Missing Operating System

[sawdagar]

I have a alienware laptop, and it was working fine, and I shut down for the night. Next day, I turn it on, and when i's about to load, a black screen comes up saying, Missing Operating System.

I don't know what to do, and I did not back my files up. What are the chances of getting my old files back? Is there any way to fix the problem without factory reset? Please help or any knowledge with your experience

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Sounds like a hard drive failure. But first check the BIOS screens and if the drive is present, make sure the computer is set to boot from hard drive. Try again.

 

[m_foster]

If drive is not detected in Bios, try opening it up and checking the connection to the drive. SATA connector may be loose, try re-seating it. If it is PATA connected check it is pushed all the way into the slot. You should also be able to hear it spin up when you power on the laptop. If it seems to be spinning, making noise, you may have a bad boot sector. Depending on what version of Windows OS you are running there are different recovery methods to rebuild the boot sector.
for Windows XP see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654 using the "Fixboot" command.
Windows 7 and vista see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392