OS Not Found error

[mithrandir726]

I'm having some trouble with a notebook. It's a Compaq V6305NR. When I boot the computer, it POSTs, then immediately comes up with "Operating System Not Found." It also won't boot into the built-in recovery partition.

I removed the hard drive and plugged it in to my desktop. The Windows folders appear to be intact, and so does the recovery partition. I scanned for viruses and found nothing. I also tried swapping out the RAM, which didn't help either. Best Buy claimed that the motherboard was functional, but...

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[frozenlead]

Are you sure your BIOS is set to boot from that hard disk?

Are you sure the hard disk was fully inserted into the machine?

It's worth it to try and boot from that disk using your desktop. It may crash shortly thereafter, but it will tell you if the files are uncorrupted.

 

[mithrandir726]

I tried booting that disk on my desktop. It failed, giving me a message: "Err1,Err3" (that probably doesn't mean anything, but...).

So I'm assuming that this means the boot/Windows files are corrupted? If that's the case, why wouldn't it boot into the recovery partition?

 

[frozenlead]

The recovery partition...yeah. Different companies have different ways making them - they don't all work the same way. Some are just as glorified system restores, but some really do back up your whole OS. Consult your manual on how to activate the partition - it won't activate itself, you know.

 

[mithrandir726]

I did look up how to boot into the boot partition, and tried it. It didn't work.

I forgot to mention, I also tried to boot Ubuntu from a bootable CD, and that failed too.

 

[frozenlead]

That's interesting, Linux failing to boot. Try doing it without the hard disk in (if you didn't already).

If you've got the notebook apart, it's worth it to try and clear the CMOS, otherwise look for a BIOS update.

It also wouldn't hurt to run memtest and make sure your memory is functioning correctly. If your hard disk isn't the problem (or one of the problems removed), memory might be it.

EDIT: Oh, and what do you mean by the recovery didn't work? Did it give you a specific reasons, or just one of those lame "Recovery Failed" things?