# [SOLVED] Operating System not found



## adrian08 (May 25, 2008)

Hi,

I'm having problems with a acer Extensa 2300 series running windows xp.
I'm not computer savvy but I will do my best to explain the problems I'm having .

Just recently whilst working on the notebook I was prompted with a stop error, was unable to catch the full code but it was 00....something then it shut down. I restarted the system and received the following:
PXE-E61: Media Test failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: Exiting Broadcom PXE ROM.
Operating System not found.

Upon researching this problem on the acer website I was advised to do this

1. Power the notebook on, and immediately begin tapping F2.
This will go into the notebook BIOS.
2. In the BIOS use the arrow keys to select the Boot Menu.
3. In the Boot Menu will be "Boot Priority Order" and below that will be a list of devices.
The first in the list should be "IDE 0".
If "IDE 0" is not the first, use the arrow keys to highlight "IDE 0"
4. Use the designated keys to move "IDE 0" to the top.
5. Press the F10 key and press the enter key to save and reboot the computer.

I don't understand what the abbreviation "IDE O" means or unless I was looking in the wrong menu I could not see the "IDE O"
All that is listed in the boot menu is (in this order)

Hard drive
CD-ROM/DVD Drive
Floppy Devices
Network Boot

I didn't change anything and exited. Then it showed this message.

Checking File system on C
The type of the file system is FAT32,
for about 4 hours or so this is all that appeared on the screen. I decided to switch it off (possible a bad decision) as I thought it had froze.

Now when I try to start up I'm back at this message:

PXE-E61: Media Test failure, check cable
PXE-MOF: Exiting Broadcom PXE ROM.
Operating System not found.

Some one please help me. I have no idea what I'm really doing

I don't have the Windows XP disk that was used to install the operating system on the notebook, but I do have a windows XP disk that's been installed and registered on another computer (if that makes a difference)
Would really appreciate your advice.
Thank you in advance for you help.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Operating System not found*

hi,

by the looks of it you have a dead drive or your drive has a corrupt installation of Windows. you can try the following just to test if there is a recovery partition and if it still works:

power ON the laptop and when acer logo appears, hold the “Alt” key and press the “F10” key simultaneously. if there is a recovery partition, everything will be straightforward from there.

if that does not work, try to change to boot order in the BIOS. place CD/DVD drive and Floppy before the Hard drive in the list. if you have an XP install CD, you can boot from that CD and attempt a repair or a fresh install (better if fresh install).


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## adrian08 (May 25, 2008)

*Re: Operating System not found*

Hi,

Thank you so much for you advice. I will try your suggestions shortly.

Could you tell me if I was to do a fresh install with the XP cd that has previously been used and registered on another computer will It cause any problems with the windows activation? Causing me to reinstall every 30days?

Thank you:wave:


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Operating System not found*

i think it is illegal to use the license of one PC in another. but i am no expert on these license agreements that is why i refer to this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/proeula.mspx


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## adrian08 (May 25, 2008)

*Re: Operating System not found*

Triggerfinger Thank you so much for your advice.
Problem is now fixed and I'm hoping this issue won't happen again.
luckily I didn't have to reinstall windows XP with the disk I have so no problems there.
All the best to you


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

*Re: Operating System not found*

hi,

thats great! glad to know you got it sorted out.


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