no operating system upon boot

[Zattack]

I may be too late but... Have sony vaio laptop with XP home. Had drive
partitioned to a c primary and d extended. Ran into issues as the c drive
was full and nothing was going to d. Went into drive management and
formatted d drive, as only data stored there was copies of program files
that also existed in c drive. Upon attmpt to make it merge back with c
drive, formatted it to also be primary drive. Didn't touch c drive, but
upon restart laptop only displays one message: operating system not found.

I have Sony recovery disks but they simply prompt me to totally reformat and
start installation of system. Have I lost my data and is there any way to
get the laptop to boot correctly to for now at least get back to where I was
before the issues?

 

[gls858]

I may be too late but... Have sony vaio laptop with XP home. Had drive
partitioned to a c primary and d extended. Ran into issues as the c drive
was full and nothing was going to d. Went into drive management and
formatted d drive, as only data stored there was copies of program files
that also existed in c drive. Upon attmpt to make it merge back with c
drive, formatted it to also be primary drive. Didn't touch c drive, but
upon restart laptop only displays one message: operating system not found.

I have Sony recovery disks but they simply prompt me to totally reformat and
start installation of system. Have I lost my data and is there any way to
get the laptop to boot correctly to for now at least get back to where I was
before the issues?

You can't merge a partition with just disk management.My guess is that
you formatted the entire drive. Loading the recovery disks now won't
hurt anything. You've already lost your data. Hope you had a backup.

gls858

 

[Zattack]

You can't merge a partition with just disk management.My guess is that
you formatted the entire drive. Loading the recovery disks now won't
hurt anything. You've already lost your data. Hope you had a backup.

gls858

I know that I did not format the c drive as I was able to still operate and
do things after the format of the D drive. I am thinking the boot up is
confused on which drive to boot to to get the operating system. Granted I
am grasping at hope at this point, but I would have assumed that during the
format it would have cuased some sort of error in trying to delete
everything while I was still in drive management. Is there any way to try
and browse the c drive or get to that point?

 

[gls858]

I know that I did not format the c drive as I was able to still operate and
do things after the format of the D drive. I am thinking the boot up is
confused on which drive to boot to to get the operating system. Granted I
am grasping at hope at this point, but I would have assumed that during the
format it would have cuased some sort of error in trying to delete
everything while I was still in drive management. Is there any way to try
and browse the c drive or get to that point?

Hope your right and I'm wrong Zattack. I just know you can't merge
partitions using disk management. It takes third party software like
Partition Magic. What do you mean you were able to "operate and do
things after the format". It would seem logical that you would get an
error message if you tried to format the partition with your operating
system on it. But then it again it is an MS product Maybe someone
else will have a suggestion.

gls858

 

[Zattack]

Hope your right and I'm wrong Zattack. I just know you can't merge
partitions using disk management. It takes third party software like
Partition Magic. What do you mean you were able to "operate and do
things after the format". It would seem logical that you would get an
error message if you tried to format the partition with your operating
system on it. But then it again it is an MS product Maybe someone
else will have a suggestion.

gls858

I appreciate the advice. What I meant was that the format was done while
using the XP disk management utility. It lets you view the different drives
and you can partition, name and format them from a user friendly screen.
After formatting drive d, I closed the utility and then operated a couple
other programs, a word file and internet explorer before shutting down the
system. That is why I don't believe the c drive was harmed as that is where
most of my data resided. I think I just screwed up by making drive d also a
primary partition so now upon botting the system is confused? Not sure,
perhaps anyone else has experienced this or has advice?

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Zattack.

Several things here "do not compute". :>(

First, as gls858 said, you can't use Disk Management to merge partitions.
DM can delete a partition and create a new one, or multiple smaller ones, in
that space. But DM can't shrink a partition or enlarge one or merge two.
And it can't do much of anything with the System Partition (almost always
Drive C or the Boot Volume (often also Drive C.

Went into drive management and
formatted d drive,

OK. You would have been formatting D:, the logical drive within the
extended partition. An extended partition doesn't get a drive letter and
can't be formatted, but you can create one or more logical drives within the
extended partition, assign them letters and format them. So I assume that
after this you had a primary partition (Drive C and an extended partition
with one freshly-formatted logical drive (Drive D. Drive C: was both the
System Partition and the Boot Volume.

Upon attmpt to make it merge back with c
drive, formatted it to also be primary drive. Didn't touch c drive,

WHOA! HOW did you attempt to merge Drive D: back with Drive C:?

Did you use any third-party tools, such as Partition Magic? Or only WinXP
and its built-in utilities, such as Disk Management? Or perhaps some
utility supplied by Sony? Disk Management won't touch Drive C:, normally.

upon restart laptop only displays one message: operating system not
found.

That could be awful - or not. Maybe it can't find the operating system
because it's looking in the wrong place - on Drive A: (the floppy), for
example, or Drive D:, where the system hasn't been installed. If you have
the retail WinXP CD-ROM, you might be able to boot it, then choose R to
enter the Recovery Console. From there, run FixBoot (and maybe FixMBR and
BootCFG) to repair your boot sector and restore your ability to boot into
WinXP. I don't know if the Sony CD has the FixBoot utility.

MAYBE all you need to do is point it back to Drive C:, but there's no way we
can tell that from here. The message could well mean that the operating
system has been erased from Drive C:. :>(

I have Sony recovery disks but they simply prompt me to totally reformat
and
start installation of system. Have I lost my data and is there any way to

I've never had a Sony, but "recovery disks" often take the drastic step of
returning your computer to the state it was in when it left the factory. In
other words, everything you've added will be gone and you will be starting
over. If Drive C: has, in fact, been reformatted, this might be your only
good option. I don't know whether you will have a chance to change the size
of Drive C:.

For future reference (probably too late to do any good now), there is a
program on the full retail WinXP CD-ROM called DiskPart, a part of the
Recovery Console. (This is not the same as DiskPart.exe, which can be run
from WinXP.) Whether this is on the Sony recovery disk, I don't know.
DiskPart has an /extend parameter that will "grow" a partition, if several
requirements are met. Search the Help and Support file for details, but it
probably would not have helped you in this case, anyhow.

It's not clear to me just how you reformatted D:, or whether C: is
untouched. If C: is intact, and if you can take out that HD and move it
into another computer, you should be able to recover all your data into the
other computer, then move it back into this one later.

Only you know how much the "lost" data is worth to you. If it is valuable
enough to you, and if Drive C: has not actually been reformatted, you might
buy a full retail copy of WinXP (either Home or Pro). Then boot from that
retail WinXP CD-ROM and do an in-place upgrade, as described here:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

This will reinstall WinXP itself but, so long as your Registry is intact on
Drive C:, it will preserve your existing applications and data. It will not
give you an opportunity to increase the size of your existing partition,
though, so you will not be better off than you were "before the issues". To
make a larger Drive C:, you really have only two options:
backup/repartition/reformat/restore, or use a third-party solution.

Many of us have had the problem of too-full Drive C:, so you will find many
threads here with tips on how to keep as much as possible in other volumes.
If you must repartition and reformat, try to make Drive C: at least 5 GB; 10
is better, and many people (including Microsoft) recommend having only a
single partition using all the space on the hard disk. (I like to separate
the few System Files into a minimal primary partition Drive C:, the
operating system itself into logical Drive D:, and applications and data
into one or more other logical drives, but that is a topic for another
thread.)

RC

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You cannot format the system drive (C in Windows. It will stop you.
Attempting to merge drives C: and D: in Drive Manager, however, removes all
partition information. The message you are getting says it all.

It is likely that the D: drive was a small partition (probably 1GB or so)
designed for backing up your Documents and Settings folder. If so, merging
the two might not gain you much. However you recover from this, I suggest
you buy an external hard drive to use to back up your system regularly. If
you decide to shop for an external drive, keep in mind that your laptop
should have a usb port to take advantage of an external device and that you
can buy external drives with bundled backup software. Buy a drive that is
at least double the size of the drive in your laptop. It will also come in
handy for storing some of the things that prompted you to try to make more
space.

Use the restore disks that came with your computer. Your laptop requires
motherboard drivers, device drivers, and utility programs that are specific
for your computer and you need the restore program to get those back onto
your system. Good luck.

 

[Zattack]

Hi, Zattack.

Several things here "do not compute". :>(

First, as gls858 said, you can't use Disk Management to merge partitions.
DM can delete a partition and create a new one, or multiple smaller ones, in
that space. But DM can't shrink a partition or enlarge one or merge two.
And it can't do much of anything with the System Partition (almost always
Drive C or the Boot Volume (often also Drive C.


OK. You would have been formatting D:, the logical drive within the
extended partition. An extended partition doesn't get a drive letter and
can't be formatted, but you can create one or more logical drives within the
extended partition, assign them letters and format them. So I assume that
after this you had a primary partition (Drive C and an extended partition
with one freshly-formatted logical drive (Drive D. Drive C: was both the
System Partition and the Boot Volume.


WHOA! HOW did you attempt to merge Drive D: back with Drive C:?

Did you use any third-party tools, such as Partition Magic? Or only WinXP
and its built-in utilities, such as Disk Management? Or perhaps some
utility supplied by Sony? Disk Management won't touch Drive C:, normally.


That could be awful - or not. Maybe it can't find the operating system
because it's looking in the wrong place - on Drive A: (the floppy), for
example, or Drive D:, where the system hasn't been installed. If you have
the retail WinXP CD-ROM, you might be able to boot it, then choose R to
enter the Recovery Console. From there, run FixBoot (and maybe FixMBR and
BootCFG) to repair your boot sector and restore your ability to boot into
WinXP. I don't know if the Sony CD has the FixBoot utility.

MAYBE all you need to do is point it back to Drive C:, but there's no way we
can tell that from here. The message could well mean that the operating
system has been erased from Drive C:. :>(
to

I've never had a Sony, but "recovery disks" often take the drastic step of
returning your computer to the state it was in when it left the factory. In
other words, everything you've added will be gone and you will be starting
over. If Drive C: has, in fact, been reformatted, this might be your only
good option. I don't know whether you will have a chance to change the size
of Drive C:.

For future reference (probably too late to do any good now), there is a
program on the full retail WinXP CD-ROM called DiskPart, a part of the
Recovery Console. (This is not the same as DiskPart.exe, which can be run
from WinXP.) Whether this is on the Sony recovery disk, I don't know.
DiskPart has an /extend parameter that will "grow" a partition, if several
requirements are met. Search the Help and Support file for details, but it
probably would not have helped you in this case, anyhow.

It's not clear to me just how you reformatted D:, or whether C: is
untouched. If C: is intact, and if you can take out that HD and move it
into another computer, you should be able to recover all your data into the
other computer, then move it back into this one later.

Only you know how much the "lost" data is worth to you. If it is valuable
enough to you, and if Drive C: has not actually been reformatted, you might
buy a full retail copy of WinXP (either Home or Pro). Then boot from that
retail WinXP CD-ROM and do an in-place upgrade, as described here:
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

This will reinstall WinXP itself but, so long as your Registry is intact on
Drive C:, it will preserve your existing applications and data. It will not
give you an opportunity to increase the size of your existing partition,
though, so you will not be better off than you were "before the issues". To
make a larger Drive C:, you really have only two options:
backup/repartition/reformat/restore, or use a third-party solution.

Many of us have had the problem of too-full Drive C:, so you will find many
threads here with tips on how to keep as much as possible in other volumes.
If you must repartition and reformat, try to make Drive C: at least 5 GB; 10
is better, and many people (including Microsoft) recommend having only a
single partition using all the space on the hard disk. (I like to separate
the few System Files into a minimal primary partition Drive C:, the
operating system itself into logical Drive D:, and applications and data
into one or more other logical drives, but that is a topic for another
thread.)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

Thanks to everyone so far who have posted. I probably have not explained
the situation as well as could have. Basically the laptop was setup with a
partitioned 14 gig drive. Just over 5 allocated as the primary drive c and
less than 9 to an extended drive d. Problem is that everything, programs,
files, windows updates, etc were all going to drive c and it was maxed out
on space.

In an attempt on my part to try and find a solution so that the drive D
could be used more appropriately I ran across the disk management utility.
My goal was to try and clear drive d and somehow merge it back with c, which
I now know takes at least a separate piece of software such as Partition
Magic. I didn't have anything like that so what I naively did was
unallocate drive d. Then I reallocated it as a primary partition and
formatted it while still in disk management. If you are familiar with the
disk management utility it has a little window that displays the drives with
color codes and allows you to click on the drive you want to work with and
such. Once drive d had formatted it was the same color as drive c, listed
itself as a primary drive but still showed it with 9 gig of space as a
separate drive from that of drive c (also still listed as a primary drive.

After exiting the utility I was able to work on a word doc and jump on the
internet. I closed down and upon reboot recieved the error message. I am
fairly confident that the c drive is still intact since just shutting it
down should not have erased anything and since as Colin stated windows
shouldn't allow you to delete its active drive while you are working in
it... So my conclusion appears to be similar to yours, RC, that somehow the
partition format process I did screwed up the pointer for when I boot the
system. Without the ability to even reach a dos prompt or navigate outside
windows I don't even know how to fix the pointer problem or begin to
research it because Sony did not sell the Windows XP software, it built it
into the recovery disk as far I understand it. The Sony recovery disk has
only two options upon inserting it and rebooting: Format drive C and begin
new install or format all drives and begin install...

Does Fixboot provide a solution to this and if so is a new copy of WinXp the
only option? I will most likely start a new thread if I ever get the system
to boot correctly to fix the partitioned allocations but until then I want
to at least try to recovery the system as it was...

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

What has happened is that Disk Management made D: the active partition.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Zattack.

I've snipped most of the thread so far so that we can concentrate on your
latest post.

Thanks to everyone so far who have posted. I probably have not explained
the situation as well as could have. Basically the laptop was setup with
a
partitioned 14 gig drive. Just over 5 allocated as the primary drive c
and
less than 9 to an extended drive d. Problem is that everything, programs,
files, windows updates, etc were all going to drive c and it was maxed out
on space.

Not an unusual situation at all. Many of us have wished for more space in
Drive C:.

In an attempt on my part to try and find a solution so that the drive D
could be used more appropriately I ran across the disk management utility.
My goal was to try and clear drive d and somehow merge it back with c,
which
I now know takes at least a separate piece of software such as Partition
Magic. I didn't have anything like that so what I naively did was
unallocate drive d. Then I reallocated it as a primary partition and
formatted it while still in disk management.

Unnecessary, because WinXP doesn't care whether any volume is primary or
logical EXCEPT that the System Partition (almost always Drive C must be a
primary partition. The Boot Volume (where the \Windows folder, with its
gigabytes of files, resides) may be Drive C: or any other volume on any HD
in your computer. In your case, it apparently was Drive C:. As I said,
this step was unnecessary and probably did no good, but it did no harm,
either.

If you are familiar with the
disk management utility it has a little window that displays the drives
with
color codes and allows you to click on the drive you want to work with and
such. Once drive d had formatted it was the same color as drive c, listed
itself as a primary drive but still showed it with 9 gig of space as a
separate drive from that of drive c (also still listed as a primary drive.

OK. Situation normal.

After exiting the utility I was able to work on a word doc and jump on the
internet.
OK.

I closed down and upon reboot recieved the error message.

NOT OK!

Now it's time for a lesson in the boot process, but I'm pressed time for
today.

Some essential points: The few System Files (NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM and
Boot.ini) must be in the Root of the System Partition: the Active partition
on the first HD, almost always Drive C:. The boot sector of the System
Partition load C:\NTLDR, which uses C:\Boot.ini to find the Boot Volume and
load WinXP from there and start it. The error message you saw says that the
boot process cannot find an operating system in what it thinks is the System
Partition. It's getting lost on its way to Drive C:. :>(

It's not a Windows problem, strictly speaking. It's a hardware/BIOS
problem. The boot process can't find ANY operating system. Not WinXP, not
Win9x, not even MS-DOS. Most likely, it's looking in the wrong place. Now
you have to find out where it's looking and direct it back to your Drive C:.

I am
fairly confident that the c drive is still intact since just shutting it
down should not have erased anything and since as Colin stated windows
shouldn't allow you to delete its active drive while you are working in
it...

Agreed. Whatever caused the problem, this wasn't it.

So my conclusion appears to be similar to yours, RC, that somehow the
partition format process I did screwed up the pointer for when I boot the
system. Without the ability to even reach a dos prompt or navigate
outside
windows I don't even know how to fix the pointer problem or begin to
research it because Sony did not sell the Windows XP software, it built it
into the recovery disk as far I understand it. The Sony recovery disk has
only two options upon inserting it and rebooting: Format drive C and
begin
new install or format all drives and begin install...

Does Fixboot provide a solution to this and if so is a new copy of WinXp
the
only option? I will most likely start a new thread if I ever get the
system
to boot correctly to fix the partitioned allocations but until then I want
to at least try to recovery the system as it was...

Hey, I just thought of something! When you used Disk Management to create
and format the primary partition that became Drive D:, did you "Mark
Partition as Active"? Each HD can have only ONE Active (bootable) partition
at any one time. If you marked D: as Active, C: would have had to have lost
that designation. The next time you booted, the system would have looked
for NTLDR, etc., on Drive D:, the active partition. Not finding them there,
it would have given you that "no operating system" message and died - just
what you saw. I have to run now, but I'll bet that's the answer.

Sorry to leave you at this point, but I have to run. I'll check back when I
have time tomorrow.

RC

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Colin.

You cannot format the system drive (C in Windows. It will stop you.
Agreed!

Attempting to merge drives C: and D: in Drive Manager, however, removes
all partition information. The message you are getting says it all.

Huh? What is Drive Manager? I know the WinNT4 utility Disk Manager. And I
know the much-more-capable Win2K/XP utility Disk Management. But I'm not
sure if I ever heard of Drive Manager? Was this just a slip of the tongue
(or finger), or did you mean a different program? Maybe one that Sony
supplies?

In Disk Management, there's no way that I know of to even attempt to "merge"
partitions. Or to directly convert a logical drive to a partition, primary
or otherwise. Zattack would have had to: (1) delete logical Drive D:,
leaving the extended partition empty; (2) delete the empty extended
partition; then (3) create a new primary partition in the now-unallocated
space. Then he could format Drive D: and use it.

But this should not have left him unable to boot to WinXP still on C:. The
message he is getting (operating system not found) should not appear in that
case.

I'll try to reply to Zattack's latest post, but I might not be able to do
that until tomorrow.

RC

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Whatever.

Hi, Colin.


Huh? What is Drive Manager? I know the WinNT4 utility Disk Manager. And
I know the much-more-capable Win2K/XP utility Disk Management. But I'm
not sure if I ever heard of Drive Manager? Was this just a slip of the
tongue (or finger), or did you mean a different program? Maybe one that
Sony supplies?

In Disk Management, there's no way that I know of to even attempt to
"merge" partitions. Or to directly convert a logical drive to a
partition, primary or otherwise. Zattack would have had to: (1) delete
logical Drive D:, leaving the extended partition empty; (2) delete the
empty extended partition; then (3) create a new primary partition in the
now-unallocated space. Then he could format Drive D: and use it.

But this should not have left him unable to boot to WinXP still on C:.
The message he is getting (operating system not found) should not appear
in that case.

I'll try to reply to Zattack's latest post, but I might not be able to do
that until tomorrow.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP

 

[Zattack]

Setting the new partition to active may have indeed been what I did, however
since I cannot boot up to see that I just don't know. What would I need to
do to even investigate if the pointers are not going to the correct boot
drive?

Z

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Zattack.

I've waited a couple of days hoping someone would jump in with the tip for
setting a volume Active when you can't boot WinXP.

It's easy to do from WinXP Disk Management - but if you can't boot, that
doesn't help. :>( I'm pretty sure it can be done from the Recovery
Console, but I can't find it in the instructions in the WinXP Resource Kit.
(You might try FixMBR and FixBoot, but I'm not sure they would do this.)

I've often recommended that WinXP users "throw away the Win9x/ME boot disk,
or at least hide it so that you'll never be tempted to use it again" - but
that diskette may be the best solution to your problem. Boot into MS-DOS.
Don't expect to read any NTFS partitions with it, but FDISK creates and
deletes partitions without regard to their formatting. So, boot to MS-DOS
and run FDISK to change the Active partition on your hard drive. I've not
actually done this in a while, but it should work for you.

Please post back and let us know what results you get with this.

RC

 

[Zattack]

I really do appreciate the help RC. Unfortunately time was of the essense
to get the laptop working again and in this case while it is a pain to fully
format and reinstall everything, there truly was nothing that couldn't be
replaced on that laptop. So I decided to use Sony's solution and totally
reformat & install through their system restore disks. Really this solved a
couple problems because I could get the system back to a single drive non
partitioned out and I could gut alot of useless programs that had been
accumulated yet were not easily identified. In my case I was somewhat lucky
because I hadn't stored anything valuable on the laptop that could not be
reinstalled.

Thanks again,

Z

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Zattack.

Thanks for the report back. Sorry we didn't get the right answer for you
soon enough.

But a clean restart is not always a bad thing. It takes some time to do,
but we usually end up with a cleaner, more smoothly-running system, so the
extra effort often pays dividends.

Good luck to you.

RC