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Operating System not found

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by jsarinana

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Here is a strange one, Installed Windows XP Prof. using a Promise Ultra 66 controller card on a WDC 18gb drive, this is an older Micron PC 500MHz 256 2 DIMMS. Bios has been flashed all Updates to XP have been installed. When I boot EVERY OTHER BOOT comes up with "Operating System not found". I reboot and everything is fine. But the next time I reboot, it will do the same thing again "Operating System not found"

? ? ? ? help ? ?

10 replies

by ztaylo03

try pushing ur cables in again that or you have a virus of some kind most likly... if all else fails REINSTALL REINSTALL REINSTALL... that or u can take it to a computer repair shop and make it their problem

by dmiles

Operating system not found on boot device or boot sector bad (either hard or floppy disk)

Explanation: The system found a boot device--either a floppy disk or a hard disk--and tried to boot it, but could not start the operating system because the operating system files are not on the booted volume.

Diagnosis: The most common cause of this problem is trying to boot a non-bootable floppy or hard disk, that is, a disk that has not been made bootable using the "FORMAT /S" or "SYS" commands. If this occurs on a disk that was already prepared to be bootable, it means that the operating system startup files have become corrupted.

Recommendation:

If trying to boot from a floppy disk, replace with a bootable disk and try booting again. See here for more on boot disks.
If trying to set up a new hard disk, first set up the hard disk so it is bootable.
If this type of error is encountered in an existing system, there is a good chance that the disk has become corrupted somehow.

by jsarinana

Thanks dmiles,
Here is an update on my problem, if I shut down the computer and then boot it: it works fine. Anytime I do a Restart that is when I get a "Operating System not found" when this happens I do a CNTL-ALT-DEL and I get an O.S. So when I do a restart is when I get the "Operating System not found". I also did a Degrag with my Diskeeper and no bad sectors are detected. Anyone know what this could be ? No it's not a virus

by d_v ant

It sounds like a problem with the controller card. When you do a restart, it is not getting re-initialized. When you shut down completely, it is. I have a similar problem with a network card.

by berserkk

This may be happening if your bios/post is going through faster than your drive can boot up.
Some bios' have an option to pause/wait on boot to give times for drives with slower spin-up times

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