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  • October 29, 2004 at 2:17 pm #2292020

    Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

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    by cyberghost_1 · about 18 years, 3 months ago

    Here is the problem, I work for a Computer Store as a PC Tech, I ran into a problem that I haven’t been able to fix. I have a Laptop, WinXP, Generic brand (It’s in Spanish too.) Here is what I was told that happened: They owner got a msg. stating that the Anti Virus was expired, then received a 2nd msg. stating that Windows XP had a fatal error and if it wasn’t closed all information would be lost. The LT turned off, then when it was restarted, the msg. OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND, was displayed at the top left of the screen. This Laptop is used for accounting purposes, so the owner doesn’t want to Format it, just to reinstall WinXP. Now, I tried that, I get a msg. that Windows could not find a hard drive and aborted installation. I understand that a regular Boot Disk won’t work because MS DOS doesn’t have partition on the drive. I think because it has something to do with NT…it isn’t a FAT drive. What is the deal, I think I am lost….PLEASE HELP….How can I reinstall XP and hopefully rescue the information on the HD…..ASAP

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    • October 29, 2004 at 2:22 pm #3297204

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by statykserver · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      First can the drive in the laptop be detected in the bios? You can purchase an adapter to hook it up to a pc also.

      http://www.baber.com/drives/internal_hard_drives/laptops/conversionkit.htm

      That way you won’t lose any data if the drive is still even available to the system.

    • October 29, 2004 at 6:41 pm #3297164

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by willcomp · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      Try booting from a CD that will read an NTFS drive. Here’s link that you need:

      http://www.ntfs.com/boot-disk.htm

      If you cannot “see” drive, it might be dead. However, to be sure, remove it and connect to an XP or 2000 PC using adapter referred to in first answer.

      If drive is dead, there are those who recover data from failed drives. As long as platters are intact, success is virtually guaranteed. Usually starts at about $800.00. Then they can determine just how valuable data is.

      Dalton

    • October 29, 2004 at 9:17 pm #3297151

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by bobho · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      Are you sure that the original messages were not caused by a virus? Boot to the XP CD and go into Rocovery Console. Once there, run FIXMBR to fix the Master Boot Record. This should fix problems relating to a hard drive not being found. If it is the Operating System that is missing try FIXBOOT while in the Recovery Console.Of course both these options assume that the hard disk is accessible. Is it visible in the bios? Can you hear it spinup when the machine is turned on? If you cannot hear it spinup then it could either mean that a power cable has become unseated or in the worst case it has died.

      I would question the 2 messages that the user received as being suspicious of a boot sector virus. Try repairing the MBR and the Boot Sector first.

      Good luck,

      RW

    • October 30, 2004 at 3:39 am #3297109

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by gdina2k · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      first ur enter the bios setup
      then detect the harddisk in bios
      save the settings and exit
      then system will restart
      if the hard disk contain correct os it will run properly.otherwise plz reinstall the os if u have

    • October 30, 2004 at 6:06 am #3297098

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by malkeetdxb · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      If you are willing to save the data on the harddisk, use the windows xp cd to boot and
      select recorovery console from the setup
      wizard, select the OS from the installed onces
      shown in the list, make sure you have the admin
      password to login, once the password is verified
      you will be able to access the drive, move the
      data from your existing partition (most of time c:) to new partition d:
      In this way your data will be always safe even
      if you go for formating the system.

    • November 1, 2004 at 9:37 pm #3296725

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by ryfry9 · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      Sounds like the *.ini file got deleted by the virus. Have run into this before. I just nuked the damn thing.

    • November 2, 2004 at 7:08 am #3296605

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by hughiemcginley · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      If u really want to save all the data do not try to reinstall any os or you may over-write the critical data that needs to be saved.
      Remove the drive and connect it to any other compter with up to dat anti virus software. Clean the drive save the data write it to cd.
      Replace the drive and reinstall an os from the cd using partitioning and formatting to make sure all traces of any virus are removed.

    • November 8, 2004 at 9:12 pm #3312450

      Reply To: Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      by cyberghost_1 · about 18 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      This question was closed by the author

    • November 9, 2009 at 11:30 am #2840738

      Operating system not found

      by technogirl · about 13 years, 3 months ago

      In reply to Laptop…Operating System not Found !!!

      My laptop was showed the message ?Operating system not found ? in a black screen with white letters in the left side for 8 days, even I took it to IT specialise people but they press F2 and the bios request a passwords that was not the one I used to access my laptop.
      So I take the laptop back home. I took a screwdriver turnaround the laptop and take all the screws from the laptop. There is one that connect the keyboards so I remover too and I remove a last one that is under the keyboard. I realised that a one of the connections was unplug. I did NOT touch the hard drive. I just plug in back that connection and my laptop start to work as normal. Even the work that I was working was there. II hope this can help any body.
      Regards,
      Claudia Elizabeth Jara Gonz?lez

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