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My Compaq Armada M700 only to boots to"Missing Operating System" I tried the Fn-F11 to reset bios, tried making cd startup first, & multibay first. Seems I have tried everything, but still nothing. It has shown the "Media test failure, check cable", but then goes straight back to "Missing Operating System." I guess whoever had it was trying to clean install windows, if that helps. Does this notebook have CMOS? Is so where is it? Other posts online suggested need a new hard drive, reinstall the bios (which I cannot do if it doesnt boot off of a disk) remove battery pack and start with AC adapter. Nothing seems to work. Any help ASAP would be greatly appreciated.
If it has a floppy drive, boot from a win98 startup floppy and run:
scandisk c:If that's ok, the drive might have been repartitioned and wiped out the partition that Compaq puts on it for the Bios. There should be a utility on the HP/Compaq site to restore the bios.
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It has no floppy, I tried to start boot disk off of cd but no luck. Acts like there is no cd drive...but there is. I changed the hard drive to see if it would work but no luck, now I get a "non system disk or disk error replace disk and strike any key".
Was told that the hard drive was scrubbed. What is that? How can I restore the bios if I cant even get it to go past non system disk error? It wont boot off the cd rom drive either. Maybe needs a new CMOS?
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If the drive has been 'scrubbed' of course you're getting the 'missing OS' message. Without a FDD you need a bootable CD - do you know if your disc is bootable??
Reinstall BIOS? Missing CMOS? Were you able to change the boot sequence as you implied?
"Media test failure, check cable" seems to indicate that the system is trying to boot from a network.
Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience
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Well, then you DO seem to have a CMOS
Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience
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Okay, so let's try to walk thru this.
Big Question #1: You CAN or CANNOT get into the BIOS?
>I stand to be corrected here, but the default setting for any BIOS is flashed, and unless physical failure occurs or a bad upgrade flash (which is common) was attempted, it can't be corrupted.
>So, if you cannot get into the BIOS any which way, did you try to upgrade (flash)your BIOS just before this?
If we can't get the BIOS to boot and none of the above apply, we are up a creek without a paddle and I think we are talking mainboard failure here.
If we CAN get into the BIOS to make changes, have you tried to reset your BIOS to default settings?
If we CAN get into the BIOS, does it recognize (list an entry for) the CDROM and your Harddrive or not?
If it DOES recognize your CDROM drive, and yet you cannot get anyting to boot from the drive, there are only three possible reasons:
1.The CD is not set to 1st boot;
2.The data cable is bad or not connected. If the BIOS sees the CD drive, the power cable must be connected and functioning or the BISO would not see it.
3.The CD you are attempting to run is not bootable. Have you tried an XP installation disk?Side Thought: I always add an A drive in all my builds; I have had some tell me it is unnecessary, but this is a prime example of why I do. Right now I wish you had one!
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime;
Then industry pollutes the water and kills all the fish.
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Just my 2 cents......I've come accross three Compaq's that had this problem and they all turned out to be a bad IDE cable. One actually came loose. May I suggest you start with this. Simply disconnect and reattach the ribbon from both the HDD and the mobo and see if this is a go. Change it if possible.
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Big Question #1: You CAN or CANNOT get into the BIOS?
Yes, I can get into BIOS, of course if this is where I change what drive boots up first...which I changed it to boot cd first but still did not recognize it. I did the Fn-F11 to set to default bios and went into setup to change to boot from CD.If we CAN get into the BIOS to make changes, have you tried to reset your BIOS to default settings?
Yes I believe that is what I have done. Fn-F11 shows reset defaults then F10 took me into BIOS which is blue screen showing boot options, device security, password stuff, and device options.
If we CAN get into the BIOS, does it recognize (list an entry for) the CDROM and your Harddrive or not?
Under boot options lists: Notebook Multibay, Notebook Hard drive and Notebook Ethernet.
Above that give me an option to Quick Boot & Multi Boot.
Then under device security it has: Cd boot, Floppy boot, & floppy write of which all are enabled.
If it DOES recognize your CDROM drive, and yet you cannot get anyting to boot from the drive, there are only three possible reasons:
1.The CD is not set to 1st boot;Yes I set it to CD ROM first, then Hard drive then network boot.
3.The CD you are attempting to run is not bootable. Have you tried an XP installation disk?
It is a WIN ME boot cd disk..works fine in any of my desktops. Assumed it would work in this Notebook PC.
Side Thought: I always add an A drive in all my builds; I have had some tell me it is unnecessary, but this is a prime example of why I do. Right now I wish you had one!
Not sure what you mean here..in your builds.
Just my 2 cents......I've come across three Compaq's that had this problem and they all turned out to be a bad IDE cable. One actually came loose. May I suggest you start with this. Simply disconnect and reattach the ribbon from both the HDD and the mobo and see if this is a go. Change it if possible.
FOR A NOTEBOOK PC??????
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I am actually fixing this Notebook for my cousin. He didnt know what to do. He got it from his work at a really great price but didnt know a whole lot in troubleshooting and repair. Me on the other hand, will have my BA of Science in Technology and have already obtained my Associate in Computer Tech. I am a 38 y/o woman from Ohio and here is what I did to fix things. I changed the hard drive in this notebook, removed the battery pack, used the AC/DC adapter for power, made a few changes to the BIOS, stuck in the WIN XP disk and VIOLA!!!! Installed winxp with no problems. I have connected it to my home network and am online with no trouble what-so-ever. I appreciate everyone taking the time to help me resolve this issue. Great to know there is people out there to help those in distress. If there is anything I can do to help others with their issue, I will be more than happy to. I will occasionally watch the boards and try to help. Thanks to all, and hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. Much Thanks, AnekaLi
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Thank yo for the reply, Anekali! Many people don't bother replying, and the we don't know if our advice was of any use. We learn also in these forums.
What I mean by speaking of "my builds" are the computers that I regularly build myself.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime;
Then industry pollutes the water and kills all the fish.
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