Windows XP Missing Operating System!!!!

[bodhi]

Hey,

Turned my laptop on last night (sony vaio with windows XP), it got into windows and then just re-started before it had booted properly.

When it started second time i got a message saying 'missing operating system' and i couldn't get into it.

I've got a lot of photos i dont want to lose and stupidly havn't backed up so i was panicking!!

I turned it on about an hour later and it started into windows and i managed to copy photos off onto a usb pen drive. So now i'm REALLY confused. Obviously something is wrong. What next steps should I take??

Cheers.

Bodhi

 

[AbsoluteKevster]

You're not booting to your memory stick are ya mate?

Unplug it then boot up!

 

[bodhi]

Nope, not booting to memory stick. That would be very silly!! lol.

 

[AbsoluteKevster]

Get onto your C: and run 'chkdsk /f'
If it's that close to falling over, the above can save you some time.

 

[bodhi]

What woudl chkdsk /f do? I've seen chkdsk destroy hard drives before.

And how can i get to see my hard drive when i can't boot? It was alright previously with a bootable floppy, can i make a bootable pen drive??

 

[Madxgraphics]

Hi Bodhi



Go HERE and have a little read..And hopefully you will be able to resove your issue..
question, the first time you got this message, did you have any removable media in the machine..?

 

[bodhi]

Nope, no removable media at all, it crashed out of windows just as it was finishing to load and then i got it a few times, but it appears to be working again, which is very odd!!

 

[murdoch]

Is it still covered by a warranty?

 

[bodhi]

Nope, the laptop is about 3.5 years old. To be honest, i have been fairly lazy recently with keeping Windows tidy and doing virus/spyware checks etc etc. I am planning to give it a good tidy up etc, just wondered if this message was the start of something more sinister, e.g. hard drive about to explode etc.

 

[AbsoluteKevster]

May well be if the Directory Structure is corrupt as a result of bad sectors.

CHKDSK /F will identify and fix this...it doesn't destroy hard disks - lol
If the OS is not bootable anyway, then you have nothing to lose.
If you can't boot then add it as another drive, perhaps using an external disk caddy and using a different PC.

OR - get yourself over to http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ which has HDD apps & tools.

 

[KyleD617]

so if that chkdsk didnt work and its still missing the os, then i would suggets using ur win xp cd, boot from that and use the recovery console (press r when prompted) then type bootcfg /rebuild, it`ll make you a new boot.ini, then type fixboot to write a new boot sector on the hdd, then type fixmbr, for the master boot record. If this doesnt work your only choice is to run a repair install so u dont lose data, to do this repair install boot from the xp disc first press enter to install windows (dont worry it wont actuall do a full install yet) then press f8 to agree to the liscence agreement, then select "r" to do a repair install, if that dont work then u need to get a bartpe disc to copy ur data off the pc then do a full reinstall.

 

[psd99]

Go into your BIOS and MAKE SURE that your hard drive is being picked up.

Normally this error will come on screen when your BIOS does not pick up any HDD.

 

[psd99]

It might be a case where your hard drive is becoming loose but you don't realise it is. Make sure it is fully plugged in and you should be alrite.

 

[Madxgraphics]

Hi Bodhi

Do yersen a favour and go HERE and follow the instructions on there...Job done and you'll be up and running in no time..I have just finished fixing said same problem as yours and am back up and running..

 

[bodhi]

Thanks all,

Computer seems to be working fine at the moment anyway, which is odd. Didn't do anything to fix it, it just started working again!

Madgraphics, are you from Yorkshire? I live in York now and laughed when you said 'yersen'

 

[psd99]

yersen? what does that mean? "yourself"

 

[Madxgraphics]

Thanks all,

Computer seems to be working fine at the moment anyway, which is odd. Didn't do anything to fix it, it just started working again!

Madgraphics, are you from Yorkshire? I live in York now and laughed when you said 'yersen'

lol very far from it..Born in South Africa to Geordie parents, I'm surrounded by northerners at work to, so just seem to pick it up from them

 

[Madxgraphics]

yersen? what does that mean? "yourself"

that would be correct..Tis northern speak

 

[Abarbarian]

that would be correct..Tis northern speak

Tha means proper english.

 

[Madxgraphics]

Tha means proper english.

Aye, correct again...