Operating System not found
Discussion
The message to strike fear into the heart of the non computer savvy.
My Dell netbook did this to me last night. Not a problem, as I'll take the opportunity to load Ubuntu. Err, no.
I've downloaded the .iso file (680ish MB) onto a usb stick. What do I do now? I thought it would be a case of just fire up the netbook having told it to boot from the usb and Bob would be my mother's brother. But apparently not.
Can anyone explain what I need to do or am doing wrong please?
My Dell netbook did this to me last night. Not a problem, as I'll take the opportunity to load Ubuntu. Err, no.
I've downloaded the .iso file (680ish MB) onto a usb stick. What do I do now? I thought it would be a case of just fire up the netbook having told it to boot from the usb and Bob would be my mother's brother. But apparently not.
Can anyone explain what I need to do or am doing wrong please?
Puggit said:
Are we allowed to Facepalm in here?
But of course. I make no excuses, I'm self taught on all things electrical and mechanical. I need help and you may take the piss as much as you like as long as I get the answers I need. 
Yes, I realise the HDD in the netbook has probably suffered a fatal error, but I still want to know what to do.
Puggit said:
Tyre Smoke said:
LordGrover said:
I read that, but I'm still confused. Oh, and there's no disk drive, just USB. But I have managed to tell BIOS to boot from USB [ pat on head ]GlenMH said:
Right - you need access to another machine. Burn the file you have downloaded on to a cd to make it bootable. Boot the second machine off the CD and copy the file on to it. Use the USB creator tool to make a bootable USB stick with Ubuntu on it. Put in netbook and start it up...
What he says.An .iso file is not bootable on most systems, you need to convert from .iso to normal file system.
GlenMH said:
Right - you need access to another machine. Burn the file you have downloaded on to a cd to make it bootable. Boot the second machine off the CD and copy the file on to it. Use the USB creator tool to make a bootable USB stick with Ubuntu on it. Put in netbook and start it up...
Burn file on USB onto CD - this magically makes it bootable? Then I boot my desktop (this machine) from the CD and copy everything onto this machine which will enable me to create a bootable USB stick? Tyre Smoke said:
GlenMH said:
Right - you need access to another machine. Burn the file you have downloaded on to a cd to make it bootable. Boot the second machine off the CD and copy the file on to it. Use the USB creator tool to make a bootable USB stick with Ubuntu on it. Put in netbook and start it up...
Burn file on USB onto CD - this magically makes it bootable? Then I boot my desktop (this machine) from the CD and copy everything onto this machine which will enable me to create a bootable USB stick? http://www.freeisoburner.com/
http://www.isoimageburner.com/
Edited by Puggit on Tuesday 23 March 12:29
Basically, a .iso file is everything a computer needs to burn a CD or a DVD. The iso can contain all the code in it to make the CD bootable afterwards. If you just copy the file onto a USB stick and try to boot off it the system doesn't know what to do with an iso, doesn't find the code it needs to start loading an OS so goes on to whatever is next in the boot order.
The Ubuntu CD will have the code on it that your system needs to boot, but you can't just copy the files on to the USB stick and expect it to boot - the code it needs is kept in a special area on the device called the "boot sector", also known as the "Master Boot Record), which you can't see as a file on your system. You need to run an application after you copy everything that sets this up for you.
The reason why your hard drive won't boot into windows is either because your boot sector is toast or the files the boot sector points to are toast. If you have a windows CD kicking around you can boot it up, go to the recovery console and type in "FIXMBR" without quotes to sort the boot sector out. You might still need to reinstall if the other files are fubar. Don't do this if you have linux installed because it'll only boot into windows afterwards.
The Ubuntu CD will have the code on it that your system needs to boot, but you can't just copy the files on to the USB stick and expect it to boot - the code it needs is kept in a special area on the device called the "boot sector", also known as the "Master Boot Record), which you can't see as a file on your system. You need to run an application after you copy everything that sets this up for you.
The reason why your hard drive won't boot into windows is either because your boot sector is toast or the files the boot sector points to are toast. If you have a windows CD kicking around you can boot it up, go to the recovery console and type in "FIXMBR" without quotes to sort the boot sector out. You might still need to reinstall if the other files are fubar. Don't do this if you have linux installed because it'll only boot into windows afterwards.
few tips here https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/Fro...
and especially the link http://iwebdevel.com/2010/02/13/how-to-install-por...
and especially the link http://iwebdevel.com/2010/02/13/how-to-install-por...
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff