Resolving Operating System Not Found

The operating system not found error is not a pretty thing to see, but did you know much of the time a few simple fixes can get your computer back up and running in minutes.

So what can cause this type of system boot problem?
Always power off any and remove any mains power before working on any computer hardware. (in the case of laptops remove the battery to)

1. One of the hard drive cables has come loose.

   On a desktop computer power it off and remove and re-connect the data and power cables.

   On a laptop computer remove the hard drive and simply replace it.

   Now check in the computers BIOS, can you see the hard drive? If not then this looks like a terminal issue with the drive.

   If you can see the hard drive in the BIOS but still get operating system not found read on..

2. Has the system boot order changed?

   Power on the computer hitting the F12 key, this will instigate a boot menu, can you now see and select the hard drive?

   If you can and it boots up the next time you boot up the computer change the boot order from the computers BIOS settings.

   Now see if the computer boots up

3. Chkdsk

   If a hard drive is encountering read problems with the boot sector then it will display the operating system not found error.

   Next you will need to boot from the Windows CD/DVD and from the Windows recovery console run CHKDSK /R

   If you do not have a Windows CD you can create a Hirens boot disk free which will allow you to boot from this and run CHKDSK /R

4. Master Boot Record

   Its not uncommon for operating system not found errors to be connected to MBR or master boot record problems, to fix this we need to recreate the MBR from a Windows CD.

   For Windows XP with boot from the Windows CD and then select the repair / recovery console, not login to the console using the Administrator password, once logged in type FIXMBR this will not delete and recreate a new master boot record.

   At this stage its also worth running FIXBOOT to replace the existing boot sector just in case the issue is actually with this rather then just the MBR.

   If you are using Vista or Windows 7 boot from the Windows disk and select Repair Your Computer, When you see the Recovery Options select the Command Prompt and type BOOTREC.EXE and hit enter.

Important Note
If you are have a computer with multiple operating systems do not attempt to fix the Master Boot Record using the above techniques or they could mess up the other operating systems ability to boot as well.

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