August 22, 2017

[SOLVED] Operating System Not Found Error

Fix Operating System Not Found Error: When you Start your Windows then out of nowhere you receive an error message “Operating System Not Found” on the black screen then you are in big trouble as you won’t be able to boot into Windows. The error itself states that somehow Windows is not able to boot because the operating system is missing or Windows is not able to read it. Well, the error could be caused because of both hardware or software issues. Depending upon your system configuration you receive any of the following error message on Startup:

Operating System Not Found

An operating system wasn’t found. Try disconnecting any drives that don’t contain an operating system. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

Missing Operating System

Fix Operating System Not Found Error

All of the above error messages mean the same thing that Operating system is not found or missing and Windows won’t be able to boot. Now let’s see what are the main causes because of which this error occurs:

  • Incorrect BIOS configuration
  • BIOS does not detect the hard disk
  • BCD is corrupted or damaged
  • Hard Disk is damaged physically
  • Master Boot Record (MBR) is damaged or corrupted
  • An incompatible partition is marked as Active

Now depending upon your System configuration and environment any of the above reason can cause the Operating System Not Found error. So without wasting any time let’s see how to actually Fix Operating System Not Found error with the below-listed troubleshooting steps.

[SOLVED] Operating System Not Found Error

Method 1: Reset BIOS Configuration to Default

1.Turn off your laptop, then turn it on and simultaneously press F2, DEL or F12 (depending on your manufacturer) to enter into BIOS setup.

press DEL or F2 key to enter BIOS Setup

2.Now you’ll need to find the reset option to load the default configuration and it may be named as Reset to default, Load factory defaults, Clear BIOS settings, Load setup defaults, or something similar.

load the default configuration in BIOS

3.Select it with your arrow keys, press Enter, and confirm the operation. Your BIOS will now use its default settings.

4.Again try to log in to your System and see if you are able to Fix Operating System Not Found Error.

Method 2: Set Correct Boot Disk Priority

You may be seeing the error “Operating System Not Found Error” because the boot order was not properly set, which means that computer is trying to boot from another source which doesn’t have an operating system thus failing to do so. In order to fix this issue, you need to set the Hard Disk as the top priority in the Boot order. Let’s see how to set proper boot order:

1.When your computer starts (Before the boot screen or the error screen), repeatedly press Delete or F1 or F2 key (Depending upon your computer’s manufacturer) to enter BIOS setup.

press DEL or F2 key to enter BIOS Setup

2.Once you are in BIOS setup select Boot tab from the list of options.

Boot Order is set to Hard Drive

3.Now make sure that the computer Hard disk or SSD is set as a top priority in the Boot order. If not then use up or down arrow keys to set hard disk at the top which means the computer will first boot from it rather than any other source.

4.Finally, press F10 to save this change and exit. This must have Fix Operating System Not Found Error, if not then continue.

Method 3: Run Hard Disk Diagnostic Test

If you are still not able to Fix Operating System Not Found Error then chances are your hard disk might be failing. In this case, you need to replace your previous HDD or SSD with a new one and install Windows again. But before running to any conclusion, you must run a Diagnostic tool to check if you really need to replace the Hard Disk or not.

Run Diagnostic at startup to check if the Hard disk is failing

To run Diagnostics restart your PC and as the computer starts (before the boot screen), press F12 key and when the Boot menu appears, highlight the Boot to Utility Partition option or the Diagnostics option and press enter to start the Diagnostics. This will automatically check all the hardware of your system and will report back if any issue is found.

Method 4: Run Startup/Automatic Repair

1.Insert the Windows 10 bootable installation DVD and restart your PC.

2.When prompted to Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, press any key to continue.

Press any key to boot from CD or DVD

3.Select your language preferences, and click Next. Click Repair your computer in the bottom-left.

Repair your computer

4.On choose an option screen, click Troubleshoot.

Choose an option at windows 10 automatic startup repair

5.On Troubleshoot screen, click Advanced option.

select advanced option from troubleshoot screen

6.On the Advanced options screen, click Automatic Repair or Startup Repair.

run automatic repair

7.Wait til the Windows Automatic/Startup Repairs complete.

8.Restart and you have successfully Fix Operating System Not Found Error.

Also, read How to fix Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC.

Method 5: Repair or Rebuild the BCD

1.Using above method open command prompt using Windows installation disk.

Command prompt from advanced options

2.Now type the following commands one by one and hit enter after each one:

a) bootrec.exe /FixMbr
b) bootrec.exe /FixBoot
c) bootrec.exe /RebuildBcd

bootrec rebuildbcd fixmbr fixboot

3.If the above command fails then enter the following commands in cmd:

bcdedit /export C:BCD_Backup
c:
cd boot
attrib bcd -s -h -r
ren c:bootbcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd

bcdedit backup then rebuild bcd bootrec

4.Finally, exit the cmd and restart your Windows.

5.This method seems to Fix Operating System Not Found Error but if it doesn’t work for you then continue.

Method 6: Set the Correct Partition as Active

1.Again go to Command Prompt and type: diskpart

diskpart

2.Now type these commands in Diskpart: (don’t type DISKPART)

DISKPART> select disk 1
DISKPART> select partition 1
DISKPART> active
DISKPART> exit

mark active partion diskpart

Note: Always mark the System Reserved Partition (generally 100mb) active and if you don’t have a System Reserved Partition then mark C: Drive as the active partition.

3.Restart to apply changes and see if the method worked.

Method 7: Repair Install Windows 10

If none of the above solutions work for you then you can be sure that your hard disk is fine but you may be seeing the error “Operating System Not Found Error” because the operating system or the BCD information on the hard disk was somehow erased. Well, in this case, you can try to Repair install Windows but if this also fails then the only solution left is to Install a new copy of Windows (Clean Install).

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That’s it you have successfully Fix Operating System Not Found Error but if you still have any questions regarding this post then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.