Operating system not found

[Annalise Lane]

So I did a restart on my computer (laptop) it was taking over 5 mins (spinny thing/thinker). So I did a hard reboot (unplugged and disconnected the battery). When it came back up to the black screen I ahve a message "operating system not found"

This can't be good

Anyone know what this is ?

 

[westcoast555]

Sounds like a boot sector failure.. not good.

Small chance you could turn it on and get it to come back but unlikely. Do you have a backup? Recovery DVD?

 

[Annalise Lane]

Ummm no idea this laptop is 3 years old

Oh boy

 

[Annalise Lane]

Holy Molly !!!!

I took out the USB memory stick and hit start ----- all is good ::)))

Whew !!

 

[westcoast555]

Aha! You have your computer set to boot from the USB port. That's not a good thing. When the computer is starting, a message will appear that will say something like "Press F2 to enter Setup". Do whatever it says and use the arrow keys to move over to "Boot", that will tell you which device is the default boot device. Use the arrow keys to move down to the hard drive and press F6 to set it as the first boot device. (it could be different, there will be messages when you open the tab) Then press F10 to save and exit. Now the computer will always use the hard drive to boot.

Yeah - forgot about that one... set your boot order preference. I would have thought that if the boot sequence didn't find an OS on your USB drive it would have then looked on the disk.

Never mind.. but.. what's the lesson?

MAKE A BACKUP!

 

[Annalise Lane]

When the black screen showed "operating system not found" it didn't give me options like you are describing.

I turned off my computer like you said, and pulled out my usb memory stick. When I turned my computer back on it loaded normal.

 

[Annalise Lane]

PeaceGuy - I didn't see any of that when it actually booted up, the computer came back like nothing happened. Usually when I do a hard reboot, I get the black screen and have to click 'enter' to get it to finish its normal process.

 

[jesuschrist]

Just press that button thingy on the top and point the mousey thingy at whirly blue ball on the screen and clickity click and it'll start a hard kick, but before that the friendly dog comes out and tells you what is going on, you have to watch that or the bearded wizard guy for tips, then all fixed! Presto!!!

Yup, I know the internet.

(this is what happened when Microsoft and Apple decided to make computers an appliance, like a toaster).

 

[mercyshooter]

What PeaceGuy says.

 

[vancity_cowboy]

The computer BIOS is running a POST (Power On Self Test)...

oh THAT'S what that means... i always thought it was Piece Of Shit Trying lol