the main Windows 8.1 Operating system not found: what is this error and how to deal with it. Why the operating system was not found and the hard disk did not boot The laptop operating system was not found

Operating system not found: what is this error and how to deal with it. Why the operating system was not found and the hard disk did not boot The laptop operating system was not found

It is always annoying when, when turning on the computer, an error appears on a black or blue screen instead of the usual Windows desktop. In this case, users are worried about the problem on a black screen, which does not allow the system to boot, or rather, the error says that there is no system at all. You can see it in this way:. It is written that the operating system was not found, let's figure it out.

How to deal with the Operating system not found error

Why does this problem occur? The main culprit of the problem is connected with the hard drive and for the majority, although rarely, the cable simply moved away from the connection port on the motherboard or the HDD itself. The second point is that the BIOS parameters are incorrect. For example, your hard drive is not in the first place, but in the last one, or some other options have been changed. Also, any faulty component, be it a power supply or something else, can affect the appearance of the indicated error.

Now on a contract basis. Check the BIOS for incorrectly set options. In the tab Boot or Advanced make sure the hard disk drive (HDD) comes first. If this is not the case, then rearrange using the arrows or the F5 and F6 keys, depending on the BIOS version. If the settings are all correct, then it's simple. This will not make it worse, and the error may disappear.

But what if the hard drive is not displayed at all in the BIOS? There are two options. I said at the beginning, the disk could be disconnected by an unknown force, or the loop just came off. It is necessary to completely turn off the computer and check all the wires, whether they are tightly connected. The second option is a hard drive malfunction. There is nothing left to do but test it for operability from another PC.

When operating system not found appears on a laptop, it is very unlikely that wires and loops will come off, since everything is densely and compactly located there. Most likely your disk is simply faulty, or there is a problem in the BIOS.

Software solutions

Above, we analyzed the physical solutions, and now let's see how this can be corrected programmatically.

Another and frequent problem is that a different one could be installed on the hard disk where the operating system is installed. More precisely, try to do it. Eventually boot record the old OS was overwritten with the new one, but it so happened that not one OS is loaded and an operating system not found error appears. To fix this problem, you need to repair the Windows bootloader.

The last solution, although it does not apply to software, but finally I will write it here - replacing the power supply. It could be either completely faulty (although I doubt that the computer would start after that), or partially.

Let's summarize what we have written about this error:

Reset BIOS settings;
Move the hard disk with the system to the first place in the list of devices;
Check the cables and wires connecting to the HDD, whether everything is tightly connected;
If the disk is faulty, make sure of this. Connect to another PC (the disk may not be detected in BIOS);
Replacing a faulty power supply;
Repair the bootloader

Now you know about the basic solutions for the operating system not found error. I indicated the necessary links, otherwise I would have to rewrite what is already there. Hope this helps you and good luck! By the way, I wrote another article. Read it, maybe the instructions from there will help you too.

One of the most common errors when starting the OS, when after the initial check in the BIOS Windows or Linux does not boot, is a failure with the appearance of the line Operating system not found on the screen. What to do in this case will be discussed further. In principle, both the error itself and the method for correcting it are almost identical to those that are used to eliminate a failure when a notification about a lost (inaccessible) operating system is issued (Missing operating system), although the only difference is that the problem is in no way related with the impact of viruses and malicious codes, and more refers to the hardware and software part of the computer system itself. As an example, let's take Windows systems, which are more common in our country.

Operating system not found crash on laptop or desktop PC: what does this mean?

To understand the essence of the issue, you just need to translate the phrase into Russian. It means that the operating system was not found.

In other words, when starting any computer or laptop, all hardware devices in the primary input / output system BIOS are first checked. After the test shows that all components are working properly, the operating system starts loading, for which boot records and the bootloader itself are used. The appearance of a line like An operating system wasn 'found just indicates that for some reason access to them is impossible or they are damaged.

This also applies to hard drives and SSD devices on which all information is recorded, including the operating system. In some cases, it can be assumed that the disk has physical damage or the failure was associated with software errors.

Possible reasons for the failure (An operating system wasn’t found. Try to ...)

But in order to understand the methods of eliminating such an unpleasant situation, you must first find out all the possible reasons that can become the primary source of such misfortunes.

The most common are believed to be the following:

damage to the disc;
problems with connected loops;
incorrect boot sequence;
incorrectly set SATA parameter;
outdated BIOS firmware;
damage to the bootloader and related entries.

As you can see, the reasons are the same as when a notification about a lost OS appears. All of the methods below work to resolve both failures.

BIOS settings and boot options

So, the user on the monitor screen observes the appearance of the line An operating system wasn "t found. The first step is to make sure that all the settings of the primary BIOS / UEFI system are set correctly.

One of the most common occurrences is the situation when the user simply forgets to remove a removable device from the drive or port, so to speak, of a non-system type. That is, the files necessary to boot the OS, as well as the operating system itself, are not on the media, but they themselves have a higher boot priority over the HDD.

The solution will be to either remove all removable media and disconnect removable devices with a subsequent reboot, or set the hard disk as the first device from which the main operating system will start (this option is called 1-st Boot Device) and is located in the Boot section, in whose name can sometimes be added with words like Sequence or Priority). In any case, priority plays one of the most important roles.

Hard drive problems

Another moment, when the Operating system wasn’t found line appears at the start of the OS, is associated with the fact that the SATA mode is incorrectly set for the hard disk. By default, all devices of this type are assigned the AHCI option in the BIOS, but it is only needed in order to be able to install the operating system (this cannot be done in IDE mode). But if you have an installed system, the AHCI mode can just give out errors like Operating system not found.

The way out of this situation will be to set the IDE mode with saving the parameters on exit (F10 + Y) and a complete restart of the computer or laptop.

But everything described is more related to the software part, and at the same time the hard drive is detected in the BIOS, even if it contains as many errors as you like. Sometimes the appearance of the Operating system not found error may be due to the fact that the hard drive simply "fell down" (failed) or is not properly connected to the motherboard.

In the first case, you usually have to throw it away, although some experts recommend using what is believed to be the unique HDD Regenerator recovery utility. In the second case, you can simply check the correctness of the connection of the loops and Master / Slave connectors. It is possible that the loops themselves may be damaged. They will have to, as it is called in electrical engineering, "ring out".

Reset BIOS settings and install the latest firmware

The likelihood of the Operating system not found error due to the "fall" of the settings of the primary I / O system is quite high, but due to the obsolescence of the firmware, as a rule, it is unlikely, although it should not be discounted.

You can try to fix the failure in the first case (even if all the above parameters are changed to the correct ones) by resetting the BIOS settings to factory settings. In any modification, you can find a special line like Reset to defaults, Load setup defaults or something like that, which you need to use.

Outdated firmware, which sometimes also may not recognize individual "hardware" components, can be replaced with a more recent one. However, this is a separate topic. In addition, the process itself, if you do not know the essence of the issue, is better not to do it yourself.

Boot Loader Repair

Finally, in almost every second case of an Operating system not found failure, the cause is HDD errors or bad sectors, which leads to damage to the boot areas and the bootloader itself.

This problem is eliminated with only four main commands that are written in the command line, but you will have to call it only when you boot an external device (for example, from an installation disk, recovery disk, or their USB counterparts). Note that the standard system restore tool launched from a removable device usually does not give the desired effect, so you should not use it initially.

The command console itself is invoked by a pair of Shift + F10 keys or from the recovery menu. First of all, you need to check the hard disk for errors, and as an addition, set the automatic fix attribute chkdsk c: / x / f / r (/ f / r / x, / r / x / f - you can combine whatever you like, these are not roles plays).

After that, the bootloader recovery lines and the corresponding sectors are entered: bootrec.exe / fixmbr and bootrec.exe / fixboot. Then you can try to restart, but the removable media must be removed.

If the Operating system not found error appears after that, in the same command console, you will have to completely rewrite the bootloader, which is performed using the bootrec.exe / rebuildbcd combination. In theory, if everything is really in order with the hard drive, the error will disappear.

Conclusion

As a result, it remains to say that all the above error correction methods work (tested in practice). But which way to use? It all depends only on what the root cause of the failure is. But usually this is either mechanical damage to the disk and loops, or an incorrect boot sequence, or errors that led to damage to the bootloader and boot sectors.

Probably, there is no need to explain how unpleasant the situation is when the user turns on the computer or laptop to boot and instead of the usual start, the system writes Operating System not found on the screen for no reason. For many users, this is a real shock. How so? Yesterday everything worked ... What could have happened and how to fix this situation, we will now see.

What does the Operating System not found error mean?

If you look at the message itself, it is easy to translate it as "operating system not found." But the problem is that the user is absolutely sure that it exists. But the computer system does not share such confidence with the user, because it simply does not find the components responsible for loading the system.

In general, such situations most often manifest themselves, for example, when the user removed the hard drive, replaced it with a new one. Maybe it's just the hard drive is out of order, but you never know what.

Possible causes of occurrence

If you suddenly get such an incident, and the system constantly displays the message Operating System not found (Windows 7, 8, etc.), first of all, do not panic. To begin with, just check, maybe a flash drive is inserted into the computer or laptop, and in the BIOS settings, the priority for loading is the USB device.

If the hard drive was removed or changed to a new one (this applies to stationary computers), it may very well be that when it was reconnected, the corresponding loops were incorrectly or loosely connected. Let's see what can be done in such a situation.

Basic BIOS settings

The easiest way to change BIOS settings is to reset all settings to the factory defaults (Default). Any BIOS version has this setting.

As a last resort, you can simply change the boot priority in the Boot Device Priority or Boot Sequence section, and set the hard drive as the first (main) boot device (boot device).

It happens, however, that the hard disk is detected in the BIOS, but the boot is still not performed, and the system again and again issues the Operating System not found warning. What to do in such a situation? First, see if there is an exclamation mark next to the hard disk model. It signals that the device in the system, although present, is simply disabled or not involved.

As a rule, in most BIOS versions, there is a special item help field on the right (Specific Item Help), which contains a keyboard shortcut that allows you to enable or disable any component. The most probable combination is Shift + 1. But here it all depends on the manufacturer (combinations may be different).

Switching the operating modes of the hard drive in the BIOS UEFI

On the other hand, if the Operating System not found warning appears on a laptop, where it is quite problematic to remove the hard drive, you should pay special attention to the settings of the hard drive operating modes. As an example, consider the settings for the latest UEFI system, although they can be used in other versions without problems.

In general, there are two main modes in the SATA configuration: AHCI and IDE. During the initial installation of the "operating system", as well as in the default settings, the AHCI mode is enabled. When you switch to the IDE, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to install Windows on the hard drive.

The same applies to the moments when users, at the end of the installation process, either unknowingly, or accidentally turn on the IDE mode. As already clear, the system produces the line Operating System not found. By the way, even if you install another fully functional "screw" at the moment, it will not work without changing the SATA settings to the initial ones.

Therefore, it is worth immediately advising users to change such settings only as a last resort, when it is really necessary.

Repairing the Windows bootloader

There are also frequent cases when the message "Operating System not found" appears when the Windows bootloader is damaged, which is associated only with errors on the hard disk, for example, due to improper shutdown. At the same time, as it is already clear, the whole system can "fly off".

In such a situation, you can try to restore the bootloader, and at the same time check the system disk or partition for errors. To do this, it is always advisable to have an original installation disc or a system recovery disc at hand.

Here you will need to set the optical drive in the BIOS as the first priority device for booting, and then use the recovery console. Note that this option does not include the issue of recovering Windows from a checkpoint. It still won't help, and the Operating System not found warning will appear again.

Here you need to use boot recovery mode or command line, which is preferable. In it, you need to enter two main commands in sequence: bootrec.exe / FixMbr and bootrec.exe / FixBoot, after each pressing "Enter". If such a sequence does not help, in addition, you can add the bootrec.exe / RebuildBcd command.

Before performing such actions, it is strongly recommended to check the disk for errors and correct them automatically (commands chkdsk / f / r or chkdsk / f / x / r). You can also use the chkntfs / x c: checker if you have NTFS on the system partition (drive "C").

If all else fails

However, if all the above methods of correcting the situation do not help, then you should definitely diagnose the hard drive. But if it is not a problem to remove it for stationary computers, then with a laptop you will have to contact the nearest service center or workshop and not try to remove it yourself.

As it is already clear, if the hard drive "fell down", there is nothing to be done, you will have to change it to new "hardware", and then install the "operating system" again. You can, of course, try the HDD Regenerator utility on it, but it is rather difficult to guarantee one hundred percent success in hard drive recovery.

One of the most terrible user errors is the one that appears when the computer is turned on and tells us, on a black BIOS screen, that "". When this message appears, our system will not boot, and the only way out is to restart the computer by pressing "ctrl + alt + del", and you will most likely see this message again.

The problem of the error is that the operating system is not displayed and therefore the BIOS cannot boot the Windows system. The reasons for this error are very diverse, from a simple configuration error in the BIOS to a more serious problem that in the worst case forces us to completely format the computer. Therefore, we will analyze the main reasons and their solutions to eliminate the error "" ( An operating system wasn "t found).

Disconnecting external USB devices from the computer

If your computer has multiple internal hard drives, external and USB sticks connected, it is likely that BIOS is trying to find the operating system in the wrong place... Therefore, not detecting the Windows system, it gives the error "Operating system not found".

To resolve this issue, you must disconnect any external storage devices connected to the USB ports and try again. We can also check our optical drive to make sure it is not trying to load the wrong DVD.

If after doing this the problem is still not resolved, the next step is to go to BIOS settings.

Changing BIOS boot priority

Go to BIOS configuration by pressing F2, F12 or Delete. After that go to the configuration section Boot and put on the first place in the column Priority hard drive on which the working and main operating system is Windows. In different versions of BIOS, it is called differently, but you are looking for a word with a combination of Priority, which means "priority loading". Here are some names from different BIOSes: Hard Disk Priority, Boot Device Priority, Hard Disk Boot Priority.

After you have set the priority for booting from the hard disk on which your system is located, do not forget to save the settings with the F10 button and restart the computer to make sure "whether the system was found when you turn on the computer."

Enable or disable Secure Boot

If you are using a modern computer with an operating system such as Windows 8 or Windows 10, then perhaps the reason our Windows won't start is in the wrong UEFI secure boot setting.

Go back to BIOS, find the configuration section Secure Boot(Secure Boot) and deactivate it or activate it if it is disabled to check if the error "Operating system not found at computer startup" is gone.

In different BIOS or UEFI versions, the location of the settings looks different, but in any BIOS version you are looking for the column Secure Boot, try to disable or enable.

Reset BIOS to factory settings

At the bottom of the BIOS menu, you will see a key for default settings or reset BIOS... On my car this F9... Confirm your decision when prompted and restart your computer.

If you did not find an approximate button, like F9 for resetting to factory settings, then look for the line Load Setup Default and reset the BIOS.

If your hard drive with the operating system is placed first, but the computer still won't boot, it is possible that some of the initial sectors of the drive have been damaged, such as master boot record(MBR), DOS boot record(DBR), or Boot configuration database(BCD).

Repairing these sectors is fairly straightforward. All we need is to create a Windows installation USB flash drive and enter additional boot options through it.

Enter the following commands in CMD in order by pressing enter. Each command may take time to complete.

bootrec.exe / fixmbr
bootrec.exe / fixboot
bootrec.exe / rebuildbcd

Activate the Windows partition

It is possible that the partition on which Windows is installed is disabled. You can fix this using Windows' native diskpart tool. To complete the following steps, you will need a USB media to install Windows again. Run the command line, as described above, through the recovery disk or the Windows installation flash drive and type the following commands in the command line:

diskpart- Launching the tool.
list disk- List of connected drives to the computer.
select disk 0- Selecting the hard drive on which you want to activate the partition. In my case, the primary hard drive is 0.
list volume- Shows partitions on the selected hard drive.
select volume 2- Select a local drive for activation. Choose the one where the widows system itself is installed.
active- Activate the section.

Restart your computer and check if the error is gone when turning on the computer An operating system wasn "t found. Ttry disconnecting any drives that don" t contain an operating system. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart which means operating system not found, press ctrl + alt + del to restart.

Hello admin, an inscription appears on the monitor when the computer boots Operating System not foun d, the error appeared after trying to overclock the computer's processor. I tried to find an answer on various forums on the Internet, basically it is advised to reset the UEFI BIOS settings to default and boot from the "kolobok" and see if the operating system files are in place, it is also advised to plug the information cable connecting the hard drive to the motherboard.
Gingerbread man, I don't know what it is (this is a Live CD-note. Administrator), but the cable did not overplug it, but even changed it and tried to connect it to other SATA connectors on the motherboard, but it did not help. What else can you do?

Operating System not found

Hello, friends! Since I work in a regular service center, I often deal with this problem. And in this article I will just give real examples of this error and tell you how to deal with them. This error comes out Operating System not found(no operating system files found) or other (reboot and select the correct boot device or insert bootable media) for reasons that can be divided into two parts. Basically, this error is associated with "iron" problems: a SATA data cable, a faulty hard drive, an incorrect BIOS setting, and even a faulty power supply unit. But this error can also appear due to various violations in the boot sector of the hard disk and the boot files of the Windows operating system itself.

Firstly, the Operating System not found error may appear due to the fact that the BIOS has incorrectly set the boot priority of the computer, that is, the boot is not set from the hard disk on which the operating system is installed, but from DVD-ROM or even from FDD (floppy -disk drive), remember what the last actions you performed with your computer, maybe yesterday you changed the priority of the boot device in BIOS and booted your laptop from a USB flash drive, then forgot to set the boot from the hard drive, as a result, the next time you boot the computer or laptop, it may exit Operating System not found error. and set the priority to boot from the hard disk. Secondly, pay attention to whether a flash drive is connected to your computer or laptop, it is quite possible that the computer wants to boot from it, but it is not bootable at all. Thirdly, maybe you recently disconnected your hard drive and went with it to your friends to exchange files, check with the computer turned off if your hard drive is securely connected with a SATA data cable to the connector on the motherboard, if there is another SATA cable, try using it or simply plug the hard drive into another SATA port on the motherboard.

Fourthly, immediately after installing the operating system, many users without the appropriate knowledge begin to experiment with the BIOS, who wants to overclock the processor, and who just "study" the new BIOS UEFI, and who needs to set the computer to boot from a disk or flash drive. As a result, users very much change the initial and workable BIOS settings, but not everyone knows how to return them to their original position.

A simple example related to our mistake: in almost any BIOS, including the most modern UEFI, there is an option responsible for the operation of the hard disk controller, in most cases it is called "SATA Configuration" or SATA Configuration, this option can be in the AHCI or IDE position. So, AHCI is a modern technology for operating hard drives and solid-state drives SSD of the SATA II and SATA III interface. On all modern UEFI BIOS, the SATA Configuration option is set to AHCI by default, and it turns out that when you install the Windows operating system on a new computer or laptop, AHCI is enabled. After installing the operating system, some users accidentally or intentionally turn off AHCI in the SATA Configuration parameters and turn on the IDE, as a result, when the computer or laptop boots up, a blue screen or an Operating System not found error appears. To solve the problem, reset the UEFI BIOS settings to default and try to boot the operating system.

Sixth, your hard drive may simply be faulty. Note. Is your hard drive detected in BIOS. If not, then you need to look for the reason for this misunderstanding. In this case, pay attention to the solutions already described in paragraph 4 of this article, reset the BIOS to default settings, reconnect the SATA data cables or connect the hard drive to another connector on the motherboard, if this does not help, you can try to connect the hard drive to another computer and see if your hard drive is detected in the BIOS of another computer, if not either, the hard drive is probably faulty, contact the service center to solve the problem.

Of course, I understand that on a laptop it will be difficult for an ordinary user to remove the hard drive, in this case you just need to limit yourself, if after that the hard drive is also not detected in the BIOS and the laptop will display the Operating System not found error when booting, do not do anything else and contact the service center. If the hard drive is detected in the BIOS, then you should try to restore the Windows boot (as written in paragraph 5), if nothing works, then you need to load the laptop from any Live CD and copy all important files from the hard drive to a portable USB hard drive, then ...

Once in my practice, I had to deal with this error and imagine, the whole thing was decided by replacing the power supply. Due to a faulty power supply, the hard drive was no longer detected in the system and this Operating System not found error began to appear during boot, after replacing the power supply, everything returned to normal, I described this and many more problems in the article.

Configuring and optimizing operating systems