Operating system not found

  • Thread starter Thread starter Andrew Clark
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A

Andrew Clark

Hello,

I'm trying to reinstall WinXP for a friend. I've formatted the drive with
windows setup and it appears to have installed XP. When I restart I get
this error: Operating system not found. If I go into the BIOS, the hard
drive is set to auto, but the laptop does not detect it! The only way I
have been able to detect the drive is by putting the windows install disk
in...

Does anyone have a solution?

Thanks,
Andrew
 
Change the boot order in bios back to HD first?
Click to expand...

Nope, that didn't do it.

This laptop has Preboot execution environment. I've never dealt with that
before. Could that be fouling the boot sequence up somehow?
 
I could only guess about the Preboot execution environment. Maybe the
laptop is looking for a server to boot from. Is there anyway to turn that
off? From what I read, the process is either in a boot disk, or possibly
ROM chip and may not even need a hard drive since it uses the server to
boot. The hard drive in your setup may not even be set up as a boot device.
Check the bios for such boot choices.

How exactly did you reformat the hard drive, Fat32 or NTFS, did you use the
old partition the other install was in? Is this a new hard drive?

If you have decided the Preboot execution environment is not a problem, I
would probably reinstall, and make sure what partitions or drives you are
looking at. Did the first install go normally as far as you could tell?
Did you take the install CD out of the drive? Do you have any other
external devices, such as hard drives?

Clark
 
Nope, that didn't do it.

This laptop has Preboot execution environment. I've never dealt with that
before. Could that be fouling the boot sequence up somehow?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's possible but that's treated like just another
potential boot item, you should have the appropriate drive
controller set to be the first (or 2nd, considering the
optical drive) boot controller and the drive the first boot
device. On a properly working bios the PXE would time-out
if it didn't find anything and then move onto the next boot
controller in the bios list. SO, either your bios is buggy
(which is possible) or that's not the problem.

Why are you trying to install XP? Did the notebook have
problems, perhaps problems with the drive? You might
consider running the HDD manufacturer's diagnostics to
determine if it checks out ok.
 
BruceM said:
Change the boot order in bios back to HD first?
Click to expand...
I had exactly the same problem when trying to install XP on a relatively old
PC where I upgraded the hard disk from Maxtor 30 GB to Maxtor 80 GB. I think
I tried every option to solve the problem (including posting in this group),
but could not terminate the XP install.
I then reinstalled the old 30 GB disk in the system and could only
successfully do the installation after having booted from a Win98 diskette,
deleted all partitions, and rebooted from the XP install CD.
So finally I believe the bios was not able to recognize a HD larger than 30
GB and unfortunately the motherboard manufacturer (FastFame, mobo 3VAAV)
does not exist any longer. And I was not ready to pay for the download of a
new bios when not sure it should solve the problem.
 
I could only guess about the Preboot execution environment. Maybe the
laptop is looking for a server to boot from. Is there anyway to turn
that off? From what I read, the process is either in a boot disk, or
possibly ROM chip and may not even need a hard drive since it uses the
server to boot. The hard drive in your setup may not even be set up
as a boot device. Check the bios for such boot choices.

How exactly did you reformat the hard drive, Fat32 or NTFS, did you
use the old partition the other install was in? Is this a new hard
drive?

If you have decided the Preboot execution environment is not a
problem, I would probably reinstall, and make sure what partitions or
drives you are looking at. Did the first install go normally as far
as you could tell? Did you take the install CD out of the drive? Do
you have any other external devices, such as hard drives?

Clark
Click to expand...

I have no idea on how to turn PXE off. Searching for it came up with
virtually no help. Though the hard drive is in the boot list: it was
after 'Removable Devices' and 'CD ROM' but even moving it to first in the
boot order did not do the trick.

When I got it, I confirmed what my friend told me: that he would boot up
and get 'Operating system not found.' I decided it was a bad install and
since there was nothing on the drive, reinstalled Windows. I booted from
the XP install disk and was able to see the drive, blow away the old
partition and create a new one, and follow the rest of the install. When
it rebooted after the install, same problem.

The computer is a HP ze5500 laptop.
 
Yes, it's possible but that's treated like just another
potential boot item, you should have the appropriate drive
controller set to be the first (or 2nd, considering the
optical drive) boot controller and the drive the first boot
device. On a properly working bios the PXE would time-out
if it didn't find anything and then move onto the next boot
controller in the bios list. SO, either your bios is buggy
(which is possible) or that's not the problem.

Why are you trying to install XP? Did the notebook have
problems, perhaps problems with the drive? You might
consider running the HDD manufacturer's diagnostics to
determine if it checks out ok.
Click to expand...

I noticed in the BIOS that the hard drive is not able to be auto
detected. It is set to auto right now, but where the specs for the drive
should be, it says 'None.' I don't know why the XP install disk can see
the drive but the BIOS cannot.
 
I noticed in the BIOS that the hard drive is not able to be auto
detected. It is set to auto right now, but where the specs for the drive
should be, it says 'None.' I don't know why the XP install disk can see
the drive but the BIOS cannot.
Click to expand...

It sounds like a logical problem then, perhaps some bios
setting(s) (but I dont' know which one(s)) need changed.
Had you changed any bios settings? Is this the original
drive the laptop shipped with? You might try clearing CMOS.
 
Andrew Clark said:
I noticed in the BIOS that the hard drive is not able to be auto
detected. It is set to auto right now, but where the specs for the drive
should be, it says 'None.' I don't know why the XP install disk can see
the drive but the BIOS cannot.
Click to expand...

Some laptop PCs actually use a hidden part of the HDD to contain parts of
what would normally be stored in a standard motherboards EEPROM/CMOS BIOS
Chip. This means that OS upgrades can be a "do it the manufacturers way or
don't do it at all" scenario. The easiest way to get XP installed on this
laptop might be to consult with HP tech support over whether an XP recovery
CD is avail for this unit.

PXE basically means that the network card or controller is used as a boot
device in conjunction with a server. If the laptops BIOS makes no mention of
disabling network booting or PXE settings, sometimes there are certain key
combinations that can be used at POST to get into the NIC controllers
settings - again the tech support people would know about this. Additionally
the laptop manual should contain info about this.

Paul
 
ElJerid said:
.... snip ...

So finally I believe the bios was not able to recognize a HD
larger than 30 GB and unfortunately the motherboard manufacturer
(FastFame, mobo 3VAAV) does not exist any longer. And I was not
ready to pay for the download of a new bios when not sure it
should solve the problem.
Click to expand...

Try MicroFirmware, at firmware.com. 800-767-5465 (US). They make
cards that plug in and install a modified HD bios only, leaving the
rest of you bios in place (in fact all of it, it is just bypassed
at boot). They make them in both PCI and ISA configurations, and
you will be able to use almost any size drive. Just a user.
 
CBFalconer said:
Try MicroFirmware, at firmware.com. 800-767-5465 (US). They make
cards that plug in and install a modified HD bios only, leaving the
rest of you bios in place (in fact all of it, it is just bypassed
at boot). They make them in both PCI and ISA configurations, and
you will be able to use almost any size drive. Just a user.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the interesting tip, but I couldn't find www.firmware.com.
Is this the right name?
 
Thanks for the interesting tip, but I couldn't find www.firmware.com.
Is this the right name?
Click to expand...

Because a board with such an old bios, isn't going to
support modern ATA speeds either, your best alternative is a
"full" drive controller card rather than one only having
bios extensions for the drive size.

They're quite common and affordable, for example a Promise
Ultra133, Ultra100, or one of th myriad generics for $20
like this,
http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=search&item=15-104-214&ATT=&CMP=

Of course with such a card you'll need feed XP a driver
floppy during installation.
 
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