Operating System Not Found Error Appears, How To Recover Data

Content:

• Part 1 – Run into Operating System Not Found Error
• Part 2 – How to Recover Files from a Hard Drive That Won't Boot
• How to Fix Operating System Not Found Error
• Bottom Line
• Related Articles
• User Comments

Part 1 – Run into Operating System Not Found Error

"Hey I had Windows 7 home basic installed on my Dell Inspiron laptop, and there was only 1 partition (c drive), I think that I deleted something from windows, and now when I'm switching on the laptop its saying 'operating system not found'. Somebody please help me, how can I recover the data on hard drive. Is it possible that data is still present on hdd? Sorry for my grammar, I'm not good in English."
– said by akks on SeverForums

Is this familiar to you? Have you ever been put into such situation? What will you do if you find the computer fails to launch operating system and displays an error message like "Operating system not found"? At this critical moment, most of you will focus on operating system crash recovery and how to fix operating system not found error, right?



Here, we'll provide an excellent bootable recovery tool and show you how to recover files from a dead computer with it. And after that, we'll also provide 6 solutions to help fix no operating system error. Please take it easy, all the operations involved in the data recovery and error solving process are easy to master, even for a newbie.

The bootable recovery tool – MiniTool Power Data Recovery Boot Disk – allows you to access hard disk without OS easily so as to recover files from the unbootable disk. You don't need to worry even if you have never done data recovery/file recovery by yourself independently; that is simply because prompts will be given in software to guide you through the recovery process step by step. You can choose to download the free edition to experience its performance firstly and then decide to buy a license for getting the WinPE Bootable Media or not.

Now, let's take a closer look at how to recover files when Windows crashed.

Part 2 – How to Recover Files from a Hard Drive That Won't Boot

Seeing no operating system found or missing operating system error message when you tried to start computer as usual? Though data recovery from corrupted internal hard disk is a relatively difficult task, we can make it easy for you. Please keep calm and watch what we do in the following content (all the operations are completed in a Win7 desktop).

Curious about how to recover files from a dead computer? We'll unveil it to you; it includes 2 stages: building Boot Disk and changing startup settings to use the boot disk to recover data.

How to Build MiniTool Power Data Recovery Boot Disk

Step 1: find another computer that works well and buy a license according to your needs. Then, install the software to that computer and run it afterward. Now, click on "Bootable Edition".



Step 2: click on the "WinPE-based media with MiniTool plug-in" when you see the following interface.



Step 3: choose to build the boot disk on CD/DVD/USB flash drive. Or you can just make an .iso image in this step.




Step 4: wait patiently when the disk is building.



Step 5: please click on the "Finish" button when the building process is completed automatically.

How to Use the Boot Disk to Recover Data

Now, let's see how to recover files from a crashed hard drive with ease.

Step 1: eject the boot disk you've just created from current computer and connect it to the computer which encounters problem. Then, start the computer and press the required button to enter BIOS settings. After that, adjust the order of devices under "Boot" menu, moving the bootable CD/DVD/USB to the first. Finally, exit BIOS settings panel and choose to save the changes.



Step 2: decide to change the screen resolution or not.



Step 3: you can click on "OK" button to confirm the launching process of MiniTool Power Data Recovery or wait for the automatic launching.



Step 4: please click on the first option when you see the following interface.



Step 5: after that, you'll see the main window of software, in which 5 functional modules are displayed in order – "Undelete Recovery", "Lost Partition Recovery", "Damaged Partition Recovery", "Digital Media Recovery" and "CD/DVD Recovery". Now, choose a function to start.


Then, select the corresponding partition/disk and press "Full Scan" button to detect files. After that, wait for the scan. At the end of scan, please browse the result to see whether it helps you find needed files or not.




See, data recovery after OS not found is not that difficult to finish as long as you choose the right tool. Please click on the following button to buy a license with a discount if you are ready to use recommended boot disk to recover important data from crashed system.

Reading here, you must know how to recover files when computer crashed, right? Don't ask how to fix a crashed laptop since the steps are exactly the same. Our suggestion is – seize your time to recover data by using the bootable recover tool we introduced, instead of wasting time seeking methods to recover data from hard disk without OS. The quicker you take action, the more likely you are to succeed in data recovery.

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How to Fix Operating System Not Found Error

When advanced users see error messages like operating system not found and missing operating system, they'll firstly think that this is caused by the missing of boot information of hard disk; if that's the reason, then you can solve the problem by simply reinstalling operating system after finishing recovered needed data.



But, the error may also be resulted from other problems, so we suggest you to read following causes and solutions carefully in order to find out the most suitable one for your case.

Check Whether Hard Disk Is Detected in BIOS or Not

The no operating system found error could be caused by problems on hard disk. So we suggest you enter BIOS/CMOS settings by pressing corresponding button in the first screen you see when starting computer. Then, go to check whether hard disk is detected.

As long as you know the computer model, it won't be a troublesome thing to find and enter computer BIOS/CMOS settings. But what makes it difficult is that the BIOS (or UEFI) interfaces on different motherboards are very different (even two computers developed by the same manufacturer can be totally different).

The good news is in most BIOS interfaces, so it's easy to find the boot options on the main screen. In this way, you're able to see whether your hard disk is detected by computer clearly.

Only when you're using some very old motherboards, you may see the following main BIOS screen.



In BIOS settings screens like this, you need to enter the "Advanced BIOS Features" and then check the first, second and third boot devices separately.

If you found hard disk not detected by computer, you should go to check you connection line, hard disk interface, power supply or other factors that could affect the detection of hard disk.

Change the Boot Order in BIOS

After checking, if you find your hard disk is detected by computer normally, you should then check the boot sequence inside. If the hard disk is not set as the first boot device, your computer may also not be able to boot normally.

At this time, you should use corresponding keyboard (you can see prompts in the settings window) to adjust the boot sequence easily and then make the correct hard disk as the first boot device. After that, exit and save changes. Now, restart your computer.

Check Whether the Boot Partition Is Active

What is an active partition? In brief, it is a hard drive partition that was set as the bootable partition in order to boot operating system contained in it successfully. On each hard drive, there is at most one active partition. When you set the wrong partition active, you will not be able to access computer.

At this time, you can use the MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable CD to see whether you have active partition on hard drive and whether it is set correctly. If not, you can make use of the "Set Active" & "Set Inactive" to change.

Repair MBR or Boot Sector

When starting computer from a bootable hard drive, the system BIOS code will firstly identify the startup disk & read the MBR (Master Boot Record) on it. Then, the master boot code will search for active & primary partition on the hard disk. At this point, if the MBR is damaged or it cannot locate the boot sector of system partition, you'll end up in failure.

In this case, you can also try MiniTool Partition Wizard Bootable CD; use the "Rebuild MBR" function to have a try.

Check Property of Hard Disk

If above methods all fail, you should consider that your hard drive is broken. Don't panic; you can use the "Surface Test" function in MiniTool Partition Wizard to check your disk to see what happens.

Reinstall Operating System – the Trump Card

The last but not the least method to deal with the operating system not found problem is to reinstall your operating system. As long as the hard disk in your computer is not damaged physically, this can always be the most effective and most direct solution.

After the reinstallation of operating system, all problems and errors will go away. The only thing you should notice is all the data on the hard drive may be damaged during reinstallation, so you should recover data firstly, as we said.

This post tells you how to reinstall Windows on computer.

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Bottom Line

All in all, what we want to emphasize in this article is – Operating System Not Found happens now and then due to various reasons. When that really hits on you, you shouldn't cover your face and weep; on the contrary, please cheer up and take measures immediately to rescue data at first from the problematic computer.

Our suggestion is using the Bootable Edition of MiniTool Power Data Recovery. It will help you recover important data easily and will not bring any damage to your hard disk/computer.

When data recovery after OS crashed is finished completely, you can try to fix the no operating system error by whatever means you like. Hope you all can find back valuable data you need and fix the problem successfully! Feel free to leave us a message if you encounter any questions.

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