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Upgrading a Bios

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by len.piko

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How do I upgrade a Bios if my laptop won't bootup? During startup the system goes directly to this message "No OS found". I want to be able to reinstall Windows Vista Home. I installed a new DVD Rom and Hard Drive but I still get the above mentioned message. I really don't know what to try next except to upgrade the bios, but since I can't bootup I don't know what to do. Any help with this issue will be appreciated.

23 replies

by balge

hi
don't mess with flashing the BIOS its likely got no bearing on your HDD problem
or do you mean 'change the settings' in BIOS?
Can you boot safe mode?
Have you tried a repair install with your Vista disk? or is this a fresh install?
cheers!

by len.piko

Thanks for your response. This system will not boot any further than the message that I referred to. Any more suggestions will be welcome.

by ic-it

There usually is an option for either pressing a key to enter boot options or going into the BIOS setup and changing the boot order.
Then simply place your OS CD into the drive and watch for the press any key to boot the CD. It is quick so keep your eyes open.

by len.piko

Thanks for your response. I have already tried all of this. It doesn't matter what cd I insert into the dvd rom. I tried using the Vista Home OS disk,Ultimate Boot Disk and E-Z Install Disk. None of these will bootup so I can reinstall Vista. Any more suggestions will be welcome.

by thumbsup2

.... and you KNOW for a fact the CD/DVD's are bootable because they work in another computer, it's either going to be a dead drive, bad jumper, bad cable or bad controller on the motherboard. Try changing out the CD/DVD drive.

by peconet tietokoneet

What it means by "No OS found", is that you have not loaded on the Windows system disk, or if you have, it has not found the correct drivers in the MBR section of the HDD. But first things first:

1). What make and model is your laptop?
2). How much ram has it?
3). What make of HDD do you have, I:E, IDE or SATA?
If you have a SATA drive then you will need to insert your motherboards driver disk in the CD/DVD drive and re-boot your laptop. You will see the SATA drivers, one being 32 BIT (of which you will press the number one on your keyboard) and 64 BIT of which the key number is 2.
You will need a floppy for this, so insert your floppy and then press number one (1) or (2), depending on which BIT software you have. Normally this will be a 32 BIT Os, so press the number one (1) on your keyboard, then insert your floppy and press the "enter" key, it will now copy the SATA drivers onto the floppy. Now take out the floppy, put in your Windows system disk amd re-boot, when you see "third party drivers, press F6", PRESS F6 key on your keyboard and then insert your floppy you made earlier, and then press "emter", Windows will now copy the SATA drivers into its operating system. Hope this helps you out.

Please post back if you have any more problems or questions.
If this information is useful, please mark as helpful. Thanks.

by len.piko

Thanks for your response Peconet. This is a Dell Inspiron 1501 Laptop with 1gb ram. It has a SATA Hitachi 120gb hard drive. I am unable to boot from any disk without getting the message "No Operating System Found" and then the system does nothing else.

by thechas

Not to be nasty, but it does sound like we need to upgrade your knowledge.

As you installed a new hard drive, it is NORMAL for the computer to boot up and give you a no OS found message.

You need to install Vista from the original or recovery DVD for your system.

For laptops in particular, the recovery disk that comes with the system may only boot up the system and install the programs from the recovery partition on the hard drive.

You may need to contact tech support at the laptop manufacture and pay for a set of recovery disks so that you can install Vista and your applications on your new hard drive.

As to the DVD drive, the question would be does the BIOS recognize the drive? And, will it work with your system?

There should be a key to press to enter BIOS setup. On my laptop, it is F2. You will need to consult your user manual to find out what key to use.
Once you are in BIOS setup, you can verify that the BIOS recognizes your hard drive and DVD drive.
You may need to change the boot options so that the BIOS can boot from the DVD and allow you to install Vista.

The support page at the website for your laptop may have detailed instructions on how to install Vista and your applications from the restore disks.

I hope you have back up copies of your data, account settings, and any product keys for your software.

If all else fails, spend a few dollars at the local computer repair shop and have them install Vista for you.

Chas

by len.piko

There is no need for any rude comments. I know that there will be no OS on a new hard drive. The reason I purchased it was because I received the same message on the old hard drive that did have an OS on it. This is because I thought maybe the old hard drive was bad. As for your other suggestions; I already tried them with no success.

by thumbsup2

The point is that you need to change the boot order to force the machine to look at the CD/DVD drive first, before it looks at the hard drive for an OS to boot from. That's the only way you can get a system to boot from the CD/DVD. If you don't do this, it will ALWAYS tell you it can't find the OS when there's none on the hard drive.

Every computer has a means of entering the BIOS setup, sometimes called the CMOS setup. On some systems, you press the F2 key to access the BIOS. On other systems, you press the DEL key or the F1 key or the F12 key, etc..., instead of the F2 key. The particular key you press varies with the system BIOS, so every system can be different. You have to know, or figure out, which key allows you access on THAT system. And, if you don't know which key gets you in, press them all, one at a time, till you find which one does it (or read the owners manual). You only have a few seconds to get it done, so if one try doesn't work, power down and back up and try again until you get it.

The BIOS access key, which ever one it is, must be pressed immediately after you turn the power on and after the POST, but before the OS seek takes place. Sometimes, you have to press it multiple times until you're more experienced and KNOW when to press it, because it's all a matter of the timing of WHEN you press it which opens up the BIOS setup.

by thechas

Wish you had posted the full details of what you had tried. I would not have drawn the conclusion I had.

Anyhow, it sounds like you either have a non-bootable recovery DVD, or you have a DVD drive that is not working / not compatible with your system.

There is a remote possibility that your storage controller has failed.

In order for us to be able to offer further assistance, please post the make and model of the laptop, new hard drive, and DVD drive.

It would be worth the effort to verify on another computer that your recovery disk is bootable.

Chas

by len.piko

No ThumbsUp I'm not missing the point;I tried all of this already.

by thumbsup2

Then I agree with TheChas.... the DVD drive is either dead or can't read the media you've put into it, which means it may as well be dead.

Try another drive or try the CD/DVD in another computer to verify that it's bootable.

Your original title, 'Upgrading Bios' will have absolutely nothing to do with the problem.

Also, nowhere in any of the posts have you told us what the BIOS can see. You said you put in a new drive because the old hard drive had the same problem, when booting you get 'No OS Found'. So, can the BIOS even see the hard drive? Can the BIOS see the DVD ROM? What did you find in there?

by rob miners

to boot from the CD/DVD first.

Entering System Setup

1 Turn on (or restart) your computer.
2 When the blue DELL? logo is displayed, you must watch for the F2 prompt to appear.
3 Once this F2 prompt appears, press < F2 > immediately

The Boot Order page displays a general list of the bootable devices that may be installed in your computer, including but not limited to the following:
? Diskette Drive
? Internal HDD
? USB Storage Device
? CD/DVD/CD-RW drive
? Modular bay HDD
NOTE: Only devices that are preceded by a number are bootable.

During the boot routine, the computer starts at the top of the list and scans each enabled device for the operating system start-up files. When the computer finds the files, it stops searching and starts the operating system.
To control the boot devices, select (highlight) a device by pressing the down-arrow or up-arrow key, and then enable or disable the device or change its order in the list.
? To enable or disable a device, highlight the item and press the space bar. Enabled items are preceded by a number; disabled items are not preceded by a number.
? To reorder a device in the list, highlight the device and press either < u > to move the device up the list or < d > to move a device down the list.
Boot sequence changes take effect as soon as you save the changes and exit the system setup program.

Another way to access the CD/DVD is to do this.

Performing a One-Time BootYou can set a one-time-only boot sequence without entering the system setup program. (You can also use this procedure to boot the Dell Diagnostics on the diagnostics utility partition on your hard drive.)
1 Shut down the computer through the Start menu.
2 Connect the computer to an electrical outlet.
3 Turn on the computer. When the DELL logo appears, press < F2 > immediately. If you wait too longand the Windows logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Windows desktop. Then shut down your computer and try again.
4 When the boot device list appears, highlight the device from which you want to boot and press < Enter >.
The computer boots to the selected device.
The next time you reboot the computer, the previous boot order is restored.

Edit: to add a few spaces between < >

by computechdan

i have yet to hear you say that you have been able to access the bios setup

until you are able to do that everything else is a mute point.

is there any chance this laptop is in hibernation or sumtin? and your not gettin a chance to access the bios setup?

by len.piko

In post #12 I responded to Thumbsup that I had already tried the proper boot sequence within the bios and the other suggestions. I also changed the boot sequence to USB and tried to boot from a thumb drive and received the same message "No Operating System Found."
Not in hibernation and was able to access bios.

by computechdan

sorry i musta missed that one...by now i'm sure yer ready to pull some hair out

by len.piko

You got that right comptechdan. This is very frustrating. Do you think it could be a motherboard problem?

by thechas

If you have verified that your DVD and Thumb drive boot on a different system, then yes, it sounds like a main board failure.

One thing you might try, is to remove both the hard drive and the DVD drive and see if the system will boot from your thumb drive.

Another thing to try would be to get an adapter and format the new drive as a bootable drive on another system. If it still does not boot when you install the drive back in the laptop, that pretty much confirms a mainboard problem.

Have you verified that the hard drive does spin up when you boot the laptop? This could be as simple as a loss of power to the drives. Either a connector off at the mainboard, or a power supply failure.

Chas

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