Hi,

My cmall laptop wont start windows. It either brings up operating system not found and then it wont do anything or it brings up the Sharp logo and press f2 for set up then it wont go further than that.

Is their anything I can u? thanks
mat

Check that the Harddrive is connected properly, and that it's set as the primary boot device in the BIOS

Have you dropped the laptop recently or anyone else?sounds like a hard drive failure or a loose hard drive.Is your post screen showing up and can you get to BIOS by pressing F1 or F2 ?If the answer is no then Iam afraid it needs a computer tech.or corrupt MBR

yes you can get into the Bios menu, but after that it does nothing.

I would be taking it to a tech if you are not familiar with the internal organs of a laptop.It could just be a loose hard drive or to be honest it could be a broken hard drive.If it is broken you need to buy a new one and have it formatted with the OS.

If its corrupt MBR try the following.

When you start a Windows XP-Based computer, you may receive one of the following error messages. Error message 1

Operating system not found.
Error message 2

Missing Operating System
When you start your computer to the Recovery Console to recover functionality, you may receive an error message that resembles the following error message: Setup did not find any hard drives installed on your computer.
Back to the top

CAUSE

This issue may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true: •The basic input/output system (BIOS) does not detect the hard disk.•The hard disk is damaged.•Sector 0 of the physical hard disk drive has an incorrect or malformed master boot record (MBR).

Note Some third-party programs or disk corruption can damage an MBR.•An incompatible partition is marked as Active.•A partition that contains the MBR is no longer active.Back to the top

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods, depending on your situation. Back to the top
Contact your hardware manufacturer

Your best bet may be to contact the manufacturer of your computer or your hard disk. The manufacturer may have a utility that you can use to perform a more detailed scan for damaged areas of the disk and help verify the correct BIOS settings. However, be aware that the damage to your hard disk may be serious. Sometimes this means that your only solution is to replace your hard disk.

If a fix or workaround is not available, you can use the "Advanced Troubleshooting" section to try to resolve this issue. Back to the top
Advanced troubleshooting

This section is intended for advanced computer users. If you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, you might want to ask someone for help or contact support. For information about how to contact Microsoft support, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/ (Help and Support)
Method 1: Verify the BIOS settings

Verify the computer's BIOS settings to make sure that BIOS lists and recognizes the hard disk. See the computer documentation or contact the hardware manufacturer for information about how to verify the BIOS settings.

After you verify that the computer's BIOS detects the hard disk, restart the computer, and then test to determine whether the issue is resolved. If the issue is not resolved, or if the computer's BIOS cannot detect the hard disk, you may have issues with your hardware. Contact the hardware manufacturer to inquire about how to resolve this issue. You may have to replace the hard disk.

For information about how to contact hardware manufacturers, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 65416 (Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K) Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K

60781 (Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P) Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P

60782 (Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z) Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z
Method 2: Use Recovery Console

Use the fixmbr command in the Windows XP Recovery Console to repair the MBR of the startup partition.

Warning This command can damage your partition table if a virus is present or if a hardware problem exists. If you use this command, you may create inaccessible partitions. We recommend that you run antivirus software before you use this command. We also recommend that you backup your data before you use this command. If the fixmbr command detects an invalid or non-standard partition table signature, the fixmbr command prompts you for permission before rewriting the MBR. The fixmbr command is supported only on x86-based computers.

For more information about Recovery Console, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 314058 (Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console) Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
307654 (How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP) How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
Method 3: Change the active partition

If the partition that is marked as active does not contain the Windows XP startup files, or the active partition is an incompatible or a different operating system, you must first mark the correct system partition as active before you restart the computer. To do this, follow these steps.

Note There can be only one active system partition at a time. 1.Start the computer to the Recovery Console. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 307654 (How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP) How to install and use the Recovery Console in Windows XP
2.Type Diskpart, and then press ENTER.3.At the DISKPART command prompt, type List Disk, and then press ENTER.

Note the number of the disk that you want to work with. 4.At the DISKPART command prompt, type Select disk <DiskNumber>, and then press ENTER.

Note <DiskNumber> is the disk number that you want to work with. You should receive a message that resembles the following: Disk <DiskNumber> is now the selected disk
5.At the DISKPART command prompt, type List partition, and then press ENTER.

Note the number of the partition that you want to mark as active. 6.At the DISKPART command prompt type Select partition <PartitionNumber>, and then press ENTER.

Note <PartitionNumber> is the partition number that you want to mark as active. You should receive a message that resembles the following: Partition <PartitionNumber> is now the selected partition
7.At the DISKPART command prompt, type Active, and then press ENTER. 8.At the DISKPART command prompt, type Exit, and then press ENTER 9.Restart the computer. For more information about how to mark the active partition, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 315261 (The computer does not start after you change the active partition by using the Disk Management tool) The computer does not start after you change the active partition by using the Disk Management tool

copied and paste i should of just posted link