Screen Message: "Operating System Not Found"

Help Please!

Full screen message reads:
Intel Boot Agent GE v1.2.17
Intel Boot agent PXE Base Code (BA11217BC)

PXE-E61 Median test failure, check cable.
PXE-MOF Exiting Intel Boot Asgent.
Operating System Not Found.

This is an IBM ThinkPad with Windows XP

Any suggestions on solving this condition?
Thanks...mw1

 

A little more info would be helpful. Did you do anything major right before this happened? Is the hard drive light flashing? Are you able to get into the BIOS? Have you tried to use the repair option from a Windows install CD?

~ Brett

 

Try going through the XP installation procedure...don't install it, just see if it can find the drive. The last time I saw an error like that it was because the HDD had died on my grandfather's computer.

 

Things to try:

1. Remove media from your floppy and CD-ROM and reboot.
2. Remove and reinstall the hard drive and battery. Check for dust/dirt and use compressed air to clean if necessary.
3. Boot into BIOS and see if the hard drive is recognized. Load defaults and reboot.
4. Boot from your XP disk, then select recovery console. Enter these commands:

Code:

fixboot
fixmbr

5. Reinstall Windows XP (you will lose all of your data, so this step is completely up to you.)

If none of those help, I'd say either the hard drive is toast or the hard drive controller is toast.

 

Simplest check -- enter the BIOS, odds are it's going to show no drive installed for the primary hdd, which means your drive is toasted. If it shows up, there's hope.

 

Pretty sure the hard drive's bad, so if you have a way to check (IE: Seagate's Seatools) do it. Otherwise you'll have to reinstall windows, at least partially (repair install), because the OS has gone corrupt.

 

Either you forgot to put the HDD on the boot up list, or your HDD died.

 

I found an identical error message via Google, and believe it or not, this was the fix:

Remove and reinstall the hard drive and battery. Check for dust/dirt and use compressed air to clean if necessary.

 

I would still check the hard drive with a DOS based HD checker. Most hard drive manufacturers have them for their drives. Find a program that will check it and run it. If you get your computer to boot, the HD may still be bad...just on the way out rather than completely dead.

Seagate's Seatools
Western Digital's Data Lifeguard

...are two tests that will fully check the integrity of the drive.

 

how often would the motherboard go bad and lose the hard drive? a friend's mother's computer wouldn't boot with the same error, so I tossed the drive in my friend's computer and copied everything off it just fine, so the hard drive is not completely dead.

 

Yeah, the drive may still work a bit, but I'd still check it. Trust me... I've seen that error 80 million times (exactly).

It's good that you're able to get data off it. You can try to reload Windows (repair install), but be weary of slowdowns or laggy boots.

There are some motherboard check utilities, but I don't know any off hand (that aren't copyrighted...or expensive).

The hard drive is constantly spinning when the computer's on, and is probably the most common problem tech support will tackle. Moving parts go bad much quicker than non-moving parts.

Keep vents clear, blow out dust, and don't ever put pressure on the hard drive compartment. That's the best advice I can give. Even when you take perfect care of the computer there is still a good chance that the drive will go bad. It's just one of those things...luckily most manufacturers have good warranties on their drives. Seagate's is probably the best...at 5 years!

 

the computer was ancient - a PIII running ME, so I told them to just start looking for a new one.