error loading operating system

mtodd4au · 12-05-2007, 12:43 PM

Hi all, I have searched several tech forums for answers, found some, but none have fixed my issue.

When I start my computer, I get the black screen with one line across the top saying, "error loading operating system".

I thought by putting the Windows disk in, I could run a recovery. The only option it will allow me to select is to reformat the harddrive. I would like to figure out why I get this message and how to fix it.

If it can't be fixed...I have also tried to make this harddrive a slave to another one. I am able to see the new drive in my computer, but if you click on that drive, it says drive is not formatted. Is there any way I can get the data off of this disk?

**manic** · 12-05-2007, 02:01 PM

When you made the drive slave did you set the jumpers on the drive
to slave? Sounds like the drive is either bad or the boot sector got
whacked, maybe a virus. You may try installing the drive back in the
original pc and do a dirty install of 98. You will need a boot floppy to
do this, one can be had at www.bootdisk.com Just boot to the
floppy and say yes to lba, and yes to cdrom support, when that is
done place install cd in drive, type in setup and hit enter, you should
be on your way. The data you have should still be there although
programs will not associate anymore due to the new install. Do Not
format, or fdisk, you will lose data. Im a litte fuzzy on 98 but I feel
that should work, unless the drive is toast...

**OldGrayGary** · 12-06-2007, 11:43 PM

Hi all

mtodd4au -- What was the original Operating System on the problem drive?

manic gave you the instructions for an "in-place" Win9x reinstall - - - if your original system partition and disk are healthy enough, that should work.

What worries me is that you mention slaving the drive in another computer, and receiving the message that the drive is not formatted. If you were viewing a Win9x/Me hard drive from a Win2000/XP/Vista PC, it should have been able to see any files on the Win9x/Me hard drive: if the partition was healthy and formatted - even if it was formatted in Win9x/Me's FAT32 or FAT16. If you feel you may have inadvertently reformatted the partition, you might still be able to recover some of the data, so long as the areas on the hard disk where your data resides hasn't been overwritten yet. --- To try to recover the data, with the drive "slaved" in another PC (as manic mentions = make sure the jumpers are set OK) = use a file-recovery program such as PC Inspector File Recovery, and have it scan the problem drive to see what it can find & recover --- http://www.download.com/PC-Inspector...html?tag=lst-1

On the other hand, if your original Windows version was Windows XP, and you slaved the drive in a Win9x/Me PC, it wouldn't be able to see the XP partitions if they were using the NTFS file system. In that case, you'll want to use another XP PC to try to look at the drive.

It's possible the drive has failed: so why not run a diagnostic to check on that. If you don't know the brand of hard drive in your PC, you can either take a look inside the case, or use a bootable CD with system hardware detection tools (I think you'd be fine using the "Ultimate Boot CD" -- you can use Astra32 to detect the hardware, MemTest86+ to test the memory, and the included hard drive diagnostics for your brand of hard drive --- all these are included on the UBCD -- you can download it for free at http://www.ultimatebootcd.com ).

Best of luck
. . . Gary

P.S. ... let us know if you have any other questions.

12-05-2007, 12:43 PM	#1 (permalink)
mtodd4au Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3 OS: xp	error loading operating system Hi all, I have searched several tech forums for answers, found some, but none have fixed my issue. When I start my computer, I get the black screen with one line across the top saying, "error loading operating system". I thought by putting the Windows disk in, I could run a recovery. The only option it will allow me to select is to reformat the harddrive. I would like to figure out why I get this message and how to fix it. If it can't be fixed...I have also tried to make this harddrive a slave to another one. I am able to see the new drive in my computer, but if you click on that drive, it says drive is not formatted. Is there any way I can get the data off of this disk?

12-05-2007, 02:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
manic Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Florida Posts: 5,251 OS: xp	Re: error loading operating system When you made the drive slave did you set the jumpers on the drive to slave? Sounds like the drive is either bad or the boot sector got whacked, maybe a virus. You may try installing the drive back in the original pc and do a dirty install of 98. You will need a boot floppy to do this, one can be had at www.bootdisk.com Just boot to the floppy and say yes to lba, and yes to cdrom support, when that is done place install cd in drive, type in setup and hit enter, you should be on your way. The data you have should still be there although programs will not associate anymore due to the new install. Do Not format, or fdisk, you will lose data. Im a litte fuzzy on 98 but I feel that should work, unless the drive is toast... __________________

12-06-2007, 11:43 PM	#3 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Re: error loading operating system Hi all mtodd4au -- What was the original Operating System on the problem drive? manic gave you the instructions for an "in-place" Win9x reinstall - - - if your original system partition and disk are healthy enough, that should work. What worries me is that you mention slaving the drive in another computer, and receiving the message that the drive is not formatted. If you were viewing a Win9x/Me hard drive from a Win2000/XP/Vista PC, it should have been able to see any files on the Win9x/Me hard drive: if the partition was healthy and formatted - even if it was formatted in Win9x/Me's FAT32 or FAT16. If you feel you may have inadvertently reformatted the partition, you might still be able to recover some of the data, so long as the areas on the hard disk where your data resides hasn't been overwritten yet. --- To try to recover the data, with the drive "slaved" in another PC (as manic mentions = make sure the jumpers are set OK) = use a file-recovery program such as PC Inspector File Recovery, and have it scan the problem drive to see what it can find & recover --- http://www.download.com/PC-Inspector...html?tag=lst-1 On the other hand, if your original Windows version was Windows XP, and you slaved the drive in a Win9x/Me PC, it wouldn't be able to see the XP partitions if they were using the NTFS file system. In that case, you'll want to use another XP PC to try to look at the drive. It's possible the drive has failed: so why not run a diagnostic to check on that. If you don't know the brand of hard drive in your PC, you can either take a look inside the case, or use a bootable CD with system hardware detection tools (I think you'd be fine using the "Ultimate Boot CD" -- you can use Astra32 to detect the hardware, MemTest86+ to test the memory, and the included hard drive diagnostics for your brand of hard drive --- all these are included on the UBCD -- you can download it for free at http://www.ultimatebootcd.com ). Best of luck . . . Gary P.S. ... let us know if you have any other questions. __________________