Flashing white underscore and operating system not found

Aodhan5000

Hi all,

Recently within the last week or so I've been having issues booting up windows 10 on my PC.

When I turn on my PC I get a white underscore flashing on various different locations on the screen. This has been happening with a long time and I haven't been bothered to deal with it until now as recently, when I turn on my PC , after the white underscore does it's thing I'm almost always greeted with "Operating system missing". I then have to power off my PC by the tower itself and go again. 90% of the time she's good to go on the second run but this is causing me to worry a little about my components and is wasting my time. Anyone know why this is the case????

I didn't buy the windows from Microsoft, bought it from a guy on adverts with a really good reputation but for a lot less than what Microsoft charge .

Also, I have Windows 10 downloaded on my SSD (some SanDisk rig, can find the model tomorrow) but it takes about 20 seconds to load. It doesn't seem normal to me but is it?

Cheers

smuggler.ie

Insufficient detail about setup/configuration.
Was disk upgraded and Win installed while old disk still connected? - potential Win confusion if partition was deleted from old disk at later stage.
Potentially failing disk.
Potentially bad SATA connection - ensure firm connection/clean contacts from dust/corrosion(both ends).
Connect OS disk to SATA port0, disconnect all secondary disks, ensure BIOS set to boot from that disk.

ED E

1. Disable fast boot

2. If still happening look at the drive as it may be failing.

Aodhan5000

@smuggler.ie
i5 6400
R9 380 4 gb
Asus Z170-P
8gb kingston 2400mhz ram
Sandisk Ultra II SSD 240gb
2x Seagate Model ST1000DM003-1SB102 (only one is formatted)
Cas is a Corsair spec alpha so no dvd/cd disk player
Some bequiet PSU to the best of my knowledge. Will double check when I get off my PC

Windows was installed on the PC onto the SSD while only 1 of the HDDs were connected. I can't remember if I went fooling around with partitions an I'm not very knowledgeable about them so a little more description would be great Not sure if that answered your question.

Will double check that the connections are correct and try the connecting you suggested. Oh, I forgot to mention that I didn;t use Sata cables that came with the MOBO. Bought some red ones (Colour co-ordination). Will root around for the packaging later and investigate further.

@ED E 1. That's somewhere in the BIOS right? Will chance that later when I'm done my important stuff (playing csgo :P).
2. Watcha mean exactly by look at the drive? Is there a way to test it?

JoyPad

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

Watcha mean exactly by look at the drive? Is there a way to test it?

I would recommend SeaTools, the bootable thumb drive option.

Aodhan5000

I'll take a look at trying that. Also, it actually says "Missing operating system" rather than operating system not found

smuggler.ie

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

@smuggler.ie
i5 6400
R9 380 4 gb
Asus Z170-P
8gb kingston 2400mhz ram
Sandisk Ultra II SSD 240gb
2x Seagate Model ST1000DM003-1SB102 (only one is formatted)
Cas is a Corsair spec alpha so no dvd/cd disk player
Some bequiet PSU to the best of my knowledge. Will double check when I get off my PC

Windows was installed on the PC onto the SSD while only 1 of the HDDs were connected. I can't remember if I went fooling around with partitions an I'm not very knowledgeable about them so a little more description would be great Not sure if that answered your question.

Will double check that the connections are correct and try the connecting you suggested. Oh, I forgot to mention that I didn;t use Sata cables that came with the MOBO. Bought some red ones (Colour co-ordination). Will root around for the packaging later and investigate further.

@ED E 1. That's somewhere in the BIOS right? Will chance that later when I'm done my important stuff (playing csgo :P).
2. Watcha mean exactly by look at the drive? Is there a way to test it?

"Operating System Not Found" or "Missing operating system" error

"Missing Operating System" Error Message Appears On Black Screen - this from HP, but symptoms and troubleshooting similar, see if apply/help

If there was no prior windows installations on HDD, all partitions would be created on SSD and only SSD would be "in game"
From Disk Manager(RUN>diskmgmt.msc), check if all system partitions are on SSD. If secondary (HDD) drive had Win installed and you install fresh copy of Win on SSD while HDD was connected, Windows could reuse partitions on HDD from previous installation. Your disk manager would show (C:) partition on SSD, but other, hidden partitions would remain on HDD. In event of HDD failure/corruption Windows could fail to load.


Low quality/damaged/faulty SATA cable could cause intermittent disk disconnect - change cable, see effect.


SanDisk has its own SSD utility - other tools available.


The Pros and Cons of Windows 10’s “Fast Startup” Mode and where to enable/disable