wilkes

PK,

Thanks al lot for the information. This will also come in handy as I try to breath life back into this thing. At the worst, I am sure it will, and has already been a learning experience. I am truly thankful for any and all suggestions.

Best, George

It's really, really hard to specialize in software, hardware, AND lan - lots of people that do one or two have good general ideas about the other, but finding people certified in all 3 is tough in this area. No worries - I couldn't put an end on a cat5 cable to save my life.

I wouldn't spend a ton of money on the system - If you like IBM, browse eBay for used Thinkcenters and NetVista's. There are a few on there right now with free shipping and XP, for around $100, with older P4 class processors - a significant upgrade regardless of what you use the 300pl for.

Cool!

let me know if you need some help. From what you say I think your computer can be saved. I don't hink it is that bad of a problem. You don't have the blue screen of death yet. Just needs a little TLC

Thanks for the tips, Easyrider. I will try it and if that doesn't work , I will try to get a newer version of Windows to put on it. I will let you know how I make out...

Thanks again

The computer is trying to boot up on the A drive. If you are using a recover disk and it is a CD-ROm then you have to go into setup and tell it to boot from the CD drive and not the Disket or A drive. To do this you need to turn the computer on and press F2. GO to setup and then change the boot to the Cd rom. Then save all changes and then put the CD in and cut the computer off and then on again. This time it will boot from the CD-rom.
If you want to keep this computer find someone who has a XP windows program and boot off of it. Get rid of 98 windows.
I don't think your hard drive is cooked. Even if it is you can get one off Ebay for around $20. You still will have to install windows on it.
PM me if you need more help. I think I could save your computer.

Thanks for the infromation. I have an uncle that owns a computer shop in Gastonia. Maybe he has something for me.

Best

Apology accepted!

Sorry if I seemed short.

PK is right there are other things that could be the problem, but I would put my money on the hard drive.

I am afraid I am the barer of more bad news, even though you could run a business with the 300pl there is not much demand for such a computer.
Every one wants bigger and better. The computer is Probably worth more to you than you can get for it .

Check around some of the local computer repair shops for a hard drive
if they charge you at all it should be under $20 ( you Install)
The newer Drives will not run on this computer with out some help, the PC orginally came with ATA-33 so try to find one like that.

Good Luck

RedNeckHillBilly & PK:

I really appreciate all of the information, and help that you both have given on this subject today. I didn't mean to come off, as if I didn't appreciate ALL of the knowledge, you both obviously have. I myself have a concentration in MIS that I got while I was getting my BA, but I never got to do much in the line of microcomputer work. I have rebuilt LAN's, but could not tell yo much about the inner workings of an IBM, or any other PC. Today, when I was looking for a more drawn out answer to my problem, RedNeckHillBilly gave me back a very sort of short answer, which, for someone of my limited, but still curious acumen in the subject, was a bit frustrating. That said. If I did come off the wrong way, I apologize. And, again, thanks a lot for your help.

Next question? In the event, I am unable to find another hard drive, should I try to sell any parts, or is there any hope for what is left, without spending too much cash? I know the unit wasn't one of the best in the world from the get go. I was just trying to breath some life back into it before I shoot it in the leg.

Best,

RedNeckHillBilly is right - this is not a problem that is IBM specific. You hit the power switch on the PC to turn it on (ANY modern pc that can run Windows, not just IBM) , and the BIOS initializes, does a self check, checks on the cpu, the memory, the video card, (these 3 are usually a must, otherwise it will just start beeping POST codes, which are audible diagnostic tones for when it can't display ANY video), then any accessories such as hard drives, modems, etc etc...one it checks them and everything with the hardware appears to be initialized and happy, it will tell the boot device (usually a hard drive, but can also be a floppy disk, a CD, a USB drive, an EEPROM on a network card, whatever - it;s a setting in the BIOS) to 'do whatever it has been instructed to do'. But if there are no instructions found, the BIOS reports back with 'No OS Found'. This can be because the OS has actually been deleted from the drive, or it cannot detect the drive because you cleared the BIOS (do the hard drive parameters in BIOS match what is on the label for the drive? Sometimes AUTO doesn't work well on these older PC's, especially if the drive has been upgraded!) Does BIOS detect the drive at all on bootup? Are the cables plugged in well? When you unseat and reseat the CPU, are you removing the heatsink/fan from it? If so, are you putting thermal paste back on it?

It can be 10 different things, but 99% of the time, this would be a bad drive.

I sure will.

Thanks again.

The hard drive is where all information is stored, includeing the operating system

when you turn the computer on and " operating system not found" is displayed that means that the computer cannot find/read the operating system instructions on the hard drive

when you tried to restore the original program and it came up to A: indicates that the system cannot read/write the to the hard drive.

You asked for help and I gave you my advise.

Just for your information I completed IBM's PC Technician course in June 1984 and have worked with PCs ever sense

sorry you don't agree with my diagnosis, but just for my information let me know what corrects your problem

My original question was, "Is there anyone that is good with IBM's? I have a year 2000, 300PL that, when I turn it on, keeps taking me to a screen that says no operating system is found."

If you are nto good on IBM's, I would just as soon, you did not reply to this thread>

THANK YOU!

Thanks, you seem to know a lot about the hard drive, but what about the operating system?

The hard drive is where ALL information is stored, it will not affect the BIOS or floppy drive

Replace the Hard Drive

I am trying to get it to detect the operating system. I have a Duracom recovery disk that came with it and it is supposed to re-set the thing back to its original windows 98 configuration, but when I run it, and chose for it to Recovery Original Operating System. I type AGREE, and it takes me to A> and that is all I get. From there on out, I am lost

The BIOs has nothing to do with the Hard Drive. I would try reinstalling Windows before replacing the hard drive.

Thanks for that, but if the hard drive was fried, would I still be able to get into the BIOS?

Sounds like the hard drive is gone, time to look for another one

Is there anyone that is good with IBM's I have a year 2000, 300PL that, when I turn it on, keeps taking me to a screen that says no operating system is found. I had taken the old operating system off and put Windows XP on it and it ran fine for about a year. Then one day, I got a message saying that it was low on virtual memory, and a blue screen popped up and that was it. When I shut it down, and started it back up, that is when all my trouble began. I have gone into the BIOS and restored the original settings, but it does not help. If I unplug the processor for a little while and plug it back in and then start the PC, it will sometimes bring up the Windows XP start screen, but that is it. Once it starts to check the disk drives, it freezes up and I am done. Help!

Thanks...