Database Users

[Need Help] "Missing operating System"

Hi all,
I don't know if my problem as already been solved but I didn't found anything.
At first, I have to say I installed windows 8 as principal operating system (I know, it's stupid...).
I used windows 8 without big problem since the deployment but today, after a bug, I reboot the PC and now I have just black screen with the message "operating system missing"... The system does not boot, just black screen with the message
Does anybody have an idea how I can solve this problem ?
(Sorry for my english)

you can put dev preview DVD or USB whatever you used to install.
and run the installation and then repair Windows 8 (if it detects a Windows installed). with system restore or maybe it will repair. if not you will have to refresh your win8.
also it can be (if you have more hard drives) that you aren't starting the one with Windows 8. so you can try and see in bios if thats the case. thats when i have seen this message.

Thanks for your answer.
When I run the pc, it doesn't launch anything, just the black screen. It's probably the bios but I can't do anything, just the message but I'm not allowed to do anything :-(
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

Finally, the problem is quite solved.
When I have this message, by pushing ctrl+alt+suprr, if I'm enough fast, I can push F12 and choose wich part I want to run. Then I placed my W7 backup on CD and runned it.
It was not easy but W7 is successfull restored.
Of course, all my personal data were deleted...
But whe I reboot the PC, I've always the message "missing operating system", then I have to ctrl+alt+suprr and after F12, and then choose the hard drive, and the PC W7 boot.
It's not yet perfect but for the moment the PC works...

Thats exactly i told you. of course it changes between bios and motherboard. your problem is not your windows. its the priority of your harddrive.
I dont know what motherboard you have.
so i will find pictures to explain what you have to look for. because you didnt have to repair your Windows if thats the case. the problem its (like i mentioned) your harddrive priority.
so you go to your bios and look for the Boot section.
http://www.motherboards-reviews.com...ges/ASUS_M2N68-AM_PLUS_BIOS_boot_settings.jpg
if you go to Boot Device Priority, you can check if your harddrive is second (the one with your OS) and if you want your cd or usb to boot first if not you can leave it first.
http://motherboards-reviews.com/ASU...s/ASUS_M4N78-AM_BIOS_Boot_Device_Priority.jpg
something like this.
and if that part is right you have to go to Hard disk drives
http://www.laptops-battery.co.uk/images/maintain/bios-boot-hard-disk-drives-445x261.jpg
so there you have to check if your harddrive is first or the correct one. and ready... its probably this Hard disk devices thing. and then you don't have to use that method of changing manually which boots

Thanks for your help
I'm not at home for the moment. I'll try your method tomorrow or wednesday, I'll let you know, but thank you for the time you spent on my problem.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

[Q] Window 8 wont boot up!!

Help would be great. I have a dell inspiron laptop (not sure exactly what model it is) and I made the mistake of downloading windows 8 consumer preview when it first came out and installing it directly on the laptop rather than dualboot or usb stick. It worked fine for a couple of days and then out of nowhere it wouldn't boot up. When I press the power button the screen will light up and the w8 logo will appear but it won't go past that part. Sometimes It will say auto repairing itself but I've left it on for two days to see if it would fix itself but It didn't. Is there a way to get in safe mode to atleast re install the iso file? I've been without a laptop for a couple of months already and can't afford to buy a new one!

vic509 said:
Help would be great. I have a dell inspiron laptop (not sure exactly what model it is) and I made the mistake of downloading windows 8 consumer preview when it first came out and installing it directly on the laptop rather than dualboot or usb stick. It worked fine for a couple of days and then out of nowhere it wouldn't boot up. When I press the power button the screen will light up and the w8 logo will appear but it won't go past that part. Sometimes It will say auto repairing itself but I've left it on for two days to see if it would fix itself but It didn't. Is there a way to get in safe mode to atleast re install the iso file? I've been without a laptop for a couple of months already and can't afford to buy a new one!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so am I correct in thinking you have no installation media at all for windows? any version?
If so do you have access to another PC because to be honest, your probably going to need it
I assume you have tried hitting F8 on boot to get to the boot menu and that didn't work either?
in terms of your hardware its cool, that's not the issue, the software is, having an install disk would have made things a lot easier....

Yes I have access to another pc and no I don't have any available. I downloaded a newer version of the win8 in ISO format and put it on a dvd disc and tried installing it through the f12 key right when you boot up. The disc drive started running but nothing happened afterwards. Windows recently released a new version of win8. Should I download that one and try it again the same way I tried the first time?

vic509 said:
Yes I have access to another pc and no I don't have any available. I downloaded a newer version of the win8 in ISO format and put it on a dvd disc and tried installing it through the f12 key right when you boot up. The disc drive started running but nothing happened afterwards. Windows recently released a new version of win8. Should I download that one and try it again the same way I tried the first time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, you hit F12 to get in to the boot menu is that correct? then you selected the DVD drive and it made some noises but did nothing?
Ok, Boot menus can be troublesome
What I suggest is go in to the BIOS and change the boot order to DVD first THEN HDD, if that doesn't work then take the HDD out of the boot order altogether, you will need to turn it back on again though to complete the setup
also, I want you to see if the DVD boots on another computer, the first ISO I downloaded was corrupted and whilst mine booted it would always fail to install, re downloaded it and no problems at all
Its probably worth downloading the RP ISO anyway, the previous version the CP, was mass tested in the open market so any issues with installing wouldn't have been worked out in the CP, hopefully the RP would have got most of them,

Hi, i did what you recommended and it worked fine until the install process! It took me to the install screen and i pressed install. Afterwards it gave me the option of automatically doing the install or choosing custom options only. I choose the automatic and it told me that i had to remove the disc and restart the computer and re inster the disc for it to continue! The problem is that everytime i do that it wants to boot up the original way where it wouldnt work! Any ideas. Should i choose the custom option instead ( but i dont know what to choose if i do it that way)??!! Thanks for your help

Reload and options
vic509 said:
Hi, i did what you recommended and it worked fine until the install process! It took me to the install screen and i pressed install. Afterwards it gave me the option of automatically doing the install or choosing custom options only. I choose the automatic and it told me that i had to remove the disc and restart the computer and re inster the disc for it to continue! The problem is that everytime i do that it wants to boot up the original way where it wouldnt work! Any ideas. Should i choose the custom option instead ( but i dont know what to choose if i do it that way)??!! Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI!
Yes, you are right.
Boot to the install media, at the option to do custom, select custom.
When the screen loads showing the partitions (drives)
-Click advanced on the bottom right
-highlight each partition and delete them (this will loose all data saved there but unless you have a boot disk or usb or remove the drive from the laptop, the data is usless anyway)
At this point you can click continue, or next Windows setup will auto create the partitions it needs and unpack the files, then finish install.
If you get any issues with files missing or media is corrupt from the ISO, you will need to down load it again, use the MS download manager or some manager to ensure the download is good and the file CRC matches what they have on the download site. I have seen this a lot lately so don't waste your time restarting the install if it has an error while coping files, just get a new download.
I hope this Helps.

KahulBane said:
HI!
Yes, you are right.
Boot to the install media, at the option to do custom, select custom.
When the screen loads showing the partitions (drives)
-Click advanced on the bottom right
-highlight each partition and delete them (this will loose all data saved there but unless you have a boot disk or usb or remove the drive from the laptop, the data is usless anyway)
At this point you can click continue, or next Windows setup will auto create the partitions it needs and unpack the files, then finish install.
If you get any issues with files missing or media is corrupt from the ISO, you will need to down load it again, use the MS download manager or some manager to ensure the download is good and the file CRC matches what they have on the download site. I have seen this a lot lately so don't waste your time restarting the install if it has an error while coping files, just get a new download.
I hope this Helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This does resemble a copy error, or even a hard disk/hard disk controller problem.
I have a desktop computer that will no longer boot up from any IDE devices (even if their properly formatted, it also includes any optical medium), Trying to boot from them results in a "DISK NOT BOOTABLE" (something around that, Acer's boot errors are different from the usual ones.
Anyway, back on track, before all that happened, I had trouble booting the computer from the IDE HDDs, sometimes it would boot and sometimes it stuck at the Windows 7 loading screen till it said a file was corrupt or missing, or it BSOD'd.
I also recommend re-downloading and trying the install again, in extreme cases, if you have another HDD to test, try installing it on a different HDD. If that works, the problem could be your hard disk (or something more nefarious, who knows ^_^

[DISCUSSION] Installing windows 8 pro

Hey guys, i looked around and couldnt find a thread so here's one.
I want to know, how did you all install windows8 pro? Did you do a clean install or installed without wiping anything?
I read on the internet that you can't install windows with a full wipe. After you do that, Microsoft blocks the activation of product key even if it's legit. MS says that windows 8 pro is only meant as an upgrade. What the f*** does this mean? Why is Microsoft having any objections on how we use something that we have bought legally?
Here's one article.
Let me know your thought on this. Did you face such an error while installing Windows?

I installed windows 8 without wiping. When im in windows 8 i backup everything i want then proceed to reset it to factory settings which it'll clean the c drive. Never had any problems with the activation. Oh i bought the online pro version which cost $39.99.
However the only problem i have is everytime it reboots my mouse will not work forcing me to restart again to get my mouse working. Otherwise its good.
// Edit:
Forgotten to mention it was an upgrade from windows 7.
I also did make the downloaded W8 installation into iso and make it into usb installation via windows 7 usb tool and install from the usb on top of windows 8 for a clean installation and everything works well too.
If problem still persist you may try to install windows 7 and upgrade from there then while you're in windows 8 do a factory reset which doesn't require you to insert the cd or usb for the reset (+1 for that feature though). That's just me~
Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk HD

I got windows 8 Pro from dreamspark and it came as an iso. I burned it to a dvd and formatted my hard drive before installing.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

Wtfhx, what does an upgrade even mean? Are we supposed to install win8 from the desktop of windows7? Or boot the PC from a CD and install from there? If it is the later, then how will it even know what is my operating system?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app

soham_sss said:
Wtfhx, what does an upgrade even mean? Are we supposed to install win8 from the desktop of windows7? Or boot the PC from a CD and install from there? If it is the later, then how will it even know what is my operating system?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed windows 8 from windows 7 desktop as the installation was downloaded into my c drive. However i also tried installing from an usb from a direct boot into the usb (im sure it'll work the same as CD). Upgrading can only means you must have an existing OS such as windows 7 and install windows 8 from the CD inside windows 7.
Regarding to your problem about the activation caused by not an upgrade, i would suggest you to install windows 7 without activating it and run the windows 8 installation from the CD inside windows 7. I have not encountered your problem before but to troubleshoot it you may have to go extra length with what i have suggested. (Doesn't mean it'll 100% work)
Other ways to troubleshoot if the above fail is to try the usb installation with Windows 7 USB Tool. Before you use it you must turn your windows 8 installation cd into ISO with freewares like ImgBurn.
Not sure if any of these will help you but if both the solutions above fail, you may need to contact Microsoft or the dealer you purchased your copy of windows 8 about it.
// Edit
Wait are you having problem with the installation or you're just asking is there any problem with the installation?

soham_sss said:
Wtfhx, what does an upgrade even mean? Are we supposed to install win8 from the desktop of windows7? Or boot the PC from a CD and install from there? If it is the later, then how will it even know what is my operating system?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may do either. The installation handles everything. At some people, it may request your Windows 7 key and other times it detects the installation automatically.

I am not having any problem. I read that if you install windows8 using a clean install Microsoft won't let you activate the product key.
Just a question, did you click install Windows just like you'd any other game?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app

soham_sss said:
I am not having any problem. I read that if you install windows8 using a clean install Microsoft won't let you activate the product key.
Just a question, did you click install Windows just like you'd any other game?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case, there is no problem whatsoever with my copy of installation downloaded from the Microsoft. Both installing from windows 7 desktop (Upgrading and yes it's like installing games) and usb booting installation (Considering it did not load my current OS first so this doesn't count as upgrading, i might be wrong), complete without the activation problem. Not sure about the physical copy but my guess is the result will still be the same. Others might have bought a bad copy of the installation disc, i don't know.
The best thing is, once you have windows 8 installed without any problem.. you do not need the installation files anymore. Reinstalling windows 8 can be done easily.

wtfhax said:
In that case, there is no problem whatsoever with my copy of installation downloaded from the Microsoft. Both installing from windows 7 desktop (Upgrading and yes it's like installing games) and usb booting installation (Considering it did not load my current OS first so this doesn't count as upgrading, i might be wrong), complete without the activation problem. Not sure about the physical copy but my guess is the result will still be the same. Others might have bought a bad copy of the installation disc, i don't know.
The best thing is, once you have windows 8 installed without any problem.. you do not need the installation files anymore. Reinstalling windows 8 can be done easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you read the article in the op ?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app

I bought the $40 "upgrade" and did a full wipe clean install. Nothing to it.

Evil-Eye said:
I bought the $40 "upgrade" and did a full wipe clean install. Nothing to it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did almost the same thing. I downloaded it from Microsoft and chose keep nothing , it loaded and I started with a clean laptop. I did not burn an iso or download it to an USB drive, I used the download.
Before I loaded win8 I used double driver and copied all my drivers to a backup, just in case I had an issue, I also did a full backup of everything else. I'm really enjoying it, but there are still a few places I use secure wifi that don't recognize windows 8 as being a valid os, they also dont recognize the windows defender as being a valid antivirus software, but otherwise I've been impressed. I was going to purchase a new laptop with a touch screen but I don't have any reason to now.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

OK, to the above two guys, when you to activation settings in computer do you see windows8 is activated?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app

i did an upgrade without getting anything over from win 7...

Just to preface, Windows had marked my system as not being genuine (I know this because Microsoft security essentials wouldn't allow me to install it). I updated on top of Windows 7 since didn't want to install all of my apps all over again. I download the update and installed it right from my hard drive as opposed to a usb or dvd, although I did make a backup copy of the windows 8 file just in case.
Everything is okay except it takes a while (roughly 15 minutes) for windows to recognize my Intel graphics chip right away. The screen will just be black after the Windows logo appears. Also, if you update directly from your hard drive, make sure you delete your temporary files because windows will keep the old OS and files. After clearing mine I freed up 32 GB!
*Update*
After installing windows 8 and enabling then installing the windows updates, my laptop boots up just fine now ( and mighty quick I add). As others have said, I don't believe windows cares if your version of windows 7 is genuine or not.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda app-developers app

Hi,
Thought I would share my experience:
I downloaded and installed the upgrade version. I was running Windows 7 Pro before.
After downloading the files, I wrote it to a disk and decided to do what I did for Win7, manual format and repartition my disks (I didnt trust the "Keep Nothing" option )
Unfortunately, I forgot I had a dynamic disk and my Win7 partition was booting off it - I formatted my C:\ and was met with a "Cannot create partition... / cannot install windows on dynamic disk"... it was a long painful process that took me most of the day to fix. Also, there is a bug with installing Win8 with multiple hard drives booting from disk or at least I had some trouble with it until I detached 2 of them for the install to progress.
After all that, the key wouldn't activate because it wasn't technically an upgrade... *face palm*
So, in went the Win7 disk, reinstalled and activated. After initial boot, I put in the Win8 CD and used the wizard and selected "Keep Nothing" ( At this point I couldn't care less)
All activated and now enjoying the system
Moral of the story:
- Stay away from dynamic disks on the boot partition, it'll warn you if you try - heed the warning!
- Multiple harddrives may cause issues with the install so you might need to disable them through bios or disconnect them from the mobo
- For me the Key only activated via an install, it wouldn't recognize it when I formatted C:\ through custom install.
- Did I mention? STAY AWAY FROM DYNAMIC DISKS!!!

soham_sss said:
OK, to the above two guys, when you to activation settings in computer do you see windows8 is activated?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine shows it being activated and has a link for me to click on which shows my product key and shows current edition : Windows 8 Pro with Media Center. The activation date isn't available but that's the only thing unavailable.
Hope this helps
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

soham_sss said:
OK, to the above two guys, when you to activation settings in computer do you see windows8 is activated?
Sent from my One V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine activated first try no problem

It's only the box copies that are sold in retail stores that are upgrade-only packages. A few will only sell full retail versions of Windows 8. These versions are more likely a hundred bucks more than the upgrade version. The copy downloaded from the Microsoft Store are full Windows 8 Pro copies.

What? Are you sure??
Sent from my One V

I upgraded my notebook from within 7 no problem. My desktop i bought the upgrade, and installed from a USB that the upgrade advisor program created. However i formatted the HD before installing and did a clean install and it never asked for any proof that i had windows 7 on my PC previously. Its fully activated and fine.
I have heard that in some countries it will even let you upgrade a pirate copy of 7 if the upgrade advisor program doesn't flag it.

windows 10 not working!!

hello
my windows store is deleted for some reason and all the other windows apps like mail and photos too.
i tried a lot to get it back but nothing works! well thats not true. i have reset the whole windows and after that it worked again, but now everything is gone again.
if i run a troubleshooter, it says something about BITS.
also sometimes if i turn on my laptop, it turns black after logging in. i don't now if it has something to do with it.
i hope somebody nows whats going on and can help me out because this problem is really anoying.
sorry for my bad english, i am dutch.

MilanVLaar said:
hello
my windows store is deleted for some reason and all the other windows apps like mail and photos too.
i tried a lot to get it back but nothing works! well thats not true. i have reset the whole windows and after that it worked again, but now everything is gone again.
if i run a troubleshooter, it says something about BITS.
also sometimes if i turn on my laptop, it turns black after logging in. i don't now if it has something to do with it.
i hope somebody nows whats going on and can help me out because this problem is really anoying.
sorry for my bad english, i am dutch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Backup any data that you don't want to lose and store it somewhere other than on your laptop's internal storage. Then download the hardware drivers(including any BIOS updates) for your specific laptop and the drivers for any other external hardware that you use with the laptop. Then do a complete format and reinstallation of Windows 10 using a Windows 10 .iso. Then reinstall your laptop's hardware drivers, starting with your chipset drivers, then video and audio drivers, then the rest of your laptop's various hardware drivers, then drivers for any external hardware that you use with the laptop.
Then you can copy your backed up data back to your laptop.

If you reinstall the system, you need to enter the license key. Even if you rolled back or transferred Windows to a new laptop, you still have to enter the key. When I bought a new PC I had to completely transfer the system to the new PC and consequently change 7 to 10 windows. I re-downloaded drivers, all necessary applications, installer packages. But then it wouldn't start because the system failed. My laptop has a new boot system that has been changed and it was not possible to just run windup from a flash drive. I bought the windows 10 pro key separately and entered it to activate all the packages. Everything worked.
{Mod edit: Link to commercial selling site removed. Please refer to rule no. 13 of the XDA Forum Rules! - Oswald Boelcke, Senior Moderator}

Question Cant install fresh copy of xp

So I had this old ass desktop donated to me and the hdd was filled with so much crap I couldn't even install rufus to burn an xp iso to a USB drive. So I finally get to my PC, which is not easy to get over to use, and burn an a supposed untouched xp iso with sp3. So I boot up from USB everything seems to be going smoothly I format the entire drive because there were a few partitions on the hdd I figured I didn't need all that crap, if I remember back to around 2003 multiple partitions weren't needed to install xp. Anyways the drive formats fine, I hit install, and run out the door to handle a few errands as I was late meeting with a friend. I get home and I can't remember the exact error it threw at me when I walked in the door but basically I started a reinstall. Except now, everything from my USB drive loads normally but before the installation screee. Actually starts up it tells me that there is no valid xp operating installed on the hd and that I need to insert a windows xp cd to verify that my installation is legit or something like that. So it's either f3 to quit or enter to continue. I hit enter hoping it will read from my USB but that didn't work. So I'm a little stuck here because the only PC I have that can burn cd or DVDs is this desktop.my laptop doesn't have a rw drive.

bigrooster88 said:
So I had this old ass desktop donated to me and the hdd was filled with so much crap I couldn't even install rufus to burn an xp iso to a USB drive. So I finally get to my PC, which is not easy to get over to use, and burn an a supposed untouched xp iso with sp3. So I boot up from USB everything seems to be going smoothly I format the entire drive because there were a few partitions on the hdd I figured I didn't need all that crap, if I remember back to around 2003 multiple partitions weren't needed to install xp. Anyways the drive formats fine, I hit install, and run out the door to handle a few errands as I was late meeting with a friend. I get home and I can't remember the exact error it threw at me when I walked in the door but basically I started a reinstall. Except now, everything from my USB drive loads normally but before the installation screee. Actually starts up it tells me that there is no valid xp operating installed on the hd and that I need to insert a windows xp cd to verify that my installation is legit or something like that. So it's either f3 to quit or enter to continue. I hit enter hoping it will read from my USB but that didn't work. So I'm a little stuck here because the only PC I have that can burn cd or DVDs is this desktop.my laptop doesn't have a rw drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your assumption that multiple partitions are not required is incorrect. Windows requires an MBR parition that occupies the first 512 bytes of your hard disk. This acts as a loader to start Windows.
You should be able to simply remove all partitions on the drive when you start the Windows installation process; Windows will then automatically configure the necessary partitions for you. This article should provide the information you need.
Also, don't forget to enable legacy boot in your BIOS, assuming the BIOS supports UEFI.

Yes, I am aware of the mbr but like you said the installation media should have no problem creating that after formatting the whole drive and starting install. I'll check the bios settings thanks for the tip. I'm leaning towards running one of the android os compatible with x86 arch. Anyone have any experience with those. I have bliss and prime downloading right now.
*EDIT*
I turned USB legacy mode from auto to enabled but no dice. I would think that once I hit enter it would recognize the USB I have plugged in as the CD ROM. What if I disabled the CD ROM drive for the time being?