operating system deleted

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Guest

i just purchased my comp from dell and within three days when i started my
comp it said missing operating system per dell rep i reinstalled using cd and
then four days later i received same message..missing op.. so now i've
reinstalled four times since then and everytime same message.. need to know
if its my comp or vista causing this..nobody at dell can tell me--plz help
 
Contact Dell support and tell them to replace your defective
Dell computer under warranty.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

i just purchased my comp from dell and within three days when i started my
comp it said missing operating system per dell rep i reinstalled using cd and
then four days later i received same message..missing op.. so now i've
reinstalled four times since then and everytime same message.. need to know
if its my comp or vista causing this..nobody at dell can tell me--plz help
 
Your hard drive may be failing. Sometimes a hard drive will not fail all
at once, which would account for you being able to reinstall the os and
use it for a couple of days. You need to demand that Dell take care of
this problem.
 
i just purchased my comp from dell and within three days when i started my
comp it said missing operating system per dell rep i reinstalled using cd and
Click to expand...
then four days later i received same message..missing op.. so now i've
reinstalled four times since then and everytime same message.. need to know
if its my comp or vista causing this..nobody at dell can tell me--plz help
Click to expand...

The same thing happened to a neighbor of mine: new Dell, three or four days
in use, and the "missing OS' message. I told her to call Dell: they sent a
tech to -- get this -- replace her hard drive.

I'll bet in three days it'll fail again.

I'm telling her to keep a log of her problems and to make sure Dell knows
she's doing just that.
 
This sounds familiar. Some earlier models of Dells BIOS did not deal with
USB drives or removable SATA drives very well. Shut off or disconnect an
external drive and the BIOS would reassign it's drive order. Obviously when
it does that it can't find the drive with the boot record.

If you have any external drives connected to the system - leave them turned
ON for the next few days and see if the same problem occurs. If it does,
see if there is a BIOS update available for that model.

Next time, it would be helpful if you list the model number and any devices
you have connected and can you recreate the problem. Do you have anything
you plug or unplug from a USB or Firewire port?

Bob S.
 
Return your new computer for a replacement.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
It's not just a Dell problem, I have a Lenovo A60 and have the same problem.
As BobS says in his post, it does seem to be related to the USB drive (I have
a WD MyBook 500Gb). It is very easy to recover from if you have the Vista
DVD, put the DVD in the drive, reboot and choose the repair options and then
startup repair. No need to reinstall the OS. I would keep pressuring the
manufacturer for a BIOS update though.
 
Return your new computer for a replacement.
Click to expand...

And Dell's subsequent response to my neighbor?

"We won't replace it because it's a Vista problem. Your option? Spring for a
full version of XP and downgrade."

Nice. I see class action written all over this one.
 
Well, if your neighbors computer originally came with Windows XP, and she
upgraded to Vista, Dell will not help her. Dell is responsible (as per Dell)
for the operating system that shipped with the computer.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
We have this problem with message "operating system missing" on new Dell
Dimension C521. Hours spent on phone to India. Two visits by Tech who changed
hard disc, finally collected by Dell & returned yesterday. Within an hour or
so of using, shutdown, restart and dreaded screen message returns. What to do?

Clutching at straws, could it be a new USB key, or new font loaded or is
that too simple? This seems to be a fairly common problem how come Dell can't
solve it?

Richard Urban said:
Well, if your neighbors computer originally came with Windows XP, and she
upgraded to Vista, Dell will not help her. Dell is responsible (as per Dell)
for the operating system that shipped with the computer.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
Click to expand...
 
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