that it may not be possible to recover any data off it.

        Here the Original Poster needs to test the HDD with it’s makers Testing utility to make sure that it’s actually working and to do that they need to download the DOS Version of the HDD’s Makers Testing Utility available free here

        http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

        Then if it is OK and passes the test they can perform a In Place/Upgrade Install of XP by following the directions from M$ Here

        http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978788

        Though they will need to use Method 2 and have a M$ Branded Install Disc as apposed to a System Makers Recovery Disc which is not a full version of XP. Of course after Repairing XP they will need to apply any Updates and Service Packs that have been released since their Install Disc was made. 😉

        They should also backup all of the Clients Data just in case the Repair doesn’t go well and causes the data to be lost.

        Of course if the drive fails the test initially it will have to be fitted to another computer and retested. If it fails the Second Test a new drive will have to be supplied and fitted. However if it passes the Second Test the HDD is OK but either the Data Lead, HDD Controller on the M’Board or the Power Supply in the Original Computer is not working properly and the failed part needs replacing.

        Col

    • #2828633

      I can see windows

      by rprzybylow ·

      In reply to Operating System Not Found

      I see and can access all the files still?

      Is there a way to command line fix the drive?

    • #2829065

      Operating System Not Found

      by rprzybylow ·

      In reply to Operating System Not Found

      I just can’t or don’t want to understand, why, I can look at all the files on the drive. %system% etc. How could the drive me bad? This doesn’t make any sense. Reformat is the easiest thing to do. In theory See the drive and I can use the drive I should be able to boot the damn thing.

      • #2829015
        Avatar photo

        Well have you tested the Drive with it’s Makers Testing Utility?

        by hal 9000 ·

        In reply to Operating System Not Found

        If it passes that test you can do a repair install if you have a Full Version of Windows. And supposedly if everything goes as it should then you can use it again without the need to reload anything but the Hot Fixes and Service Packs that have been released since the Install Disc that you used was made.

        Just a Note here though you really should use the same version of XP to do the Repair Install as what was on the HDD. Not doing this will most likely lead to the Repair not completing the Install if it starts at a ll.

        Here I do not mean XP Pro on XP Home but VL, OEM on VL or OEM not Volume License on a Retail Pro Version or a M$ OEM Disc to attempt to rebuild a XP Pro VL Product. 😉

        Col

      • #2830199

        Not all essential areas of the drive…

        by smartacew0lf ·

        In reply to Operating System Not Found

        Are visible within Windows or Dos. I.E. There are areas essential for a drives operation that can not be substituted. This brings me back to the chkdsk /r command. If when this task completes, you get the message that CHKDSK found and corrected errors on this drive, it should be bootable. If however it gives the message that CHCDSK found irrecoverable errors on this drive, then you better consider yourself fortunate that you can recover ANY of the data and proceed with that process. In summation: there are sectors that are essential to the drives operation and can not be relocated.

    • #2829038

      FIXMBR

      by 1bn0 ·

      In reply to Operating System Not Found

      • #2830228

        What version

        by rprzybylow ·

        In reply to FIXMBR

        I am wondering if I am using the wrong version of XP to do the in place install. When I have it on the usb IDE etc. where can I find out what version of windows it is?

        • #2830209

          To do a In Place Install you need a M$ Branded Install Disc

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to What version

          If it doesn’t have a Copper Holograph on the back of the Disc it’s not a M$ Install Disc. You can not use a System makers Recovery Disc to do a In Place install as it is not a full version of XP it is just a Slipstreamed Install Disc with the drivers for that particular Hardware on it.

          Col

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