Error loading operating system

by CBevil Jan 28, 2010 11:45AM PST

I have this problem on not one but 2 computers right now...

First it was with an HP laptop:
Pavilion dv9700
Originally shipped with Vista Home Premium on it.
Was upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium about a month ago.

User was trying to install a network printer driver when it froze. Shut computer down and on restart we get the error "error loading operating system".
Attempting to boot from the DVD just causes the system to freeze - no boot menu, repair options, nothing.
User claims that this computer is only used for music, pictures and surfing the web..... you know "harmless" stuff.

fast forward 3 days and the next computer goes down.
HP netbook (sorry, I dont have a model number yet). Originally shipped with XP but had a full install of Windows 7 installed a few weeks ago.
The netbook became the primary computer when the "big" laptop went down and within a few days it fails with the same issue and same error message.

Again, any attempt to use the repair utility just causes the computer to freeze.

A second piece of information now:
In both cases a BIOS hardware check shows a failing primary hard drive. More specifically, it shows the message "drive failing, replace drive".
I find it really hard to believe that we are unlucky enough to have 2 hard drives fail within just a few days of each other on 2 relatively new machines.

Am I dealing with some new, really aggressive type of malware?
Is my luck really this bad?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

TIA!

Discussion is locked

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What is the exact wording of that error.

by Dango517 Jan 28, 2010 8:43PM PST

Spell it correctly please.

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I did

by CBevil Jan 28, 2010 9:30PM PST

I did spell it correctly.

I did state the exact wording.

Word for word the error is:

"error loading operating system"

thats it. No "press any key", no cursor, nothing.... just that one line in white letters on a black screen.

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Re: failure

by Kees Bakker Jan 28, 2010 9:40PM PST

Take both the disks out and connect it to another PC using a USB2 to SATA/IDE-cable (or full exclosure, but a cable is easier0. Then see what it says.

That's a much better way to have an opinion on the disks than asking here. Moreover, you're the only one who can do it, because you have access to the disks. We don't.

Kees

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may be redundant, but

by TaraS_WinTeam Jan 29, 2010 2:12AM PST

a few quick clarifying questions:

Are these genuine Windows 7 upgrades? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/genuine & were they activated? (And you have purchased licenses for each computer- not tried to use the same license on all)?

Tara

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100% authentic

by CBevil Jan 29, 2010 8:23AM PST

Both copies are new, retail purchases.
one is the retail upgrade version and one is the retail full install version.

neither copy is being used on any other machine and both copies are validated.

FWIW....
the hard drive in the laptop is readable as a usb drive and is also readable in the secondary hard drive slot in the laptop. Installing a new hard drive in the primary slot lets me install Windows, boot into Windows (clean install) and access all the files on the old drive.

This leads me to believe that is either a: a corrupted or damaged boot sector or b: a corrupt install.

The netbook is being returned for service under warranty, I just added it to this discussion because I thought it might be more than just coincidental that 2 computers are having the exact same issue.

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Similar issue

by GrannyOmaha Jan 18, 2012 1:24PM PST

Maybe the following isn't your issue, but I just
fixed my issue. Thank you so much for posting this because it led me to
my answer !!! :-D

I bought a new HP Pavilion at my local Walmart a few months ago.

Operating system: Windows 7
Model p7-1003w

The CD drive in my old HP Pavilion (Model a1483w) PC no longer worked so I
tried to copy driver files from the old PC's recovery CD to a thumb drive,
using my new HP Pavilion PC:

CD name: "HP Pavilion First Aid Recovery CD"

Whenever I started up my new HP after that, the screen always said:

"LOADING WINDOWS 95 . . . " and on the next line, it displays
"Type the name of the command interpreter (e.g.,
C:\Windows\command.com)"
and on the next line, it displays the A prompt.
"A>"

What the . . . ?

So just now I decided to try to load a homemade recovery CD into the CD drive
and see what happens.
Turns out I had left the "HP Pavilion First Aid Recovery CD" in
the CD drive and that's what made it give me the heart-wrenching Windows 95
message.
I probably should have checked the CD drive first as soon as I saw the A:
prompt but all I thought of was an old diskette drive and I ain't gots me none
o'those.
I rebooted without anything in the CD drive and voila! It came up to
Windows 7.
Thank you again. Life is good.

Error loading operating system

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