computer won't boot, no operating system found

Hello,

Laptop won't start correctly goes to boot menu. I can access system recovery options with win7 cd/dvd.

*Tried windows 7 64 bit cd - won't repair computer
in the system recovery options: no operating system is displayed

*won't let me restore using a system image - won't access the hard drive at all

*has option to load drivers, the following show on my computer
Boot(x: ) 31.1 MB free of 33.5 MB
CD Drive(D: ) Windows 7 CD
Which drivers do I need?

At the system recover Options screen the following displays:
System Recovery Options
Choose a recovery tool
Operating system: Unknown on (Unknown) Local Disk

I tried command prompt

X:\sources>

i entered command "diskpart" the following displays:
Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7601
Copyright ..............
On Computer: MININT-9KIAHGT

next command i entered "list volume" the following displays:
Volume 0 D GSP1RMCHPXF UDF DVD-ROM 3167 MB Healthy

Here is where i am stuck, the hard drive C: is not showing up. I need to recover the files on this computer even if i have to do a full re-install of Windows 7 afterwards. Please let me know if further info is needed. Thank you in advance for your help.

MonkeeMadness said:

Here is where i am stuck, the hard drive C: is not showing up. I need to recover the files on this computer even if i have to do a full re-install of Windows 7 afterwards. Please let me know if further info is needed. Thank you in advance for your help.

If you plan on doing a fresh reinstall of Windows, you're right that you first need to recover the files on your computer by somehow copying them off to a secondary media (like a large USB flash drive or external USB hard drive). But of course, that requires you can get the current system to boot again, which seems grim from your description.

If the data files on your current hard drive are critical and cannot afford to be lost and if you can't restore a "system image" using standalone recovery media like through Macrium Reflect (which has a standalone boot CD, and expects your "system image" backups to be on external USB drive media... to avoid exactly this type of disaster which has now left you seemingly without any recovery course of action), my suggestion would be to take an emergency course of action.

Of course, if the drive is truly dead and cannot be physically accessed (much less not bootable to Windows), then you're doomed (especially since you don't seem to have a usable backup for your otherwise unrecoverable data). So fingers crossed the drive and the data on its partition(s) can be accessed externally from a second computer, even if Windows on this drive is shot.

(1) buy a new internal hard drive (or SSD) for your laptop, and remove the current one. Plan to reinstall Windows to the new drive.

(2) assuming you have a second computer you can use for [hopefully, assuming the original now-removed drive is actually still usable and accessible, even if you can't boot Windows from it], but an external drive SATA-to-USB adapter like this one from Kingwin. This adapter will allow you to connect your now-removed old laptop hard drive and get to it from a second computer via USB, assuming it still works outside of being non-bootable to Windows, and is truly still readable.

(3) Boot to the second PC, connect the USB drive to the second PC via the Kingwin adapter (power the drive up first before connecting the USB cable to the computer, and connect the USB cable second... after the drive is powered up). In reverse, first "safely remove hardware", then second disconnect the USB cable, then third power down the drive.

(4) See if you can read the externally connected drive, and can salvage the data using the second PC.

Eventually you can do a full reinstall of Windows to the laptop with the new bare hard drive in it. Or, if you want to chance it, you can wipe the original drive clean and just do a fresh Windows reinstall right over it, assuming you've already salvaged the data you want to salvage.


If you do have a second PC, you might try burning Partition Wizard standalone boot CD. If your laptop can then boot to this CD, you will at least get a "second perspective" on whether or not the current internal hard drive is "visible" at all.

And assuming the file system (e.g. NTFS) is still intact on the partition(s), Partition Wizard will allow you to "look around" and "Explore" the contents of the folder structure on the drive's partition(s), to see if you can still salvage data eventually... using that Kingwin adapter approach to use it as an external drive.

TVeblen said:

Hello MonkeeMadness. Welcome to the forum.

Can you see the hard drive listed in BIOS?

Thank you.

Yes i can, i have attached a picture.

dsperber said:

MonkeeMadness said:

Here is where i am stuck, the hard drive C: is not showing up. I need to recover the files on this computer even if i have to do a full re-install of Windows 7 afterwards. Please let me know if further info is needed. Thank you in advance for your help.

If you plan on doing a fresh reinstall of Windows, you're right that you first need to recover the files on your...........

I opened the laptop and checked the HDD, it seems to be securely on there. I would have to gather what you have suggested and give a try.

Meanwhile, I saw online someone installing the drivers on the screen from the screenshot below and when they restarted the Operating system and hard drive show up again, only problem is i don't know which drivers i need.

AddRAM said:

Check all the connections to the hard drive.

Is it running ?

Don`t go running diskpart or trying to re install windows, find out why the hard drive isn`t showing up.

I checked the connections it's securely connected.

This is what confuses me, i'm not sure what when wrong and where, i honestly don't remember where i clicked to see this screen but according to this screen shot everything should of been fixed but i believe after i restarted the computer at some point it still wouldn't boot, and i think it was after this that i stopped seeing the C: drive and OS.....

Again, I really would like to see a screenshot of your hard drive, taken when running standalone Partition Wizard from its boot CD (assuming you have a second computer you can burn that CD to, so you can then boot to it on your laptop with the problem). This would answer lots of questions, as PW is an excellent diagnostic tool and not only a fantastic partitioning tool.

I'd like to see if the drive and its current one or more partition(s) are actually visible, and if visible what PW thinks is the "active" partition (if any) which is what is required for Boot Manager and for the BIOS to properly kick off the Windows boot process. I'd also like to see what else is on the drive as seen by PW, before making any unjustified recommendations or suggestions.

Also, PW can do that "Explore" of partitions it can understand and that still have a valid file system on them. We really do need to know if the drive is visible to PW, what (if any) partition(s) are still on it, which partition (if any) is marked "active", what the contents are of any partition(s) with a recognizable and still valid file system, etc.