Operating Sys Deleting HD deletes operating sys

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

Help! has anyone ever heard of a hard drive deleting a Operating system?I have a old HP that I had been playing with, trying to fix it up for a friend young son to mess around with. It had no Operating system in it to start with. I had a old hard drive laying around that had windows 98 in it which was perfect for the old HP due to memory and being just a 286. Well, I removed the old HD and put in the one with the 98. Booted up great. even got on the net with it for a bit, then I had to run out for a bit so I shut it down. When I got back, I turned it back on to install a few games for him, and it told me I had no operating systerm. Anyone know what the problem could be?

[Saint_Michael 3]

Hard to say really, it just sounds like the Operating System just crashed, of course for that to happen to you hear any series of beeps or anything? Also did you check to make sure all the hardware is connected, because if your hard drive connection cables are not secured or your hard drive is powered on. Then you might get a No Operating System found, however, since I never really messed with Windows 98 it is hard to tell, but your best bet is to reinstall it again, and see what happens, also try to remember what you did when you were putting in that hard drive as well. As that might be able to solve your problem there too.

[EngrJayze 0]

maybe the operating system files got corrupted because of the fact that the hard drive is old.. it ran for a while then maybe the mechanisms inside the drive started to fail and you lost your os.. try reinstalling again and check for any loose connections

[BuffaloHelp 24]

A remote chance that there is a BIOS resident virus that attacks operating sys files. I had it once during 1998 CitiGroup crisis. A virus made to reside in RAM and BIOS to wipe out the hard drive's boot sector. Trying scanning with anti-virus after reinstalling an operating system. Again, this probability is very small but I just wanted to raise an awareness.

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

Thanks for the info all. Tried a reinstall and was not picking up the CD rom. Who know's But that idea of a virus on the bios has crossed my mind also...."It was" Thank you for the help.

Edited April 4, 2008 by Echo_of_thunder (see edit history)

[BuffaloHelp 24]

"It was" as in "did you have virus residing in the BIOS?"

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

"It was" as in "did you have virus residing in the BIOS?"

My bad. yes it was a vius in the BIOS. made a few calls on having it removed. just cheeper to use the old PC as a paper weight. But I have to say this one last time. I sure do thank all of you for your help in this and the ideas.

[Saint_Michael 3]

Interesting but there is a way for you to do it yourself in two ways: first is by replacing the motherboard and the CPU, and odds are you got some old stuff in there so you could spend maybe about $200-$250 to get the computer working again on some cheaper stuff on the market. The other way is to flash your BIOS and from what I seen on a couple of sites it would seem to work on removing the BIOS virus, and here is the guide to help you with that.

1. Remove any important files and shut down the infected computer. You can not begin to remove the virus if it is in the RAM in your computer. 2. Download a new BIOS flash utility (must be DOS version) and copy it to the bootable floppy you are about to make. These are found at your motherboard manufacturer's website, or at your computer manufacturer's website if you have a laptop.
3. Create a bootable floppy from an uninfected computer. Then write-protect the floppy.
4. Remove the HDD (hard disk drive or hard drive) from the infected computer. Be sure to remove all of the static electricity from your self by touching the metal case.
5. Start up the infected computer with the bootable floppy in the floppy drive.
6. When the BIOS setup page shows, Push the corrosponding key to change the Boot Order.
7. Set the Floppy drive to boot first.
8. Flash your BIOS with the utility provided by the manufacturer. DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER UNTIL THE UTILITY TELLS YOU THAT YOU CAN. DOING SO BEFORE IT IS FINISHED MAY PERMENANTLY DAMAGE YOUR COMPUTER.
9. Find out which company manufactures your HDD and see if they have a utility that will do a Low-Level format. This part is important because it deletes everything from your hard drive so that no one can get it back, including the virus. Some common HDD manufacturers' tools for doing this can be found here.
10. Run the formatting utility provided by your HDD manufacturer.
11. Reinstall your Operating System of choice however you want to.

Edited April 8, 2008 by Saint_Michael (see edit history)

[coolcat50 0]

Very interesting, good job on finding out the culprit. Could you possibly give us a name of the virus to look after?

[Echo_of_thunder 1]

Well Good and bad news on on HD problems. 1 it was not a virus as thought. Thats the good news. Bad news is it is something in the motherboard. I tried what Saint_Michael had suggested and still got the error message No Operating System. So I went to a buddy of mine that owns a PC repair shop, and asked him if he had a old 286 mother board for a HP laying around. Sure enough he did. 5 bucks which I turned around and give him 20. When I got home I slapped that puppy in, put back a HD that I knew had 98 in it and low and behold she fired right up. Then Downloaded a copy of AVG and found a couple of bugs. cleaned it up and then updated it to Windows ME. A little slower but works good for the games that I put into it. Also I had a little faster graphics card laying around so dropped it in as well, along with a better modem. Needless to say when I took the compter from hell over to my friend with the young son. the kid went NUTS! Jumping up and down and such a smile. to me it was worth seeing that smile for all the trouble I went through.