Operating System not found

Hello, I hope you are all well. I have just had a laptop dropped off by my bro in law. It's a samsung R519

normal boot basically advises operating system not found.

system tools:

start up repair = cannot repair this problem "startuprepairoffline"
system restore= nothing available
recovery management = can't select any of the options to restore to factory settings anyway

what are my options, is the hd dead?

 

No. It's a bad bootsector or a bad master boot record. and possibly boot.ini needs to be rewritten as well

fixmbr
fixboot

from the recovery console.

if boot.ini messed up too:

bootcfg /rebuild

^ from recovery console

I would try the first two commands first though.

 

ok thankyou so much for your help. im having problems with the keyboard, I will get back to you when I have access to a plug in

 

hello when i type fixmbr it is saying not a recognized command, same for fixboot

the last give me "error: invalid syntax type ...?"

ok so i do and rebuild isn't in the list of commands

 

Which Operating system,?

 

windows 7. is it just recognizing the bootsector and not the c:? or is this common.

 

instead of the above commands, use these WHILE in the recovery environment command prompt. I assumed you were on Windows XP so yes the above commands would not have worked, diff syntax.

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot


then if you still need to:

bootrec /rebuildbcd

 

first two didn't work, last did and "scanned for all installations" 0 found

wtf is going on

 

How did they not work, did it tell you invalid command again? Did you ever get a Operation completed successfully message?

Read this for a more in depth description on how to use the above commands:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392

 

they said cannot file the specified path.

the operation was successful in finding 0 installations

 

screenshot this please

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z83/robothouse_2007/Photo-0010.jpg

am i doing something wronG?!?!

 

Try working while on the C: drive

type in c: first
Now your command prompt line should look like:
http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/tutorials/6617d1221756067-elevated-command-prompt-default_command_prompt.jpg
With C:\ instead of X:\


Then try the above commands.

 

same problem, can't find the specified path...

 

After typing C:
type in: dir in the next line
Take a screenshot of this

I have a feeling C: is not where your Windows directory is


You may also want to type in: map
and then take a screenshot of this

 

appreciate your help today, now I must sleep. I will get back to you with these soon

 

good day to you

http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z83/robothouse_2007/?action=view&current=Photo-0011.jpg

have I done something wrong or

 

Yes, type c:
then press enter
Then type dir
then press enter
screenshot these results

 

yes but you know c: cannot be found, if I type this it just advises the path cannot be found, dir on the x: just shows the recovery directory

 

this is what i suspected. the C: drive is not currently labeled as your OS drive. type in d:
press enter
then type dir
press enter
screenshot
type in e:
press enter
then type dir
press enter
screenshot


X: is just the CD you've booted off of. Although i'm unsure why it's taking you all the way to the system32 directory. By default, it should be X:\Sources>

 

d is recognized as the dvd drive, e, f, g etc etc are not recognized.

for what it's worth when I run f4 and get system recovery options I can click "load drivers" I can open "my computer" only the x drive is shown here too


is this because we are in recovery and it's normal or is the drive not right at all?!?

 

I don't want to interfere but at the command prompt try a couple of things.

Type diskpart
Type list disk
This should give you a list of disks (HD). Do you see a disk 0?
If so type select disk 0
Type list partition
What do you get?

Try list volume
What do you get?

You should be seeing a list of partitions and their sizes

 

ok got the prompt "diskpart" and then typed list disk, "there are no fixed disks to show"


am I to assume it's not connected at all or what!

list partition = there is no disk selected to list partitions, select a disk and try again

list volume = just D: is mentioned

 

Sorry, I am on my way out for a bit.

It does seem like it is not seeing your HD. It could be a loose connection or a bad HD. I'll look at the first couple of posts in this thread when I get back.

This is a Win7 CD we are using correct? (Just want to make sure it isn't a SATA recognition problem which if a 7 CD it is not.)

 

At this point, I would try seeing if a software called TestDisc can recover your lost partitions.

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

 

Please clarify if you are booting off of a CD/DVD or getting to the recovery options directly off the HD by pressing F8 at boot up.

If you are getting to them off the HD then the HD must be seen by BIOS, and it could be a partition problem.
If you are using a CD to boot then it could be a HD problem.

 

Reason why "Operating System not found" error occurs is outlined here:
http://www.prime-expert.com/articles/b11/fix-operating-system-not-found.php

Article linked above also explains in detail how to fix it using Emergency Boot CD.
This tool can fix various boot problems related to boot records, BCD and mount points in registry.