My computer can't find its operating system

Dr. Heavy B · 04-18-2009, 01:56 PM

I was defragmenting my computer when the whole thing freezes. Im short to temper with computers, so naturally, i hit the power button. When i start it back up, it goes to the gateway page (where it says "press F2 to enter the bios menu) just after that section, it goes to a black section and says " Operating system could not be found.

im usually good with computers ( i got the thing working, after the tech support team for circuit city when they didnt do anything.)

this happened a while ago, but the time is needed for a new computer in the house (my wife wants the newer computer, so im SOLed there

)
i want to see if i can get it working before i have to buy a whole new laptop.
help is appreciated and thanks

**OldGrayGary** · 04-23-2009, 02:14 AM

Hi Dr.

The Gateway should have shipped with a Recovery disk of some sort - or at least a recovery partition on the hard drive. Check on the Gateway support site for the recovery procedure for your model (it can vary by model). If you don't have a disk any longer, they might still have recovery disks that you can order for a smallish fee (some cost more than others, in the past some were around $21 USD).

You might want to run diagnostics to see if the hardware is still OK or not. The defrag might have failed because the hard drive itself is failing. Might as well check the memory too.
Hard drive diagnostics --- http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Memory diagnostics --- http://www.memtest86.org

Best of luck
. . . Gary

Dr. Heavy B · 04-25-2009, 10:16 PM

thanks, but my computer is very old, its a Solo series, gateway does not even recognize it anymore. the recovery disk it came with has been lost to time ( as i move a lot). the only thing i can access on that computer is the BIOs screen, as that's as far as i can get ( sorry for not being so specific the first time, as i have just rechecked the computer today after not looking at it or a few months now)

THANAT0S · 04-27-2009, 03:30 PM

If old puter and all of a sudden no O/S, i would start with changing the battery.

04-18-2009, 01:56 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dr. Heavy B Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly---where the weak are skewered and eaten Posts: 4 OS: XP	My computer can't find its operating system I was defragmenting my computer when the whole thing freezes. Im short to temper with computers, so naturally, i hit the power button. When i start it back up, it goes to the gateway page (where it says "press F2 to enter the bios menu) just after that section, it goes to a black section and says " Operating system could not be found. im usually good with computers ( i got the thing working, after the tech support team for circuit city when they didnt do anything.) this happened a while ago, but the time is needed for a new computer in the house (my wife wants the newer computer, so im SOLed there) i want to see if i can get it working before i have to buy a whole new laptop. help is appreciated and thanks

04-23-2009, 02:14 AM	#2 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Re: My computer can't find its operating system Hi Dr. The Gateway should have shipped with a Recovery disk of some sort - or at least a recovery partition on the hard drive. Check on the Gateway support site for the recovery procedure for your model (it can vary by model). If you don't have a disk any longer, they might still have recovery disks that you can order for a smallish fee (some cost more than others, in the past some were around $21 USD). You might want to run diagnostics to see if the hardware is still OK or not. The defrag might have failed because the hard drive itself is failing. Might as well check the memory too. Hard drive diagnostics --- http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 Memory diagnostics --- http://www.memtest86.org Best of luck . . . Gary __________________

04-25-2009, 10:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dr. Heavy B Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly---where the weak are skewered and eaten Posts: 4 OS: XP	Re: My computer can't find its operating system thanks, but my computer is very old, its a Solo series, gateway does not even recognize it anymore. the recovery disk it came with has been lost to time ( as i move a lot). the only thing i can access on that computer is the BIOs screen, as that's as far as i can get ( sorry for not being so specific the first time, as i have just rechecked the computer today after not looking at it or a few months now)

04-27-2009, 03:30 PM	#4 (permalink)
THANAT0S Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 7 OS: XP Pro sp3 & Vista Premium My System	Re: My computer can't find its operating system If old puter and all of a sudden no O/S, i would start with changing the battery.