New laptop hard drive cannot find OS

[billd766]

I have an old Acer Travelmate and the 80gB hard drive gave up after about 8 years.

I bought a new 500 gB hard drive this morning, physically installed it, booted it up and got the message cannot find OS.

I put a Windows 7 disk in, rebooted the laptop, hit F12, selected CD ROM and the same problem.

I connected an external HDD, F12, select boot from HDD, same problem.

I put in a Win 7 recovery disk, same problem.

I even put in a couple of Acer Cds with the apps on them, same problem.

I have a one word question.

Heeeellllpppppppppppppppp

What do I do next to get the hard drive to light up?

[steve187]

you lost me, did you do a fresh install of windows on the new hard drive.

[johnatong]

Maybe if F12 is the key which gives access to the Boot menu you should have chosen to boot from the (Win) CD rather than the HDD.

[steve187]

you can not boot from a external hdd, only a bootable usb stick or cd/dvd with a copy of windows.

have you got the computer to start installing windows, before it looks for a hdd to install to.

[siamcrut]

is the screen with your error message blue or black?

[siamcrut]

Try an update on the BIOS and take things from there

[Chicog]

I bought a new 500 gB hard drive this morning, physically installed it, booted it up and got the message cannot find OS.

Why would you think a new 500Gb drive would have an OS on it if you haven't installed one?

As mentioned, you need to check the BIOS to see if it can boot from external drives or USB.

If not, then you'll have to put that drive in another computer, install the OS on it, bring it back, boot it up and let it find new drivers.

Edited April 22, 2016 by Chicog

[Jiu-Jitsu]

Full model number?

[NeverSure]

Not enough information. Old HDD failed. How do you know? Did you try it in another computer?

WIN 7 disc wouldn't write to new HDD? Is that what you said? Any error message?

The part of the motherboard that controls the HDD and the CDROM drive may have failed. Or, the CMOS on the motherboard may have failed. Try that old HDD in another computer and get back here. Even, just see if you can use the old HDD as an external in another computer. Just prove it's good or bad before putting all of your attention there.

[Crossy]

An unhelpful post along with one discussing moderation has been removed.

To our OP, do you have an original Windows 7 DVD? You should be able to boot from that and install W7 from it.

[brianinbangkok]

Have you looked in bios to see if it sees the new hd ?

Do you have an original windows setup dvd ?

[NeverSure]

I think his motherboard may have failed. One HDD "bad", new one - "Can't find OS" which can mean a lot of things including no HDD in the machine, bad HDD, bad CMOS (BIOS) or bad mobo controller. Failed to write from optical drive to new HDD but instead got the same error message?

Because he's getting those messages, I'm leaning more to the HDD/CDROM controller on the MOBO than to the BIOS. Either way if true, the MOBO would be trashed. The fastest way to check that is to try the old and new HDDs in another computer, probably with an external enclosure.

Cheers.

[2fishin2]

You have no operating system on the hard drive that is your initial problem. CMOS battery is probably dead also. And if it was such an urgent problem you would think the OP would have checked back in here.

Edited April 23, 2016 by 2fishin2

[wcoast]

80 GB HDD, tells us you have an ancient laptop, best to dump.it and get something up to date. In the long run it will save you a lot of headaches

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

[KhunBENQ]

The "No OS" message for the new HDD is completely normal.

It's a blank unformatted HDD so what OS should be found there?

I am not sure what it would show if the HDD is not recognized at all.

In ancient times (the 90s) I remember a "hard disk not found" message or the like.

In addition to post #11:

First step:

Reboot the laptop and press the key to get into the BIOS menu (F2, Insert, Delete, ... depends on model).

Then search for a menu with the boot options.

In the list of bootable devices you should find the manufacturer name and model nr. of your new HDD.

If not! -> problem

Would mean that the HDD is not connected correctly or your laptop (motherboard) is for the bin.

If yes:

insert Win7 DVD, reboot and again select to boot from DVD.

Now the Win7 setup process should start with the usual sequence of questions (language and keyboard setup).

If it doesn't: clueless

Edited April 23, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[billd766]

you lost me, did you do a fresh install of windows on the new hard drive.

No, because the old HDD had died so I got a new one.

When I switched the laptop on without any CD or external HDD it ran up and told me that there was no OS. I knew that anyway.

I expected that but even putting an old Win 7 copy disk in the CD ROM wouldn't start the OS. I put in a Win 7 32 bit rescue disk and it sort of bump started the laptop, but it tells me that there are errors that it cannot fix.

I did a backup from my other laptop to an external HDD but this didn't work either.

Maybe if F12 is the key which gives access to the Boot menu you should have chosen to boot from the (Win) CD rather than the HDD.

I have tried that to but that didn't work either.

is the screen with your error message blue or black?

Black.

The "No OS" message for the new HDD is completely normal.

It's a blank unformatted HDD so what OS should be found there?

I am not sure what it would show if the HDD is not recognized at all.

In ancient times (the 90s) I remember a "hard disk not found" message or the like.

In addition to post #11:

First step:

Reboot the laptop and press the key to get into the BIOS menu (F2, Insert, Delete, ... depends on model).

Then search for a menu with the boot options.

In the list of bootable devices you should find the manufacturer name and model nr. of your new HDD.

If not! -> problem

Would mean that the HDD is not connected correctly or your laptop (motherboard) is for the bin.

If yes:

insert Win7 DVD, reboot and again select to boot from DVD.

Now the Win7 setup process should start with the usual sequence of questions (language and keyboard setup).

If it doesn't: clueless

When I hit F2 it asks me for a password that I cannot remember.

Edited April 23, 2016 by billd766

[billd766]

You have no operating system on the hard drive that is your initial problem. CMOS battery is probably dead also. And if it was such an urgent problem you would think the OP would have checked back in here.

I am sorry that I took my time but I did waste some of it sleeping and a couple of hours this morning trying to get it to work.

I KNOW that there is no OS on my hard drive.

The problem is how to get one onto there.

[lostinisaan]

I think his motherboard may have failed. One HDD "bad", new one - "Can't find OS" which can mean a lot of things including no HDD in the machine, bad HDD, bad CMOS (BIOS) or bad mobo controller. Failed to write from optical drive to new HDD but instead got the same error message?

Because he's getting those messages, I'm leaning more to the HDD/CDROM controller on the MOBO than to the BIOS. Either way if true, the MOBO would be trashed. The fastest way to check that is to try the old and new HDDs in another computer, probably with an external enclosure.

Cheers.

Some dust, tiny ants, or a memory card that can't be read anymore because of dust?

Edited April 23, 2016 by lostinisaan

[billd766]

80 GB HDD, tells us you have an ancient laptop, best to dump.it and get something up to date. In the long run it will save you a lot of headaches

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

I only use it for games and the internet and when I get overrun with kids 1 of them can use it.

[lostinisaan]

80 GB HDD, tells us you have an ancient laptop, best to dump.it and get something up to date. In the long run it will save you a lot of headaches

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

I only use it for games and the internet and when I get overrun with kids 1 of them can use it.

Only for games? Great. BTW< you can Google all problems and if I were you, I'd go to the next Advice store, pay 300 baht for a W 7, keep the updates on and then install W 10 on it.

You're really wasting your time and i don't think that you understood some advice here. Then please go to Advice. Cheap and good and let them clean up the machine, summer's coming.

[Daffy D]

All a bit confusing

Have you set the BIOS to boot from CD?

If you can boot from the CD installation disk you should be able to install the OS onto the HDD.

[2fishin2]

you lost me, did you do a fresh install of windows on the new hard drive.

No, because the old HDD had died so I got a new one.

When I switched the laptop on without any CD or external HDD it ran up and told me that there was no OS. I knew that anyway.

I expected that but even putting an old Win 7 copy disk in the CD ROM wouldn't start the OS. I put in a Win 7 32 bit rescue disk and it sort of bump started the laptop, but it tells me that there are errors that it cannot fix.

I did a backup from my other laptop to an external HDD but this didn't work either.

Maybe if F12 is the key which gives access to the Boot menu you should have chosen to boot from the (Win) CD rather than the HDD.

I have tried that to but that didn't work either.

is the screen with your error message blue or black?

Black.

The "No OS" message for the new HDD is completely normal.

It's a blank unformatted HDD so what OS should be found there?

I am not sure what it would show if the HDD is not recognized at all.

In ancient times (the 90s) I remember a "hard disk not found" message or the like.

In addition to post #11:

First step:

Reboot the laptop and press the key to get into the BIOS menu (F2, Insert, Delete, ... depends on model).

Then search for a menu with the boot options.

In the list of bootable devices you should find the manufacturer name and model nr. of your new HDD.

If not! -> problem

Would mean that the HDD is not connected correctly or your laptop (motherboard) is for the bin.

If yes:

insert Win7 DVD, reboot and again select to boot from DVD.

Now the Win7 setup process should start with the usual sequence of questions (language and keyboard setup).

If it doesn't: clueless

When I hit F2 it asks me for a password that I cannot remember.

If you cant get into your bios to have your computer boot from CD you are hosed. You must have a valid windows disk and boot to that to reinstall OS

[KhunBENQ]

Have you set the BIOS to boot from CD?

No!

BIOS password forgotten, see post #16.

Fiddling on a laptop being locked out from the BIOS?

I Googled about forgotten BIOS PW and I am afraid it's time to seek professional help in a repair shop.

Removing CMOS battery overnight might work or not.

Removing or setting jumpers on the mainboard or bridging jumpers is not for the light hearted.

Try "phoenix" as a password.

If that works it is a joke, otherwise forget the whole thing for a while and relax

Edited April 23, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[chrisinth]

Hi Bill, couple of questions to clarify your situation:

After you installed the new 500GB did you check in the BIOS that your new inserted HDD is recognized?

When you say you put your Win 7 disk into your CD-Rom, did it recognise the install disk and preload files before installation, or did it just not recognise the Win 7 CD? (If your CD-Rom is not recognizing the install disk, it could be the CD-Rom that is defective)

Are you sure that it was a hard drive failure that was the problem with your Travelmate in the first place? A lot of things can go wrong with laptops after 8 years, not just HDD failure.

With some new HDDs we have to initialize these drives first and then format them before installing an operating system. Without an operating system installed, you will not be able to read normal (unbootable) external media.

To initialize a drive, there are a few ways we can do this, the two most common are:

1. Before installing the new HDD on your notebook, mount it in an external drive chasis, connect to another computer and initialize this drive through Disk Management (found in Administration Tools in your Control Panel) or by using Diskpart through command prompt (see attached word document)

2. During the Windows 7 install (assuming your install disk & CD-Rom are good) by pressing Shift + F10 for command prompt and using Diskpart.

It sounds a bit complicated, but really isn't as long as you follow the steps correctly. I have attached a word doc. as well as a U-tube link to take you through both these methods.

However, if you are not comfortable, you could always take it to a shop and they should be able to do this inside an hour (assuming the HDD is the only problem!)

Good Luck...............

https://youtu.be/8CURUWUOWqA

Initialize And Format A New Disk For Use In Windows.docx

[2fishin2]

^^^ part of the built in windows installation process is initializing and formatting the disk. No need to use cmd to do this first.

[brianinbangkok]

You really need to get into the bios if you can not select the cd/dvd as boot drive and also can not check if it sees the new hd correctly.

Can you select to boot from the windows setup dvd and does it start setup or nothing happens after you select boot fronm cd/dvd ?

If you can select the setup dvd and its not an original windows cd/dvd do try another one, I have found that some "copy" disks will not boot properly.

Try at your own risk :

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/110108/How+can+I+reset+bios+password

Edited April 23, 2016 by brianinbangkok

[chrisinth]

^^^ part of the built in windows installation process is initializing and formatting the disk. No need to use cmd to do this first.

Whereas that is normally correct, it is an option for him to try. If the Win 7 install can see the disk to write to, the initiatilizing of the disk is a non-issue, and as you rightly say formatting the disk, assigning partitions, etc takes place at this point of the install. If the Win 7 installation cannot see the disk, there would be nothing lost trying Diskpart.

I am unsure what the OP's problem is (what stage of installing the OS he got) or how his BIOS is setup as he cannot access it,

8 year old notebook, IDE or SATA drive? (assume SATA because of the size)

[NeverSure]

He hasn't yet proven that the old HDD is bad as opposed to the MOBO controller being bad. He needs to put the old HDD in an external enclosure and see if he can read it with a different computer.

[2fishin2]

More than likely an ide. Unless he gets into his bios and changes boot order he will never get anywhere. You guys already know this though. Very difficult to troubleshoot this on the forum that we can all agree upon. OP go get you a new laptop, problem solved. [emoji3]

[rhythmworx]

"I expected that but even putting an old Win 7 copy disk in the CD ROM wouldn't start the OS."

What do you mean by a win 7 copy disk?

Is it a copy of windows 7 you copied in a cd/dvd burning program and have you successfully used this dvd to install before now?