Operating System Not Found
 

Ya I just Got this anti virus stuff and I used it. then my comp froze up(which is normal but gay) then when I restarted it, it said Operating System Not found. and it wouldnt turn on for like a half hour. it came back on just now and this is the first thing i did. what do i do now?

So it wouldn't power up, or it wouldn't boot up to your OS? They are two different things. If it's operating normally now, then you have no real problem. Try restarting it several times to see if it isn't just a fluke. If it continues, find your latest backup or, if you're unlucky in that, your OS's installation CD. Then either restore from your backup or reinstall your OS. The latter is a last-ditch effort, though.

Were you running Windows ME? If you were, the anti-virus program probably mistook it for a particularily vile virus and started deleting it. Not really it's fault. Honest mistake that anyone could make, really.

No, no! What if the fact that it's now working is a fluke? You don't want to restart it with the express intent of 'trying to make it screw-up' again!

My six year old laptop started giving me that same message. I don't think it's a fluke. That's why it's the most expensive paperweight I ever bought.

Well for one I do have Windows ME (AND FUCK IT SOO IS A VIRUS)
and for two it gave me the OS Not found came in before any thing else at all.
but then after i turned it off/on an ass load of times it finally came on again. I would have said more in my first post but i was afriad of it crashing again.

There's your problem, right there. That antivirus program is just trying to help you out, that's all. Doing you a favor, it is.

Sounds like either your hard disk might be slightly detached, what with a loose contact or something (goto 1), or else your boot sector is toast (goto 2).

1. Being VERY careful, you (or a trained specialist, preferably) removes and reinserts your hard drive, ensuring that the signals are getting from the motherboard to the disk, and vice versa.

2. You just find your last backup of your system and restore it. Y'know, a backup made with Ghost or something. Don't have one? Ha. You're fucked then, I hope you have the disk(s) of your OS handy, cause it's now time for a total reformat and reinstall.

If none of this works, then its just the God of Computing sending you a message, a message of Upgrading.

oddly enough, I have an XP computer, and I get this same problem... well, not often, per se, but often enough considering FINDING MY GODDAMN OPERATING SYSTEM should be something my computer shoud be able to handle on its own.

Usually I leave the computer alone and turned off for awhile, and then turn it on and the problem magically goes away.

Sometimes the computer starts saying "Hard Drive not found," and then I start drinking.

Check the cables to your HDD and MoBo. If that doesn't fix it, try reintalling your OS.

I just did that like a month ago. Id just go an get a new comp if i were me but well Im poor so i cant but worst comes to worst I can start usin my laptop.

It would seem like Microsoft likes building buggy stuff so you have to go by more. I upgraded to xp, which for some reason deleted a crap load of files but left the folders, and it usually runs stable. I do get the blue screen of death more than I should though.

If your going to go inside of your comp I suggest grounding yourself by touching something metal, static is bad for computers. Then unpluging all of the cords, and yes I mean all of them. If you have an internal Dialup modem be doubly sure you phone line is disconnected. I build and fix my PCs and I learned the hard way that phone lines can give you a damn good shock. Also, your hard drive can usually deal with somehandling but be careful not to drop it and don't force anythig. I have had to unbend many pins because I wasn't paying attention and just shoved stuff together. Other than that your computers guts can survive a little rooting around.