To initiate a workaround for operating system not found

"Operating System not Found" a friend of the machine on the boot appeared such a hint, meaning that the operating system is not found. Operating System not found information appears, we generally suspect that the hard drive information is lost and can be resolved by reloading. However, there may be a hard drive problem, check the hard drive data cable and hard disk damage. We usually use such a step:

"Operating System not Found" (no operating system found) or "Missing operating system" (missing operating system) error message when starting a Windows xp-based computer

This is an explanation from Microsoft's official support dictionary.

Profile

When you try to start a Windows xp-based computer, you may receive an error message that the operating system cannot be found.

Symptoms

When you start a Windows xp-based computer, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Error message 1

Operating system not found.

Error message 2

Missing operating System

When you start your computer and go to the Recovery Console to restore functionality, you may receive an error message that resembles the following error message:

The Setup did not find any hard drives installed on your computer.

Reason

This problem may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true: • The hard drive is not detected by the basic input/output system (BIOS).

• The hard drive is damaged.

• The sector 0 of the physical hard drive has an incorrect or corrupted master boot record (MBR).

Note: Some third party programs or disk damage may damage the MBR.

• Mark an incompatible partition as an active partition.

• Partitions containing MBR are no longer active.

Solution

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods, as appropriate to your situation:

Contact your hardware manufacturer

The best approach may be to contact the manufacturer of your computer or hard disk. The manufacturer may have a utility that can be used to perform a more detailed scan of the damaged areas of the disk and to help verify the correct BIOS settings. Note, however, that the damage to the hard drive can be very serious. Sometimes, this means your only solution is to replace the hard drive.

If no patches or workarounds exist, you can use the Advanced troubleshooting section to try to resolve the problem.

Operating system not found advanced troubleshooting

This section applies to advanced computer users. If you are puzzled by advanced troubleshooting, you can seek help from others or contact your support department. For information about how to contact Microsoft Support, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/(http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/)

Operating system not found Workaround 1: Verify BIOS settings

Verify your computer's BIOS settings and ensure that the BIOS can list and identify the hard drive. For information about how to verify the BIOS settings, see your computer documentation or contact your hardware manufacturer.

After you verify that your computer's BIOS detects your hard disk, restart your computer, and then test to determine if the problem has been resolved. If the problem is not resolved, or the computer's BIOS is unable to detect the hard disk, there may be a hardware problem. Contact the hardware manufacturer for information about how to resolve this issue. You may need to replace the hard drive.

For information about how to contact your hardware manufacturer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/65416/) hardware and software vendor contact information, A-k

60781 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/60781/) hardware and software vendor contact information, L-p

60782 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/60782/) hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-z

Operating system not found workaround 2: Using the Recovery Console

In the Windows XP Recovery Console, use the FIXMBR command to repair the MBR of the boot partition.

Warning: This command may damage the partition table if there is a virus or hardware problem. If you use this command, you may create a partition that cannot be accessed. We recommend that you run antivirus software before you use this command, while backing up your data. If the FIXMBR command detects an invalid or nonstandard partition table signature, the fixmbr command prompts you to allow the MBR to be overwritten. Only x86-based computers support the FIXMBR command.

For more information about the Recovery Console, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

314058 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/) Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console

307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to install and use the Restore console for Windows XP

Operating system not found workaround 3: Change the active partition

If the partition marked as active does not contain Windows XP startup files, or if the operating system of the active partition is different from or is incompatible with Windows XP, you must mark the correct system partition as active before you can restart the computer. To do this, follow these steps.

Note: Only one active system partition can be available at the same time. 1. Start the computer and go to the Recovery Console.

307654 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/) How to install and use the Restore console for Windows XP

2. Type Diskpart, and then press Enter.

3. At the "DISKPART" command prompt, type the List Disk, and then press Enter.

Note the number of the disk you want to use.

4. At the "DISKPART" command prompt, type Select disk, and then press Enter.

Note: Is the number of the disk to use. You should receive a message similar to the following:

Disk is now the selected disk

5. At the "DISKPART" command prompt, type List partition, and then press Enter.

Note the number of the partition you want to mark as active.

6. At the "DISKPART" command prompt, type Select partition, and then press Enter.

Note: Is the number of the partition you want to mark as active. You should receive a message similar to the following:

The partition is now the selected partition

7. At the "DISKPART" command prompt, type Active, and then press Enter.

8. At the "DISKPART" command prompt, type Exit, and then press Enter.

9. Restart the computer.