Operating system not found!

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Howdy, I'm very new to laptops. Someone just donated one to me to fix
up and donate to our school district. It seems to work sometimes and
then other times when it is booted up it goes through the memory count
but it stops at detecting the hard drive and displays an "Operating
system not found" message and other times it boots right up.

Specs:
Dell Inspiron 3500
Windows 98
battery good
using AC adapter

I have no disks or manuals for this puppy. Went to the Dell site and
downloaded some drivers and utilities, but didn't see anything
diagnostic that would run from a DOS promt. Their FAQ was of no help,
either.

Thanks for any help/info/sites that would solve this glitch.

--
The Seabat

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

seabat <seabat@boardermail.com> wrote in
news:7p5hq0h3rqqie66murs52an1qrrp19aepg@4ax.com:

> Howdy, I'm very new to laptops. Someone just donated one to me
> to fix up and donate to our school district. It seems to work
> sometimes and then other times when it is booted up it goes
> through the memory count but it stops at detecting the hard
> drive and displays an "Operating system not found" message and
> other times it boots right up.
>
> Specs:
> Dell Inspiron 3500
> Windows 98
> battery good
> using AC adapter
>
> I have no disks or manuals for this puppy. Went to the Dell site
> and downloaded some drivers and utilities, but didn't see
> anything diagnostic that would run from a DOS promt. Their FAQ
> was of no help, either.
>
> Thanks for any help/info/sites that would solve this glitch.
>
Prime suspect would be the hard drive. Suggest you identify the
manufacturer of the drive then download the diagnostics for it from
the mfr's web site. You may find Everest useful to ID the drive,
freeware downloadable from here:
http/www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Euan Kerr <aaargh@invalid.jp> wrote:
>the mfr's web site. You may find Everest useful to ID the drive,
>freeware downloadable from here:
>http/www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en

According to their license agreement it's only 30-day trialware, with
the following in the license agreement:

/*
ANY ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT ANY EXPIRY DATE TECHNOLOGY/TIME BOMB
MECHANISM OR OTHER MECHANISM CONTAINED WITHIN THE SOFTWARE WHICH IS
INTENDED TO LIMIT YOUR ABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE TO A SPECIFIED
PERIOD IS A VIOLATION OF THIS LICENSE.
*/

See if you can find a copy of Aida32 online anywhere, it really is
freeware, and says so in it's license agreement.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 20:21:47 -0500, William P.N. Smith wrote:

>>>Euan Kerr <aaargh@invalid.jp> wrote:
>>>>the mfr's web site. You may find Everest useful to ID the drive,
>>>>freeware downloadable from here:
>>>>http/www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en
>>>
>>>According to their license agreement it's only 30-day trialware, with
>>>the following in the license agreement:
>>>
>>>/*
>>>ANY ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT ANY EXPIRY DATE TECHNOLOGY/TIME BOMB
>>>MECHANISM OR OTHER MECHANISM CONTAINED WITHIN THE SOFTWARE WHICH IS
>>>INTENDED TO LIMIT YOUR ABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE TO A SPECIFIED
>>>PERIOD IS A VIOLATION OF THIS LICENSE.
>>>*/
>>>
>>>See if you can find a copy of Aida32 online anywhere, it really is
>>>freeware, and says so in it's license agreement.

Tried both of them, and nothing is being displayed. Seems this drive
doesn't have SMART drive capabilities. Been to the Dell web site and
they give all the specs for this laptop, except for the hard drive! Go
figure! All I know about it is the size, at least what is reported in
BIOS.


--
The Seabat

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

seabat <seabat@boardermail.com> wrote:
>Tried both of them, and nothing is being displayed. Seems this drive
>doesn't have SMART drive capabilities.

What does Device Manager say about it? The other option is to undo
the one screw, pullthe hard drive, and read the label...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

William P.N. Smith wrote in
news:g3ukq05isj7p5uufmiekai6o0n69mg7huh@4ax.com:

> Euan Kerr <aaargh@invalid.jp> wrote:
>>the mfr's web site. You may find Everest useful to ID the drive,
>>freeware downloadable from here:
>>http/www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en
>
> According to their license agreement it's only 30-day trialware,
> with the following in the license agreement:
<snip>

You missed reading the qualifying clause to part 3 of the licence
i.e. "IF THIS PRODUCT IS IDENTIFIED AS A TRIAL VERSION, ..."

The Everest Home Edition is identified as "EVEREST Home Edition is
a freeware system information, system diagnostics and benchmarking
solution for home PC users... "

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 09:10:29 -0600, seabat <seabat@boardermail.com>
wrote:

>>>Howdy, I'm very new to laptops. Someone just donated one to me to fix
>>>up and donate to our school district. It seems to work sometimes and
>>>then other times when it is booted up it goes through the memory count
>>>but it stops at detecting the hard drive and displays an "Operating
>>>system not found" message and other times it boots right up.
>>>
>>>Specs:
>>>Dell Inspiron 3500
>>>Windows 98
>>>battery good
>>>using AC adapter
>>>
>>>I have no disks or manuals for this puppy. Went to the Dell site and
>>>downloaded some drivers and utilities, but didn't see anything
>>>diagnostic that would run from a DOS promt. Their FAQ was of no help,
>>>either.
>>>
>>>Thanks for any help/info/sites that would solve this glitch.

Whew what a long road this has been! I finally got info that the drive
is a Fujitsu MHF2043AT. Went to Fujitsu and downloaded their disk
diagnostic and ran and it everything came up roses.

So the only thing that I can think of is that the drive is loose and
not making contact all the time. I have re-seated it and pushed it in
as far as it will go without crushing the drive itself. I tightened
all the little screws around it. I looked at the connector on the
drive and on the laptop but could not see any bent or damaged pins and
no way to make the connection tighter, short of jamming a piece of
wood in there.

Fujitse had no FAQ relating to this problem, and their real person
chat seems to be out of commission. Didn't see any email addy.

Oh, yeah, the status code reported by the diagnostic was: B000F4 if
that means anything to anyone.

Thanks for the help.

--
The Seabat

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

seabat <seabat@boardermail.com> wrote:
>Whew what a long road this has been! I finally got info that the drive
>is a Fujitsu MHF2043AT. Went to Fujitsu and downloaded their disk
>diagnostic and ran and it everything came up roses.

>Oh, yeah, the status code reported by the diagnostic was: B000F4

That sounds strange for "everything comes up roses" and B000F4 to mean
the same thing. Only Fujitsu will know for sure...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 16:11:44 -0600, seabat <seabat@boardermail.com>
wrote:


>>>Fujitse had no FAQ relating to this problem, and their real person
>>>chat seems to be out of commission. Didn't see any email addy.
>>>
>>>Oh, yeah, the status code reported by the diagnostic was: B000F4 if
>>>that means anything to anyone.

OK, got to yak with Fujitse tech rep today and they tell me the same
thing, that the drive is fine. Except when it can't be found and then,
of course, a body can't do any testing on something that can't be
seen. And then they told me that I should contact Dell. So here we go
with passing the buck.

Any way, while I was 'chatting' with them, the hard drive started
making some nasty, constant clicking noises. So I guess this is the
end for this piece of hardware!

Any one know where a body can find a reasonable (read cheap) new or
used replacement for this puppy?? It doesn't have to be a Fujitse,
does it? I could install another brand as long as the size specs and
the BIOS/Operating system can handle the storage size, right?

Thanks again for any help.

--
The Seabat

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

seabat <seabat@boardermail.com> wrote:
>Any one know where a body can find a reasonable (read cheap) new or
>used replacement for this puppy?? It doesn't have to be a Fujitse,
>does it? I could install another brand as long as the size specs and
>the BIOS/Operating system can handle the storage size, right?

That's correct, most drives are the standard (small) size nowadays,
though you can always check the specs on the old and prospective new
ones to be sure. I've had good luck with NewEgg and CDW for drives,
and others swear by ZipZoomFly. Not sure I'd buy a used laptop drive,
as you don't know what shape it's in...