intermittent 'Operating System not found'

sizzler · 07-12-2005, 03:44 AM

On powering up my Sony laptop I've started to get the message ' Operating system not found '. After maybe 10-20 tries it eventually relents and boots up normally. What's going on? It's tedious and time-consuming (sometimes <15 minutes) constantly turning it off and on so many times, so how can I fix it? Any thoughts appreciated.

In case this is a helpful clue, occasionally when it successfully loads, it also asks me to press a button to 'restore my active desktop'.

**Terrister** · 07-12-2005, 07:42 AM

Sounds like your hard drive may be failing. Download the test program from the hard drive manufactor. Run it. It should tell you if the drive is dying.

Please backup NOW. It may not startup next time.

sizzler · 07-12-2005, 09:31 AM

Thanks, it might be true that the HD is failing, but I'm not convinced since Norton says it's OK. Almost no bad sectors, ever. The message, 'Operating System not found' started whilst I was on holiday, and helping someone download their photos off their camera to burn them a CD. Somehow the PC kept looking for this Nikon even after it was disconnected (by the correct 'eject hardware procedure'). Also, since then, every now and again I get some kernel message, or a system dump starts, and disk checker never reports anything after it's automatic checks when this happens and I have to power down by switching power off rather than shutting down. So, whilst it COULD be the HD, I sense it's a registry or software problem.

What can I use to test the registry? About 10different internet messages per hour keep coming up from varioous sources (www.regclean, winfix etc etc) saying I should do this, but I don't trust unsolicited messages of this type.

**Terrister** · 07-12-2005, 11:37 AM

Try a virus scan with the site below. Also spyware scan with Spybot, Ad-aware and/or microsoft antispyware.

If you have Norton utilities, try Windoctor for the reg clean.

Stu_computer · 07-13-2005, 06:18 AM

It's a good idea to backup/copy your info to a safe media.

'Operating system not found' means the bios has checked the first sector of a disk and hasn't found an operating system. It's a typical symptom that a hd is failing. You said 'Almost no bad sectors, ever' this also means there has been bad sectors. This has nothing to do with the registry-the os has to load first before there can be a regisrty.

OEM, and other, diagnostic software may say a hd is okay and usually thats acceptable when testing a hd with an unknown history.
But I've seen many times a suspect hd given the 'okay' turn into a piece of scrap within days, sometimes hours.

Now it is possible that some other phenomena has occured that is causing this to happen.
You mentioned a camera was connected to download the images. It may be that the bios interpreted the camera's memory as a drive. Since it never existed before it would be ignored in the boot sequence, but after finding one would look to boot from it thereafter and now can't find it-so the cmos may be corrupt.

Check your bios for the boot sequence, suggest you put the hd boots first before other media.

Also, go to contol panel Add/Remove hardware and remove the nikon camera.

.

sizzler · 07-14-2005, 02:05 AM

Thanks Stu,
HD might imminently fail? Very worrying indeed.

< Now it is possible that some other phenomena has occured that is causing this to happen. You mentioned a camera was connected to download the images. It may be that the bios interpreted the camera's memory as a drive. Since it never existed before it would be ignored in the boot sequence, but after finding one would look to boot from it thereafter and now can't find it-so the cmos may be corrupt. >

If so, would should I do to check CMOS, or repair?

< Also, go to contol panel Add/Remove hardware and remove the nikon camera. >

Thanks, yes I've now done this. Hard to know if this made a difference as I'm currently reluctant to power down the laptop in case as you hinted, it may not start again. I'm desperately trying to get a new Maxtor external USB HD to back everything up first but they don't make it easy for the first time user - laptop and Ext HD not yet talking. They're not firewall friendly either, leaving me to guess if programs demanding access to the Internet are theirs or not! I'm going to have to call the company. Probably wouldn't buy from them again.

< Check your bios for the boot sequence, suggest you put the hd boots first before other media. >

OK, would that be an F2 button on startup? If so, how would I change the boot sequence?

Many thanks, at a difficult time.

sizzler · 07-15-2005, 12:38 AM

Stu, Since my last message I've thought further, and want to add the following..... might be helpful in helping you work out what's going on...........

1. Looking back, I've now suspect I ONLY get the message 'Operating System not found' when I boot up AFTER the computer has crashed (with some disc dump or Kernal mesage), or simply frozen. These crashes happen very often and obviously represent something else to fix, but I'm fairly sure the computer starts normally when it's been shut down properly. So, do you agree this is evidence against the imminent HD failure theory? Perhaps it might also give you a further clue about what's happening?

2. When I removed the Nikon device as recommended (using add/remove hardware), on the list of devices I also noticed multiple copies of several items (see below). Is this normal? Is this a problem? Should I remove all duplicates? If so, how would I choose which should stay and which should go?

default monitor (5 copies)
generic volume (20)
USB device (3)
USB mass storage device (9)
Y-E data USB floppy (3)
USB human interface device (4) [what does THAT mean!]
Netac onlydisc (5)
High Capacity floppy Disc Drive (6)

Stu_computer · 07-18-2005, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sizzler

1. Looking back, I've now suspect I ONLY get the message 'Operating System not found' when I boot up AFTER the computer has crashed (with some disc dump or Kernal mesage), or simply frozen. These crashes happen very often and obviously represent something else to fix, but I'm fairly sure the computer starts normally when it's been shut down properly. So, do you agree this is evidence against the imminent HD failure theory? Perhaps it might also give you a further clue about what's happening?

No I don't agree. When you say 'crashes happen very often' this tells me the hardware is frequently subjected to abrupt change-not an orderly shutdown. Perhaps you don't understand the effects this can have on a computer. Hard drive cache is not flushed-data loss, files not closed-corrupted, escd not updated-bios and OS out of sync (re: your list of duplicated devices). Let's consider a couple of hd scenarios: say the hd was writing files when power lost, heads crash into disk-bad sector; or say the hd had detected a bad sector and was updating it's G-List when power was cut-corrupt firmware (adios, adieu, arrivederci).

Simply put, if the hardware is okay and the proper drivers installed then the OS runs smoothly. Problems are usually identifiable and traceable to a buggy program, virus, or operator error, rarely does the system crash though. Unexplained, frequent, crashes are either hardware failure, bad/corrupt drivers, or dirty power. If a computer is not prepared for shutdown, components are stressed and in an indeterminate condition.
------------------------------------------------
Yes you can remove the duplicated devices. Remove all instances of the specific device before rebooting or it will duplicate again.

USB human interface device (4) [what does THAT mean!] ie: mouse keyoard

.

~~whodat~~ · 07-18-2005, 12:21 PM

sizzler
did you ever perform the virus/spy check as was suggested?
use some links below, update spybot before running it.
post back

**LoneWolf071** · 07-18-2005, 08:20 PM

Get A Linux Live CD, Such As Knoppix, Run change to root with the sudo su command, type fdisk /dev/hda then check to see what your bootable partitions are... then write it and reboot, tell me if it works or not... i know you may not have done anything like that to get to this problem, but just try this and just make sure...

07-12-2005, 03:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
sizzler Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 14 OS: Windows 2000	intermittent 'Operating System not found' On powering up my Sony laptop I've started to get the message ' Operating system not found '. After maybe 10-20 tries it eventually relents and boots up normally. What's going on? It's tedious and time-consuming (sometimes <15 minutes) constantly turning it off and on so many times, so how can I fix it? Any thoughts appreciated. In case this is a helpful clue, occasionally when it successfully loads, it also asks me to press a button to 'restore my active desktop'.

07-12-2005, 07:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 6,904 OS: Xp	Sounds like your hard drive may be failing. Download the test program from the hard drive manufactor. Run it. It should tell you if the drive is dying. Please backup NOW. It may not startup next time. __________________

07-12-2005, 09:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
sizzler Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 14 OS: Windows 2000	intermittent 'Operating System not found' Thanks, it might be true that the HD is failing, but I'm not convinced since Norton says it's OK. Almost no bad sectors, ever. The message, 'Operating System not found' started whilst I was on holiday, and helping someone download their photos off their camera to burn them a CD. Somehow the PC kept looking for this Nikon even after it was disconnected (by the correct 'eject hardware procedure'). Also, since then, every now and again I get some kernel message, or a system dump starts, and disk checker never reports anything after it's automatic checks when this happens and I have to power down by switching power off rather than shutting down. So, whilst it COULD be the HD, I sense it's a registry or software problem. What can I use to test the registry? About 10different internet messages per hour keep coming up from varioous sources (www.regclean, winfix etc etc) saying I should do this, but I don't trust unsolicited messages of this type.

07-12-2005, 11:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
Terrister Moderator Hardware Forum Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: West Georgia, USA Posts: 6,904 OS: Xp	Try a virus scan with the site below. Also spyware scan with Spybot, Ad-aware and/or microsoft antispyware. If you have Norton utilities, try Windoctor for the reg clean. __________________

07-14-2005, 02:05 AM	#6 (permalink)
sizzler Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 14 OS: Windows 2000	intermittent 'Operating System not found' Thanks Stu, HD might imminently fail? Very worrying indeed. < Now it is possible that some other phenomena has occured that is causing this to happen. You mentioned a camera was connected to download the images. It may be that the bios interpreted the camera's memory as a drive. Since it never existed before it would be ignored in the boot sequence, but after finding one would look to boot from it thereafter and now can't find it-so the cmos may be corrupt. > If so, would should I do to check CMOS, or repair? < Also, go to contol panel Add/Remove hardware and remove the nikon camera. > Thanks, yes I've now done this. Hard to know if this made a difference as I'm currently reluctant to power down the laptop in case as you hinted, it may not start again. I'm desperately trying to get a new Maxtor external USB HD to back everything up first but they don't make it easy for the first time user - laptop and Ext HD not yet talking. They're not firewall friendly either, leaving me to guess if programs demanding access to the Internet are theirs or not! I'm going to have to call the company. Probably wouldn't buy from them again. < Check your bios for the boot sequence, suggest you put the hd boots first before other media. > OK, would that be an F2 button on startup? If so, how would I change the boot sequence? Many thanks, at a difficult time.

07-13-2005, 06:18 AM	#5 (permalink)
Stu_computer Hardware Tech Team Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 1,090 OS: Windows	It's a good idea to backup/copy your info to a safe media. 'Operating system not found' means the bios has checked the first sector of a disk and hasn't found an operating system. It's a typical symptom that a hd is failing. You said 'Almost no bad sectors, ever' this also means there has been bad sectors. This has nothing to do with the registry-the os has to load first before there can be a regisrty. OEM, and other, diagnostic software may say a hd is okay and usually thats acceptable when testing a hd with an unknown history. But I've seen many times a suspect hd given the 'okay' turn into a piece of scrap within days, sometimes hours. Now it is possible that some other phenomena has occured that is causing this to happen. You mentioned a camera was connected to download the images. It may be that the bios interpreted the camera's memory as a drive. Since it never existed before it would be ignored in the boot sequence, but after finding one would look to boot from it thereafter and now can't find it-so the cmos may be corrupt. Check your bios for the boot sequence, suggest you put the hd boots first before other media. Also, go to contol panel Add/Remove hardware and remove the nikon camera. .

07-15-2005, 12:38 AM	#7 (permalink)
sizzler Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 14 OS: Windows 2000	intermittent 'Operating System not found' Stu, Since my last message I've thought further, and want to add the following..... might be helpful in helping you work out what's going on........... 1. Looking back, I've now suspect I ONLY get the message 'Operating System not found' when I boot up AFTER the computer has crashed (with some disc dump or Kernal mesage), or simply frozen. These crashes happen very often and obviously represent something else to fix, but I'm fairly sure the computer starts normally when it's been shut down properly. So, do you agree this is evidence against the imminent HD failure theory? Perhaps it might also give you a further clue about what's happening? 2. When I removed the Nikon device as recommended (using add/remove hardware), on the list of devices I also noticed multiple copies of several items (see below). Is this normal? Is this a problem? Should I remove all duplicates? If so, how would I choose which should stay and which should go? default monitor (5 copies) generic volume (20) USB device (3) USB mass storage device (9) Y-E data USB floppy (3) USB human interface device (4) [what does THAT mean!] Netac onlydisc (5) High Capacity floppy Disc Drive (6)

07-18-2005, 12:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
~~whodat~~ Register user Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 5,931 OS: XP	sizzler did you ever perform the virus/spy check as was suggested? use some links below, update spybot before running it. post back

07-18-2005, 08:20 PM	#10 (permalink)
LoneWolf071 Be Free Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 833 OS: Windows XP, Linux	Get A Linux Live CD, Such As Knoppix, Run change to root with the sudo su command, type fdisk /dev/hda then check to see what your bootable partitions are... then write it and reboot, tell me if it works or not... i know you may not have done anything like that to get to this problem, but just try this and just make sure... __________________ Suicide Command in Linux : rm -rf / ;) AIM:TheLoneWolf071@aim.com--If You Need Help, Don't Hesitate...