Hello,
Can Someone tell me how to get back into windows. The actual computer base keeps on clicking and the screen message is 'operating system not found on any devices.'This happens on while starting up.
On Windows Me.
Help please.
Thankyou

The 'actual' computer base?

Clicking is most likely an indication of hard drive failure - that could well account for the 'operating system not found' message

Check the CMOS to ensure that the drive is listed correctly there - if so, try booting with your boot floppy and try scanning the hard drive for errors with scandisk

scandisk c:

you might also try restoring the boot files from the WinME boot floppy via:

sys c:

If it's not listed, it may have failed, although you may want to try a drive diagnostic from the manufacturer

Bootdisks can be found here - I prefer the ME 'custom' (no ramdrive) one - you must run the downloaded file from Windows in order to create the actual boot diskette

I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.

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Thankyou for the response jboy.But can I still manage to load up windows without rebooting my whole computer and loosing all saved items?

Not at this point - and (worst case scenario) maybe never

The problem appears to be with the computer hard drive (C:) - if the errors are minor, then, sure, you may be up & running once they're fixed, with little or no data loss. It may only be a matter of settings.

If the drive has failed or has developed many errors, then the drive may not be repairable, and recovering files may be difficult or impossible

Performing the various checks & tests will help to determine which is which

"without rebooting"

Ok - I'm not sure why, but the term 'to reboot' (a PC) merely means to restart it. Some folks use it as a synonym for format & reinstall - which is incorrect (& confusing)

As mentioned, if the drive has failed, there will be nothing load Windows onto, and will need replacement. Hopefully it's not that bad, but 'clicking' is very often an indication of drive failure

I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.

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Thanks again jboy. Can you talk me through what to do step by step.I'm a little lost on where to start. When I boot the computer up it loads up but continually makes that click noise. From there it goes on to say that message.There is no response after this. What do I from here?
Thankyou

You might want to just jump ahead and get a bootdisk file from that link provided in response #1 - - use it to create the diskette and boot the computer with that, then enter

scandisk c:

... to check your hard drive for errors

If the computer won't boot from the floppy, you may have to adjust your CMOS settings so that the floppy drive is the first boot device (or before the hard drive anyways)

For a Compaq, you'd (probably) need to hit F10 as the computer starts up, about when you see a flashing cursor at the top corner of the screen

Otherwise... How to get into CMOS

I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.

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Are system recovery cds required or should I get the download file 'WinMe custom' from that site onto a diskette then put it into the windows me computer?

I'll try that and get back to you.
Thankyou

Sure, download that file and run it to create the diskette (*don't* just copy it to a floppy)

You need to be able to start the computer by some other means than your hard drive, so a boot diskette (or bootable CD) is required

At this point, Windows isn't really involved, this seems like a 'low level' problem - a matter of getting the hard drive to boot (if possible)

I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.

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I've downloaded the boot file but how do I get it onto CD. It only says insert disk. The reason for the CD is that the current computer I'm using has no floppy drive.

That is something you might have mentioned early on

Ok - - keep in mind that your hard drive may well be knackered - generally a 'clicking' drive is on its way out (or already there) although a weak power supply can also be the cause - but PSUs don't really 'weaken', so it'd only be a suspect on a new build or if you'd added a bunch of hardware

Since you've kind of bogged down on this basic step, you might consider checking the CMOS/BIOS on your ME machine to determine if the drive is actually listed there - if it isn't, there's maybe not much point in jumping through hoops to create a bootable CD

"I've downloaded the boot file but how do I get it onto CD"

There would be little point to that - as I mentioned (many times now) that downloaded file is used to create a floppy... mm'kay??

If you wish, you can d/l a bootable ME ISO which you can use to create a bootable CD with burning software ---- again(!) you do not copy that file to a CD, it is a Disc Image, and has to be burned as such using Nero's (or whatever you have) "Burn Image to Disc" option

You can download the image here

Once that's all done, you can try booting to DOS and perform scandisk - you may need to ensure your computer is set to boot from the CD

I'm not one of those who think Bill Gates is the devil. I simply suspect that if Microsoft ever met up with the devil, it wouldn't need an interpreter.

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I've checked the CMOS the hardware is still listed. 120mb 800hz.
What should I do from CMOS to boot it up?
After a while in CMOS, the clicking stops but the harddrive still makes clicking noise after another restart.

Thanks for the response Jboy.
Sorry the only details I can recover from dos/cmos is the system details, like in respsonse 11. When 'detecting drives and exit' the computer reboots(restarts) straight away. What shall I do now?

Do you know the make of your HDD (Maxtor, Seagate, Western Digital, etc)?

Download & create the "Ultimate Boot CD"...then boot off it & run the appropriate diagnostics program for your HDD

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

I burned a boot image to CD from another link earlier on. From response 10.

When the CD loads, the computer detects and says 'automatic update 755mb ....' something like that anyway. But it does not load the boot program up. When it attempts to load the boot cd up, it (the harddrive) begins click again.

"I burned a boot image to CD from another link earlier on. From response 10."

This is a totally different thing. It's not a Windows boot CD...this is a diagnostics boot CD that has several dozens of programs on it. You simply boot off it, then pick the program you wanna run from the menu. Your HDD shouldn't prevent you from running a bootable CD.

"When the CD loads, the computer detects and says 'automatic update 755mb ....' something like that anyway."

I have no idea what that means. The exact message would have been useful. Are you sure you burned the .ISO correctly?

Try the Ulimate Boot CD. No PC enthusiast should be without it. It's something that you can use over & over again on just about any PC:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/downl...

Thanks Jam. I'll try that and get back to you. In cmos I could not locate any drives, in 'storage'.Does that matter now? As I will use the ultimatebootcd .

I had a similar problem. It turned out to be a defective IDE CABLE ( connects drives inside of computer case)

getitdone

I'll try that.