HELP!!!

stevetiler

stevetiler

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Steve
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Morning all,
So I booted PC this morning and got this message on boot screen " missing operating system". Can't seem to get any further than this- tried booting from the windows disc but same message appears, tried disconnecting power cord for a while but still nothing!
Can anyone help please??View attachment 44004
 
Remember not to install operating system!
You'll lose all your data, instead choose repair.
 
Yes! I've just managed to get the disc to work and I've got the "refresh" "reset your PC" or "advanced options"
Which should I go for?
 
stevetiler said:
Yes! I've just managed to get the disc to work and I've got the "refresh" "reset your PC" or "advanced options"
Which should I go for?
Click to expand...
I'd have thought refresh rather than reset, but maybe check out advanced just to see what options there are.
I would imagine reset means reset to factory settings which might wipe all your data.

Which operating system?
 
No back up?
 
Worth checking there are no USB drives plugged in - possible your PC is trying to boot from an external drive if there is one attached

Si
 
The bios could have had a fit. Check to see if your main drive is still the first boot disc.
 
Pookeyhead said:
No back up?
Click to expand...
Yes got all files backed up- just took machine over to a PC specialist who will hopefully get it sorted!
Will report back soon-meanwhile had to set up the old Vista machine, god it's slow!!
 
First things first. Is this a single HDD or a RAID configuration?

Off the top of my head I would say this could be; a drive failure, your motherboard battery could have gone and lost the config (specifically if you had a RAID configuration), or there is a file system error.

When booting from the original CD you'll have the option to repair the system (exact menu location will differ depending on the OS version).
 
JohnBradbury said:
First things first. Is this a single HDD or a RAID configuration?

Off the top of my head I would say this could be; a drive failure, your motherboard battery could have gone and lost the config (specifically if you had a RAID configuration), or there is a file system error.

When booting from the original CD you'll have the option to repair the system (exact menu location will differ depending on the OS version).
Click to expand...

Well it's got an ssd with the operating system on and a 1TB HHD for storage, no raid configuration as far as I know. When It said repair the system this didn't work either !
 
Looks like a corrupt MBR :/ There's a MBR fix command available in the console if I recall. Hope you can get it sorted!
 
Chr!s said:
Looks like a corrupt MBR :/ There's a MBR fix command available in the console if I recall. Hope you can get it sorted!
Click to expand...


It usually tells you specifically that it's a missing MBR. This just says no OS... I reckon a hosed hard drive.
 
First I would disconnect any drives that you don't require to boot. Thus only leave the SSD connected. I would also double check that your bios settings are correct, and double check the cabling. Also double check that your drive is displayed in the bios. Then restart.

If it still doesn't work, and you have another machine I would either create a bootable Usb or dvd with one of the many rescue diagnostic discs. Or just a live Linux. Then boot from that with your SSD still plugged in and see whether you can see the drive and read it. If so, you may want to get your data off that way.
 
dejongj said:
First I would disconnect any drives that you don't require to boot. .
Click to expand...

That may not prove anything, because if there was more than one drive present when it was first installed, Windows can dump the MBR on any available drive. It probably hasn't, but it's something to consider.

It's still good advice though.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
It usually tells you specifically that it's a missing MBR. This just says no OS... I reckon a hosed hard drive.
Click to expand...
Maybe the MBR is not missing, just corrupt ;) Hence the OS cannot be loaded. May not be the problem this time for Steve, but I've received the error before and everything is still intact on the hd, it's just that the MBR is screwed, so nothing can initiate the first load. Fixing the MBR in my case and everything else was hunky dory. In fact the 10+ year computer is still running a treat upstairs, same hd.
Windows errors are a minefield of inconsistancy so I wouldn't be surprised if it's because the wifi card is loose or something equally as unintuitive :D
Anyhow, hope your expert can remedy it for you, Steve.
 
So got the PC back from the clinic, guy said he couldn't identify the problem without spending more money- he seemed to think it was more mechanical than software. We've now gone back to our old Dell Vista machine and the new one is sitting there wasting away! Don't really know what to do now....!
 
New hard drive, re-install. Worth a shot.
 
Don't do that! You data is likely on the HDD, and you'll wipe it all.

Use your old computer to create a bootable USB stick or CD with linux on to check the rest of the machine is still working.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Don't do that! You data is likely on the HDD, and you'll wipe it all.

Use your old computer to create a bootable USB stick or CD with linux on to check the rest of the machine is still working.
Click to expand...


I assumed his data was backed up. If it's not... then of course... do not wipe anything, as the the disk may well be accessible from another machine if installed in one, or as Toni said, booted from an external device or USB device.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Don't do that! You data is likely on the HDD, and you'll wipe it all.

Use your old computer to create a bootable USB stick or CD with linux on to check the rest of the machine is still working.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Use the other machine to download the hiren cd or ubcd and make a bootable Usb stick. Then see what is going on. Ps. Now you know where you money goes for the new machine. Pathetic that they don't want to know.
 
If you buy a caddy like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inateck-Ext...UTF8&qid=1440929646&sr=1-6&keywords=ssd+caddy

You can put the SSD from your machine into it then connect it to your Vista PC via a USB port.

That way you can see what is on the drive and take off the data if possible, then put it back into your machine and do a clean install of your OS to it.

But whatever you do, unplug the 1TB HDD first!

The when your PC is working again you can re-connect the HDD (turn the machine off first!) and also backup all the data from that to another external drive.

On my machines all my work is now on external HDDs which are only turned on once the machine is running - much safer that way!

Good luck!
.
 
All good advice as usual! Thanks everyone.
Everything was backed up thanks to file history to an external drive so all our stuff is safe so the new machine can be wiped clean!
 
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