"error loading operating system"

[cggilbycg]

hey whats up.

ive been having a problem with my intel pent 3 computer. for a few months now everytime i turn on my computer while its booting windows i get the message "error loading operating system" everytime i boot windows...ive asked friends if they could help but they have now idea....also..i dont want to reinstall windows because i have A LOT :eek: of valuable files that i REALLY dont want to delete. if theres ANY method to doing this i greatly appreciate it..thanks

[Nick Grana]

After you get this error, can you then proceed to get into windows or have you been totally unable to load windows for last couple months?:confused:

[cggilbycg]

its been unable to load for a few months now ouch...its really bothering me cause i try to seek help from others but they dont know what im talking about...have you or anyone got this message before?

[Murf]

Welcome to CTH

When a computer tells you "cannot find operating system" it means it cannot read the hard drive where the operating system is. This can be caused by many things;

1. Hard Drive bad
2. IDE cable connecting the hard drive is bad
3. Boot sequence somehow changed in BIOS
4. Bad Memory
5. Bad motherboard

So lets start with the easies. Reboot and immediately start tapping the DEL key (or what ever key the screen tells you to use to get into SETUP)

Once in there find where you can load "System Defaults" select and hit enter then say YES.

Press ESC to exit the BIOS and select Yes to save the settings.

If it still will not see the Hard drive, then the next step is to try and diagnose the drive. The problem is you need to know the make of the hard drive. So you will need to remove the hard drive or if you can see the lable on it find the brand name e.g., Seagate, Western Digital, IBM, Maxtor ect. once you know that then you go to that manufactures page and download their software to run. I do have a page in "Murfs Garage" showing where they are HERE: (http://murfsgarage.cybertechhelp.com/Hard%20Drive%20NR.htm)

If the computer is several years old it may be worth the $5-$10 bucks to replace the IDE data cable that runs from the motherboard to the hard drive. Or if you have a cdrom hooked up on another cable, then swap cables to rule out a bad cable. CABLES (http://murfsgarage.cybertechhelp.com/cables.htm) all about.

[cggilbycg]

well thanks for the heads up...but is your solution the same as my message?...mine is "error loading operating system"....but yeah ill try that...do you know where i can find that "restore system defaults" thing after i press DEL??? thanks a lot man

[cggilbycg]

Welcome to CTH

When a computer tells you "cannot find operating system" it means it cannot read the hard drive where the operating system is. This can be caused by many things;

1. Hard Drive bad
2. IDE cable connecting the hard drive is bad
3. Boot sequence somehow changed in BIOS
4. Bad Memory
5. Bad motherboard

So lets start with the easies. Reboot and immediately start tapping the DEL key (or what ever key the screen tells you to use to get into SETUP)

Once in there find where you can load "System Defaults" select and hit enter then say YES.

Press ESC to exit the BIOS and select Yes to save the settings.

If it still will not see the Hard drive, then the next step is to try and diagnose the drive. The problem is you need to know the make of the hard drive. So you will need to remove the hard drive or if you can see the lable on it find the brand name e.g., Seagate, Western Digital, IBM, Maxtor ect. once you know that then you go to that manufactures page and download their software to run. I do have a page in "Murfs Garage" showing where they are HERE: (http://murfsgarage.cybertechhelp.com/Hard%20Drive%20NR.htm)

If the computer is several years old it may be worth the $5-$10 bucks to replace the IDE data cable that runs from the motherboard to the hard drive. Or if you have a cdrom hooked up on another cable, then swap cables to rule out a bad cable. CABLES (http://murfsgarage.cybertechhelp.com/cables.htm) all about.


:hmm:

i restored all the defaults on the setup screen and i still got the same results...i found out that the hard drive is made from maxtor and i clicked on the link that you gave me but i didnt want to do that because that would cause all my data to be lost (which i REALLY dont want)...do you have any other suggestions?

[tucker42]

Your hard drive may have already given it up! The most likely cause of the error message you described is just that. You first need to see if the hard drive is recognized correctly in the BIOS/Setup. If not, Windows cannot help you.

Why don't you download the free diagnostics from the Maxtor site and ruin that from a floppy.