No Operating System Found!

gotdatyagotdatya
edited September 2007 in Hardware
I'm working on a friends PC which was having problems freezing whenever someone would click on an icon in Windows XP. Now that I've got it I keep getting a "No operating System found" message at boot up. It's running XP on 2 Raptor SATA 36Gb hard drives. When I put the XP cd in and attempt to run the repair program I get a message saying that it can't find the operating system. What can be done to get this thing to boot?

Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    You can how-to article by Thrax, Restore Windows XP in Eight Commands
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    My article will not fix that issue. More than likely, your file system is gone. You'll need a second PC. Do you know how to hook hard drives up?
  • gotdatyagotdatya
    edited December 2006
    Yup! But I finally had my friend give me the install disk to do a new install. It reformatted the hard drives but now I keep getting a "invalid boot.ini file" error. I tired using the recovery feature but it seems to not work.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    If you reformatted, you will now need to re-install Windows. The old installation is completely gone if you installed the partition in which Windows was installed.
  • zero-counterzero-counter Linux Lubber San Antonio Member
    edited December 2006
    Are your drives setup for a raid configuration or independent disks?
    Additionally, try this:
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330184
  • hyperstrikerhyperstriker NY, USA
    edited December 2006
    is the HDD partition ACTIVE? ( for booting) also you try CREATING a boot.ini (TXT file) is something like this (IDE1- HDD1- PART1 is the one that boot up)

    [boot loader]
    timeout=30
    default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
    [operating systems]
    multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /usepmtimer
  • gotdatyagotdatya
    edited December 2006
    zero.counter
    I tried that before and no luck.

    hyperstriker
    How can I load that if I can't get windows to install?
  • PterocarpousPterocarpous Rosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA! New
    edited December 2006
    Hi Gatdataya

    (1st)
    You said the OS was on T-W-0 hard drives? Zero.counter asked if the system was a RAID configuration. Is it? This is important as it changes how to approach this issue.

    (2nd)
    Did you successfully complete an installation of your OS? IOW, did you go through the entire install then find that it would not boot (got the No Operating System Found error)? Or, did you get the No Operating System Found error on the first reboot during the course of the OS installation? IOW, exactly what precipitated your getting this error?

    :type: Pterocarpous [a.k.a. Fruitwing]
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Yes! Fruitwing! IT STICKS.

    /me throws his fists in the air triumphantly and runs away
  • PterocarpousPterocarpous Rosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA! New
    edited December 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    Yes! Fruitwing! IT STICKS.

    * Thrax throws his fists in the air triumphantly and runs away


    You know, Thrax, there're only t-h-r-e-e more letters in "Pterocarpous" than in "Fruitwing". I think ya'll 'r just scared of the silent "P". ;D
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    It's so... Cold and scientific. :( Fruitwing is much better. And humorous.
  • PterocarpousPterocarpous Rosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA! New
    edited December 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    It's so... Cold and scientific. :( Fruitwing is much better. And humorous.

    Do you know how long I searched my Random House 2nd Edition Unabridged English Language (12 pound) Dictionary for a user name for one of my email accounts that wasn't taken by someone else in the entire world (well, the Internet anyway)?

    I know where you got "Fruit wing" now. I found the "definition" of Pterocarpous on an online dictionary. It listed Pterocarpous as "Having winged fruit" or something bizarre like that. In fact, Pterocarpous is a type of rainforest tree w/ roots above ground. I know, still kinda wierd - but it is unique though!

    ["Fruitwing" it is.... I relent!] :tongue:
  • LammypieLammypie
    edited December 2006
    I have had two problems similar to this recently. IT would often boot up with the same error message and other times it would boot up fine.

    One was fault tracked to a dodgy psu delivering way off voltages to the hard drive, the other was caused simply by a faulty hard drive.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Pterocarpous wrote:
    Do you know how long I searched my Random House 2nd Edition Unabridged English Language (12 pound) Dictionary for a user name for one of my email accounts that wasn't taken by someone else in the entire world (well, the Internet anyway)?

    I know where you got "Fruit wing" now. I found the "definition" of Pterocarpous on an online dictionary. It listed Pterocarpous as "Having winged fruit" or something bizarre like that. In fact, Pterocarpous is a type of rainforest tree w/ roots above ground. I know, still kinda wierd - but it is unique though!

    ["Fruitwing" it is.... I relent!] :tongue:

    I admit, when I initially saw your name, the first thing that came to mind was: "Pterocarpous..." with the silent 'P!' "...WTF does that mean?" So off I went to various dictionaries, google, and of course the great Wikipedia. I found the tree reference and the winged fruit business, and of the two, clearly the latter is more whimsical. I chose to cater to whimsy. :crazy:

    //EDIT: My God, I've hijacked the holy bejesus on a floaty out of this thread.
  • WingaWinga Mr South Africa Icrontian
    edited December 2006
    Thrax wrote:
    //EDIT: My God, I've hijacked the holy bejesus on a floaty out of this thread.

    :Pwned: Above and beyond the call of duty ;D

    But then I saw this one coming. I knew you wouldn't be able to leave it alone :nudge:

    Oh yea... wonder how gotdatya's coming along with his problem??
  • PterocarpousPterocarpous Rosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA! New
    edited December 2006
    Winga wrote:
    ...Oh yea... wonder how gotdatya's coming along with his problem??


    Oh! Right! Yooooo whooooo...... Gotdataya! How's goes the battle? :nudge:


    :type: Pterocarpous [a.k.a. Fruitwing]
  • hyperstrikerhyperstriker NY, USA
    edited September 2007
    gotdatya wrote:
    zero.counter
    I tried that before and no luck.

    hyperstriker
    How can I load that if I can't get windows to install?

    boot.ini is a TXT file in the root of the bootable disk (hidden), you can access that file from a LiveCD which th OS permit reading an NTFS partition or installing the disk in another computer and getting it from there...
    also if you connect the hdd to another computer that runs windows, you can make a boot repairment from there...
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