Please Help! Turned off computer for 2 weeks...

[Guest]

....while on vacation, came home last night and pushed the on button and after
the HP blue screen with logo I got a black screen that said "Operating System
Not Found". I tried to use the F8 key at start up it would not display
anything but still "operating system not found". I have HP desktop Pavilion
7935 purchased in 2001, added memory in 2003 and they switched master and
slave (?). It was working fine before I left although I had downloaded some
movies onto it temporarily and was going to remove them when I returned from
trip. I noticed that after I saved the movies, it did tell me a couple of
times that I was running out of space but thought nothing of it as I was
planning on removing them anyway.
Right before I left I did try to install an ipod shuffle. When I would try
to run the ipod software to install, it would redirect me to an update to the
software and then it would say that the ipod software was installed
incorrectly and couldn't do the update (something along these lines...excuse
my sketchy memory, it was a very long 2 weeks spent with 16 family members on
a cruise through Alaska). Needless to say, I didn't get to take the ipod
with me. I did a proper shutdown on the computer and everything was fine,
there were no surges while I was gone. Did I, God forbid, lose everything on
my hard drive? Thanks for any help-

 

[Ron Martell]

...while on vacation, came home last night and pushed the on button and after
the HP blue screen with logo I got a black screen that said "Operating System
Not Found". I tried to use the F8 key at start up it would not display
anything but still "operating system not found". I have HP desktop Pavilion
7935 purchased in 2001, added memory in 2003 and they switched master and
slave (?). It was working fine before I left although I had downloaded some
movies onto it temporarily and was going to remove them when I returned from
trip. I noticed that after I saved the movies, it did tell me a couple of
times that I was running out of space but thought nothing of it as I was
planning on removing them anyway.
Right before I left I did try to install an ipod shuffle. When I would try
to run the ipod software to install, it would redirect me to an update to the
software and then it would say that the ipod software was installed
incorrectly and couldn't do the update (something along these lines...excuse
my sketchy memory, it was a very long 2 weeks spent with 16 family members on
a cruise through Alaska). Needless to say, I didn't get to take the ipod
with me. I did a proper shutdown on the computer and everything was fine,
there were no surges while I was gone. Did I, God forbid, lose everything on
my hard drive? Thanks for any help-

Turn on the computer and press the F1 key while the initial blue HP
startup screen is showing. That will get you into the BIOS setup.

The information there should show you if the hard drives are being
detected by the computer's BIOS.

That may be a clue as to the underlying cause of your problem.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ron for the help, it's nice of you to take the time ( I see you're
from B.C., as I said, I just got home last nite from Alaska via Vancouver.
As if it isn't enough to have possibly lost my hd while I was gone, my rental
car was broken into @ Stanley Park and my bag w/ wallet, camera, phone, cash,
passport, etc. was stolen from the trunk. I'm thinking I should maybe check
my horoscope-). Well, that had absolutely nothing to do with
anything...other than to let you know that my luck is currently rather dismal
(perhaps I should check my horoscope). At any rate, I did what you suggested
and the F1 opened the Bios screen/menu. It seems to detect the drives but I
am not sure what to do next.
Here is what is on the screen when it is opened under the "main" menu. btw-
am running xp. here is what i see:


- Floppy Diskette A: [1.44 Mb 3 1/2"]
- Primary Master [Maxtor 6E040L0-(PM)]
- Primary Slave [Maxtor 4D040H2-(PS)]
- 2nd Master none
- 2nd Slave none

- Installed Memory 640 MB/100 MHz
- Memory Bank 0 128MB SDRAM
- Memory Bank 1 512MB SDRAM
- Core Version 4.06
- BIOS Revision 3.08 08/31/01

I appreciate the help and apologize for being so clueless but am worried if
I do the wrong thing that I will lose everything (assuming it is still in the
computer). any suggestions on what I should do next?
Best- Brandon

 

[Ron Martell]

Thanks Ron for the help, it's nice of you to take the time ( I see you're
from B.C., as I said, I just got home last nite from Alaska via Vancouver.
As if it isn't enough to have possibly lost my hd while I was gone, my rental
car was broken into @ Stanley Park and my bag w/ wallet, camera, phone, cash,
passport, etc. was stolen from the trunk. I'm thinking I should maybe check
my horoscope-). Well, that had absolutely nothing to do with
anything...other than to let you know that my luck is currently rather dismal
(perhaps I should check my horoscope). At any rate, I did what you suggested
and the F1 opened the Bios screen/menu. It seems to detect the drives but I
am not sure what to do next.
Here is what is on the screen when it is opened under the "main" menu. btw-
am running xp. here is what i see:

Go to http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=310994 and download the boot
diskette images for your specific version of Windows XP. Create the
diskettes (6) and boot your problem computer with these.

When the computer stops at the A:\> prompt enter the following
command:

FIXBOOT C:

When that is finished remove the diskette and reboot the computer
(ctrl+alt+delete)

Hopefully it will now start up.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm