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Thread: operating System not found. Hard drive not detected

  1. #1
    Junior Member mellowmoose's Avatar
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    operating System not found. Hard drive not detected

    I had a new Hard Drive installed (abroad) on my laptop. Everything worked fine for a couple of days and then suddenly system crashed, I rebooted and I got the “operating system not found” error message. I simply switched off the laptop and rebooted after a while and all was well, for a day. The same problem occurred a day later, I was running scan disk and Windows froze. I rebooted and the “operating system not found error message” appeared. Since then everytime I boot the Compaq logo appears then the message “Operating system not found”

    I downloaded a bootdisk from bootdisk.com and (got someone to check the bios ). It appeared that the new hard drive was not being recognised at all. It didn’t exist as far as the bios was concerned. Neither was the C prompt recognised.

    Opened up the laptop and checked the cables and all seemed fine. Whats the next step?
    Could it be that the hard drive setting were entered incorrectly in the bios. How can I check this.
    The new hard drive is a IBM 10GB drive.
    The laptop is a Compaq Presario 1683 AMD 333 Mgh
    Operating system Windows ME. Installed by shop.
    I don’t have any drivers/recovery CD’s or documentation as it was a 2nd hand laptop.

    One thing to point is that when the drive was working I tried to defragment and it come up with error on hard drive. I ran scan disk and that was when the whole thing froze and died on me.

    Im a complete newbie to computers so if anyone can give me easy instructions I would be incredibly grateful. How do I un-install and re-install my hard drive ?

  2. #2
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    when you see the red compaq logo press f10.

    from the bios screen set primary master and primary slave to auto.
    set secondary master and slave to auto.

    save changes and exit

    if pc fails to detect hd either your bios doesnot support a 10 gig or the hd has a disk overlay program on it.
    its hard to soar with eagles when you are surrounded by turkeys

  3. #3
    Senior Member michaeln's Avatar
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    I'd suggest that you return the laptop to the company that installed the new HD and get them to sort it.

    If you start fiddling with it you might invalidate any warranty that came with the work.

  4. #4
    Senior Member AlexGee's Avatar
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    I think you simply have a dead HD, take it back. Since it was being detected for a while it is probably not bios. The HD errors detected and failure to get through defragmentation are further evidenceof a bad HD.

  5. #5
    Junior Member mellowmoose's Avatar
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    Once i get into the bios it wont let me make any alterations to the primary/secondry master/slave at all.

    Sadly i purchased the Laptop a week ago in Singapore and now Im in London. However the Laptop (and the hard drive even though it was suppossedly new) came with no warranty, that should have rung alarm bells.

    How easy are Laptop hard drives to fit and where could I find a cheap one ???

    thanx

  6. #6
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    "Once i get into the bios it wont let me make any alterations to the primary/secondry master/slave at all. "

    If you cant change the bios then a new hd is not going to solve your problem
    its hard to soar with eagles when you are surrounded by turkeys

  7. #7
    Ultimate Member AllGamer's Avatar
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    mellowmoose
    Welcome to SysOpt!

    the Master/Slave is done via the physical HDD jumpers, you can't set Master/Slave via the BIOS


  8. #8
    Senior Member AlexGee's Avatar
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    I don't have a laptop and can only tell you that on a PC any major brand of HD should have a mfg. warranty. Let's say your HD was mfg. by Western Digital, you would simply contact WD and read to them the small print written on the drive itself. They authorize a return and you are set. The warranty is usually three years, sometimes only one, but if it is a new drive this won't be an issue. In these cases not even a recipt from the seller is needed, just the date stamp on the outside of the drive is sufficient.

    There are also utilities the mfg uses to determine if the drive is defective, since your drive is not detected at all I doub't these utilities would detect it or be able to communicate with it either but it's worth a try. Running these utilities is often required step in getting a return.

    You problem could be a bad motherboard, i.e. the hard IDE drive controler on the motherboard. But since the drive is new, was working, showed errors and refused to defrag. the finger kind of points to it. I would certainly call the mfg. and see what they say.

    Putting a known good drive in is the easiest way to check the MOBO out. This of course may be easier said than done.

    There is also the chance the cable (power or data) is simply lose. If the HD light comes on at all, or if you hear the motor spinning then it has power at least.

  9. #9
    Junior Member mellowmoose's Avatar
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    I seem able to change everything else in the bios 'cept the slave/master stuff.

    Its an IBM hardrive so I'll give a call regards warranty.

    Is it possible to check the laptop harddrive on my desk top or check my desktop harddrive on my laptop ?

    Any other altenatives to troubleshoot without having to shell out $100 on a hard drive if thats not the solution

    BTW Thanks all for the help

  10. #10
    Senior Member michaeln's Avatar
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    Whether a HD is treated as a master or slave by th PC is determined by jumpers on the HD itself and not the BIOS. Beside where the cable connects to the HD are a set of pins usually with one pair closed by a detachable connector. It's this that determines whether the PC recognises the HD as a master or slave. Somewhere on the HD label you will see the appropriate pin settings for Master, Slave or cable select.

  11. #11
    Junior Member mellowmoose's Avatar
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    I was under the impression that the jumpers/slave/master stuff need only be changed if their was more then one hard drive in the laptop ?????????

  12. #12
    Senior Member michaeln's Avatar
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    True - however the question as to whether it is a master or slave arose in paramufay's post. It may have lead to some confusion in so far as you may have implied from it that you might have to make a change.

    All he was saying is to ensure that in the bios the primary and secondary master/slave settings were set to auto detect.

    In your case however you stated that initially the system worked properly and then went faulty. Assuming that you changed nothing in the bios settings then anything to do with master/slave settings is irrelevant.

    The only other possibilities that I can think of is perhaps the laptop got a knock which may have dislodged either the IDE cable or the power lead to the HD. This should be simple enough to spot depending on how easy it is to open the laptop.

    One thing you can do is when you turn the laptop on listen for the characteristic whine of the HD as it powers up. If you hear the whine well at least the power connections are OK. Then you can begin to suspect the IDE cable.

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