"An operating system wasn't found."

[MistressDeath]

Operating system not found. . . I had gave my lap top to a friend becaused I recieved a newer one for X-Mas. Because I was giving my old lap top away that I've had, and used for years... I decided to restore everything to factory settings. In the process of it counting up to a percentage of completion....from my house to hers, her (what was mine) computer died...not completeing the factory reset. Since than, the operating system is not found, anything I try and do wont work to fix it. . . PLUS i dont have a disk to re-install anything. . . I guess I'm S.O.L. . . but I figured I'd post on here to see if maybe, just maybe someone can give me some advice on how to fix this if its even fixable. Thanks.

-MistressDeath

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @MistressDeath

Welcome to the HP Support forum. Thank you for posting.

This is happening because your PC cannot find a fully installed operating system. The recovery has failed and therefore you now have either no Windows or half installed one (both not good options).

Yes, it seems fixable. In case the hardware is OK, you can use original HP Recovery media to reinstall Windows and restore the PC to factory default settings.

Can you post your full HP product model and specifically the product number (PN) as described here > http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00033108  ?  I will use the information to provide you some sort of specific instructions what to do.

Thank you for your cooperation.

[MistressDeath]

@IT_WinSec

^^ Thanks for your response, I figured something along those lines was my issue, I don't have the original disk it came with being that I had it for so long and moved a couple times >.> HOWEVER, do you recommend I buy the disk to reinstall or do you have maybe a link I can use to download it from this lap top to my older one? I tried to open the link you attached to your response but it keeps giving me an error. So I'll just post the full product info here. PS. I dont know how to obtain the  HP recovery media...I'm a total NOOB when it comes to anything dealing with computers---I'm a gamer >.> and not even on PC! 

Product: WV673AV

Model: G62t-300

Thanks again!!!

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @MistressDeath

Thank you for posting.

I re-read your initial post and found "from my house to hers, her (what was mine) computer died...not completeing the factory reset"

What do you mean by writing "computer died" ? Do you mean the battery lost power and it shut down because of this while the recovery process was being performed ?

If this is the case, I guess you will not need recovery discs - you will just need to re-start the process. Here is how

1. Please, shutdown the computer using the power button

2. Power it on.

2.1 As soon as you press the power-on button, immediately begin hitting the Esc button (like tap-tap-tap).

This should open a HP Startup Menu which may look similar to this one

3. Choose F11 to open System Recovery  (or the respective Fxx option that states something like system recovery/hp recovery) . Follow the on-screen instructions which may be similar to these there >> http://hp.dezide.com/ts/start.jsp?guide=HPSystemRecovery.net&section=ccweb&SFS=tdoc&language=english...

Let me know if this works for you.

[IT_WinSec]

However, if the above does not work, you will need recovery media to restore the PC to factory default condition.

This is the set your PC needs >> http://www.computersurgeons.com/p-21973-recovery-kit-630259-001-for-hp-notebook-pc-model-number-g62m...

Since the model is CTO, please make sure you do select the appropriate radio button for your specific product number (PN) WV673AV

Once you receive the media, you need to boot from it.

1. Please, shutdown the computer using the power button

2. Power it on

3. Insert the first one from the recovery set

3.1 As soon as you press the power-on button, immediately begin hitting the Esc button (like tap-tap-tap).

This should open a HP Startup Menu which may look similar to this one

4. Choose F9 to open Boot Device options  (or the appropriate one for boot device options).

Follow the on-screen instructions which will be similar to these >> http://hp.dezide.com/ts/start.jsp?guide=HPSystemRecovery.net&section=ccweb&SFS=tdoc&language=english...

Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes.

[MistressDeath]

Yeah, thats what I meant...that it died during the recovery process, when it left my house it was only at 7% but I dont know what percentage it reached by the time it died.

I did try the system reset and I keep getting the "An operating system wasn't found. Try disconnecting any drives that don't contain an operating system" than it tells me to hit ctrl alt del to restart. I had tried this before, thats when I decided to post on here because I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I've had issues with lap tops before and played with them a little and actually fixed them by a fluke. But with this one, i have no luck whats-so-ever. I guess I'll buy the recvery discs, but before I drop 30 bucks, is this a 100% fix? Because I dont want to spend that money when Im not even fixing the lap top for myself, lol

[MistressDeath]

I really appreciate all your help, thank you so much for taking the time to read and respond to my post. ^^b

[IT_WinSec]

Hi,

You are very welcome.

I can never be 100% sure 🙂 Even if I was physically near the PC still I would be 99.999% sure 🙂

Anyway, based on your experience and description, I think I can be 99% sure the issue is related to the fact that the recover process failed.

In all cases, here are all the possibilities - It iseither software issue :

1) a.k.a. the battery power dropped and all that may be needed is to restart the process again F11 method described above

or

2) the recovery partition got corrupted long before and now it failed [ you will need the recovery media]

It might also be hardware issue (a.k.a the HDD failed) but based on your description I can conclude it worked fine before and therefore the issue just started. It would have been serious co-incident for this so I can exclude it. Anyway, just so that you are 100% sure, I recommend you first test the PC for hardware issues. HP is one of the few PC vendors who have hardware diagnostics capabilities built-into the BIOS/UEFI.  Here is how to load it

1. Please, shutdown the computer using the power button

2. Power it on.

2.1 As soon as you press the power-on button, immediately begin hitting the Esc button (like tap-tap-tap).

This should open a HP Startup Menu which may look similar to this one

3. Choose F2 (or the respective F button for your model) to open System Diagnostics.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions to perform component test (HDD  /  Hard disk drive test)  and let me know the results.

If the HDD test passes (which I believe it will), then you will need to purchase the recovery media.

Don't worry, you can always request a refund for the 30 USD should you need to.

Looking forward to your update 🙂  Thanks in advance.