Why does my computer give me an error message stating “No Bootable media”?

Question

when i turn on my dell the loading process stops with this notice

no bootable media

there is no floppy disk in floppy drive and when i install a floppy the screen reads remove disk and hit any key.

how do i see if windows 95 is still installed?

how do i get beyond "no bootable media?

Answer

This question was answered on October 15, 2004. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

Seems to me that you are having a problem with your hard drive. Try the following and see if it works.

1. Try a cold boot.

2. Boot from a floppy disk. If you are unable to boot from a floppy, verify that the disk is a good systems disk. After booting from the floppy, you should get a A prompt. Enter the command C: to access the hard drive.

3. If you get a C prompt, then the problem is related to the OS on the hard drive.

4. If when you attempt to get a C prompt and the error “Invalid drive specification” appears, it means that the system cannot find the hard drive. In which case you should try the following:

· Reboot and look for the message that POST found the drive then the problem is probably with the file system on the drive.

In which case you should do the following.

1. Check CMOS setup to confirm that BIOS recognizes the drive and that CMOS settings are correct for the hard drive.

2. Boot from a floppy disk and run FDISK. From the FDISK menu, display the partition information.

3. If FDISK says that the partition table is missing or corrupt, then restore the master boot record program with the command FDISK/MBR and try to boot from the hard drive again.

If the above solves the problem then immediately run a current version of an antivirus software to check for a virus. If the problem is not a virus, then sectors on the hard drive are probably fading. Plan to replace the drive soon and immediately back up important data.

Author

Posted by julie of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on October 15, 2004