# 'Operating system not found' - Windows 7



## m_mitchell (Sep 10, 2011)

Hi all, completely new to this forum, registered purely because of the problem in the title.
I'm an every day home user and not that experienced with advanced IT stuff although I do know more than your average home user.
Now, to the problem.
I was using my Sony vaio laptop (CW series bought in November 2009) as usual about 4 hours ago, when the HDD appeared to make a strange beep/clicking sound, and my computer completely froze up. In a state of slight panic, I held down the power button and forced my computer to shut down.
Upon restarting, the vaio logo appeared, the screen went blank and the message 'operating system not found' was displayed. 
I turned the laptop off via the power button again, left it for a minute and then switched it back on. I had the same result.
After searching the net on the family computer I discovered that checking the the BIOS may be the the next logical step. What I have gathered from the vaio's BIOS is that my HDD is listed as having '0GB' memory. I have also checked the boot priorities (?) and hard drive is listed as priority one as the net page suggested it should be.

My specs are:
Sony vaio vpccw1 
Intel core 2 dual core possessor (2.8GHz roughly)
4GB of RAM
320 GB HDD
(I don't know how much of this is relevant!)

I do have recovery DVDs that I created when I first got the vaio.
I also have a Windows back up on a portable hard drive from April this year (but obviously I would like to retrieve the files I have saved since then)

I have never had any problems with the vaio before, no BSOD'S or anything of that nature.

Any help would be great, 
Cheers.


----------



## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

and welcome to the Forum

I would run diagnostics on the hard drive by downloading the diagnostic tool for the hard drive brand and making a bootable disc.

Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

See this for how to make a bootable cd:

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f149/how-to-burn-a-bootable-iso-file-341778.html


----------



## m_mitchell (Sep 10, 2011)

Thanks!
At the risk of sounding stupid, how do I find out the brand of hard drive in the laptop?
I looked through my invoice and it just reads '320GB serial ATA' without any brand name.
Also I just removed a section of casing over (what I think is) the hard drive, hoping to find a sticker with specs on, only to find a blank metal plate. I didn't want to try and remove anything else until I had some confirmation!
Cheers.


----------



## m_mitchell (Sep 10, 2011)

OK, I removed the HDD to find all the information on the bottom (and take a picture)
Its a WD drive, 'Scorpio blue'. After downloading the ISO and creating the disc, I changed the bios settings to boot from optical disc, and restarted.
The disc loaded and what have you, I received:

'No drive found
Error/status code 0120'

I'm guessing that cant be good. 
Further, all the way through the ddiagnostics there was this strange beeping sound. I'm guessing it was from when the HDD was trying to be accessed.

Anything I can I try now? :/


----------



## fritzyG (Sep 11, 2011)

Try removing the connections of the HD...
Replug it back in...

If it still doesn't detect any OS, try replacing the HD.


----------



## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

m_mitchell said:


> OK, I removed the HDD to find all the information on the bottom (and take a picture)
> Its a WD drive, 'Scorpio blue'. After downloading the ISO and creating the disc, I changed the bios settings to boot from optical disc, and restarted.
> The disc loaded and what have you, I received:
> 
> ...


That is not good . . Does the drive show in BIOS?


----------



## m_mitchell (Sep 10, 2011)

Old Rich said:


> That is not good . . Does the drive show in BIOS?


Well the BIOS seems quite strange, all i could find was the drive listed as '0gb'. Do you know where can i find out if the HDD is 'detected'? (I'm already gussing that it won`t be!)
The only other thing i can think of is housing it and trying to connect it to the desktop? To see if it can read it? 
Not holding out much hope!
I'm just glad that i at least have a back up from 5 months ago, that has a shed load of documents and music on. I'm trying to think if i created/saved anything vitally important since then.


----------



## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

You can take the drive out and temporarily attach it to a working pc to salvage the data.

Hard Drive Recovery Tutorial - How To Slave A Hard Drive

You may have to take ownership of the files first: How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

. . or, You can use an adaptor like this: or an external enclosure like this.

or, you could use Ubuntu - this would eliminate the need to physically remove the Hard Drive.

You can get it from here: Download | Ubuntu

Step #2 on that page shows you how to create the USB/CD.

Once you boot into Ubuntu, (choose the option where it runs off the USB/CD) you can use it to copy your files from the Windows Partition to an external hard drive (*Note:* Do not copy anything to the Ubuntu Filesystem as it will not be saved on shut-down)


----------



## m_mitchell (Sep 10, 2011)

Thanks 
Going to try the ubuntu method tomrrow i think, although i do doubt it will even see the drive!


----------



## m_mitchell (Sep 10, 2011)

Tried quite a few things, even got the it guy at uni to take a look. He said he couldn't retrieve anything from the drive. 
After having it back from him, i now don't have the strange beeping sound... Just the 'click of death' as ive heard its termed. Bad times. Anyway, i don't think there was anything warranting £400 to get the data salvidged.
Ordering a seagate momentus drive to replace it. Treating myself to a nice little upgrade in capacity and speed aswell 
I have one last thing to ask. How do i set up the operating system from the recovery discs i created when i first received the laptop?
Insert the new hdd, and first recovery disc? And boot from disc? Would that work?
Cheers


----------



## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

That should work


----------



## m_mitchell (Sep 10, 2011)

Thanks, for all your help rich!


----------



## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Let us know how it goes . . .


----------

