"Missing Operating System Windows 7 Ultimate"

[dtdistributions]

Hello,

I received the "Missing Operating System" in my laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate. After doing some online research, I realized my USB flash drive, which I had forgotten to remove last night, was interfering with the start-up. I removed the flash drive by simply pulling it out of the USB port, and then starting my laptop. It immediately went to my home screen and I released a huge sigh of relief. Problem solved.

It seems the laptop recognizes the flash drive but, since the flash drive has no operating system, the "No operating system" is the message I received.

 

[arson94]

Wtf just happened? I came in here to help you solve your problem and what do I find when I enter your thread? No problem at all! Instead, you even post the solution immediately after your state what the problem WAS! I was so disappointed.

However, I visited your thread via the forum live feed on the homepage and NOW I realize that we're in General Discussion. You fooled me again, twice in the same thread, with just one post.

Well played, Sir. Well played indeed.



On another note though, you can always set USB flash drives as a lower boot priority then your HDD if you don't want to fall victim to this scenario again. If you ever mean to boot into a USB flash drive, you'll be much more aware to change the boot priority to reflect that than if you ever forget you have a flash drive in plugged in when you boot.

 

[dtdistributions]

I am sorry to have disappointed you; I could not find a way to post a solution to the problem because the initial thread was closed and I received error messages when I tried alternatives. I do appreciate your comment about future issues with USB devices. Where do I change the boot priority to keep the flash drive from interfering with the boot-up sequence in Windows 7?

Forgive my unusual posting sequences. I truly wanted to be helpful, not sly or devious. I was excited about solving my own problem with my own research.

 

[arson94]

lol I was just kidding! I didn't realize you had posted in General Discussion because I visited your thread from the forum live feed section on tom's homepage. I'm not sure if you could have found a better way to post this like you did so I think you did good lol.

To change boot priorities though, you'd have to change that in your BIOS. You're looking for a section to change the priority list of each type of boot device in the system. If you're familiar or comfortable in your BIOS, then go have a look. If you're not comfortable though, you can just leave it be and just remember to take out the USB drive or a find a friend that's comfortable.

I just don't want to encourage you to take a look if you're not familiar with it as you could risk keeping your machine from booting properly again. However, it would only take a person familiar with BIOS to fix it again so there's always an option!

 

[dtdistributions]

Best answer selected by dtdistributions.