I was trying to install linux on a vaio computer with windows me. admittedly, i was in over my head. the installation failed and now i get an error message "operating system not found" it won't recognize the dvd/cd reader (pcmia). i don't have a boot disk. i'm definitely in a bind. any serious suggestions to save this and install linux?

Free bootdisk at www.bootdisk.com Fromt he prompt type fdisk/mbr and press enter That should get you bootable into Windows. WHat version of Linux is this, and where do you think you went wrong?

Check the boot order in your bios. If it first looks at the C: hdd (which might be corrupt) you will never proceed further. Change the bios boot order to CD or floppy first with the hdd last. Note: when booting, you must *NOT* have an unbootable cd and/or floppy loaded, otherwise you will have the same error as above. Good Luck - Keep us posted.

HISTORY Prior to my crash, I had partitioned the drives per instructions on a Red Hat Linux CD. Then I erased some MS ME files, The next step was supposed to be to go to DOS prompt, then load Linux from the CD. As I said before, I was way in over my head. WHAT I'VE DONE UP TO NOW BASED THIS SITE ADVICE I downloaded a boot file and burned it onto a CD, but this VAio has a PCMCIA CD/DVD drive that the system doesn't recognize. When I start up the machine, hit F2 and go into BIOS, only the hard drive has a + next to it. I can change the order to 1. Atapi CD drive, 2.removable devices, 3. HDD, but only HDD has a + next to it. Does that mean it's the only thing recognizable? When I F10 the machine will start up in normal, bootlog.txt mode, safe mode, then step by step confirmation. I get a SCANREG failure message and eventually a screen that says "safe mode" in all four corners, and a "cloudy day" screen saver, but that's it. The only other thing the machine responds to is control- alt-delete. I really think I hosed it. Any suggestions?