No disk, no partition

Se Rogue · Jan 24, 2016

Okay guys, I had a bit of a problem with my PC earlier. Not sure what happened, it just crashed in the middle of me playing a game and when I restarted it's now telling me I have no operating system or hard disk.

Luckily I have a USB I can use to boot Ubuntu. However, even that is giving me problems. I try to install, but it gives me the "No root file system is defined" error message. But there's no option to create or select a partition, the table is just empty. When I click the 'change' button it just crashes out and takes me to the Live Ubuntu (the trial version, basically, where you can't keep any files because they will all be gone when you restart.)

Is there anything I can do? I really can't afford a new computer.

Pure · Jan 24, 2016

Have you tried getting a fresh windows install on a USB/Disk and booting from it? You can select partitions there as well as wipe it clean.

Se Rogue · Jan 24, 2016

PureAddiction said:
Have you tried getting a fresh windows install on a USB/Disk and booting from it? You can select partitions there as well as wipe it clean.

I considered that but I'm having a tough time getting anything onto my USB via the Live Ubuntu interface as I'm a total Linux newb.

Pure · Jan 24, 2016

Se Rogue said:
I considered that but I'm having a tough time getting anything onto my USB via the Live Ubuntu interface as I'm a total Linux newb.

I'd honestly just try and borrow a friends PC, download the software, load it onto the USB via Microsoft's USB Installer Tool and go from there.

Se Rogue · Jan 24, 2016

PureAddiction said:
I'd honestly just try and borrow a friends PC, download the software, load it onto the USB via Microsoft's USB Installer Tool and go from there.

Do you think that'll work with no hard disk?

Pure · Jan 24, 2016

Se Rogue said:
Do you think that'll work with no hard disk?

What do you mean? You don't have an HDD? How were you running windows in the first place

Brian · Jan 24, 2016

What happens if you turn on your computer and mash F8? It should bring you to safe mode.. etc, hopefully these options are still available. Or find the button that brings you to BIOS (differs for every manufacturer) and go over to boot order and see if that is recognizing that it is trying to boot from the hard drive.

What operating system are you on? Was it a genuine copy of Windows (if Windows)? It sounds like your hard drive is corrupt though.

Pure · Jan 24, 2016

Sighz said:
What happens if you turn on your computer and mash F8? It should bring you to safe mode.. etc, hopefully these options are still available. Or find the button that brings you to BIOS (differs for every manufacturer) and go over to boot order and see if that is recognizing that it is trying to boot from the hard drive.

What operating system are you on? Was it a genuine copy of Windows (if Windows)? It sounds like your hard drive is corrupt though.

There are a few HDDs and SSDs that are cheap, you could pick one up for under $100, don't replace the whole build.

Rosed · Jan 27, 2016

Go for a cheap Kingston ssd 240gb, shouldnt cost you more then $60

Infamous GP · Jan 28, 2016

You should just buy a new PC.

n4n0 · Jan 28, 2016

Check your BIOS, see if any settings in there change and/or reset.

In all likelihood, your harddrive may have died.

Infamous GP · Jan 29, 2016

I would recommend checking task manager to see if any issues reside within your programs. Or reboot your computer, becuase without the parition there cannot be a disk and vice versa.