win xp

rhodieG · 31 Dec 2021 at 15:26

hi, I know its a long shot but I have found an old sony vaio laptop with win xp. it keeps saying operating system not found. i'm looking for ideas or a copy of win xp rescue disc please

Mcnumpty2323 · 31 Dec 2021 at 15:57

Been a very,very long time
Since even seen windows xp
But see if it's got a recovery partition
Usually accessed by pressing something like F10 or f11 on start up

throwaway4372 · 31 Dec 2021 at 16:05

dead hard drive?

Mcnumpty2323 · 31 Dec 2021 at 16:26

throwaway4372 said:
dead hard drive?

Yeah could be
Or no hard drive at all
I assumed they had actually checked that first

rhodieG · 31 Dec 2021 at 16:54

definitely got hdd. no hard drive showing in bios. it initially started up and ran then bsod

Deleted member 77746 · 31 Dec 2021 at 17:16

rhodieG said:
definitely got hdd. no hard drive showing in bios. it initially started up and ran then bsod

if the hdd isn't showing in the bios then either replace the cable and check bios settings. If it still doesn't detect it then it's dead and will require a new hdd.

Mcnumpty2323 · 31 Dec 2021 at 19:52

Yeah not showing in the bios
Or showing the name with weird text
Or sometimes showing but not other times
Is never a good sign
Not had a mechanical drive in years
But used to be able to tell by listening if it wasn't spinning properly
A lot of times