error loading operating system

dung_beetle · #1 12-29-2003, 07:53 PM

Whenever I do a complete shutdown of my computer and turn it back on, I usually get and error like that. It's no biggy, I just have to restart but I would like to know why it's happening. I've got XP home SP1 AthlonXP 2200+ TIA

s7p9a2m4 · #2 12-29-2003, 08:58 PM

Could be a bios problem. Could be a corrupted master boot record. Have you run chdsk lately? What brand and size of hard drive do you have? Is xp the only operating system? Is your hard drive master? You can try running fixboot or as a last resort fdisk /mbr. Flashing the bios may help. Is your hard drive being detected properly after a shutdown? Resetting the cmos may help.

dung_beetle · #3 12-29-2003, 09:30 PM

Sorry bout the non-info I gave.

I'm not sure what the brand is of my HD but it is an 80gb. It is a the primary master with the only OS on the system. I've formatted a few times due to other things and it did it before too. I don't think it is being detected correctly after I restart so how can I make sure it is? TIA

s7p9a2m4 · #4 12-29-2003, 10:57 PM

No prob. You should be able to click "delete" as your computer is booting up to get into your bios. This is the common way but your motherboard manual will tell you for sure. Once in your bios you can go to cmos and see if your drives are being detected properly. They should be set to autodetect. Sometimes setting the drive manually will work.
Your motherboard battery could very well be getting weak although they have an expected life of 10 years or so. The battery is necessary to retain the bios settings. Sometimes clearing the cmos by removing the battery for a few minutes will help.
Have you been into the case lately? Added any hardware or had any ribbon connectors off?
Your motherboard manual is your best friend for all of the above. Download Aida to find out the brand and model of your motherboard and then you should be able to download a manual for it. Here are the links.
http://www.aida32.hu/aida32.php
http://www.computerhope.com/help/cmos.htm

Kodster · #5 04-03-2004, 01:14 AM

I would leave my computer on..when I came back had a black screen w/message "cannot find operating system". Had to shutdown or go through bios....F1, F5, F10...to get my OS back. The only thing I could attribute this message to was the bad installation of a new hard drive about a month ago (checked inside the case and found the ribbon slightly loose. But tightening didn't seem to help). It was suggested that I run a check disk on my C: drive...(I see it's also been suggested here) but before I did that, I came across a WAN Miniport in my Device Manager (under Network Adapters) with one of those ugly yellow exclamation points. It would not let me remove it or bypass it...warned me I may not be able to start my computer!!! This made me suspicious since I was having trouble opening my XP operating system. I went ahead and did the check disk...and not only was the exclamation point gone, but the whole WAN Miniport!!!

Haven't had a single "can't find operating system" error since...my computer is always "up and waiting" for me when I return!!! No more black screens!

Can't explain...but thought I'd pass on the word to anyone else with this problem. It's worth a try