If it's the former, then your hard drive may have just died of old age. But the problem could be something as simple as a loose connection (if you've been fiddling with it!), or it might be something in between, like a corrupted primary partition, in which case you will need to run the dreaded FDISK to rebuild it.

If you're able to open the C: prompt, but the directory appears to be empty, then the operating system has indeed been wiped and you will have no choice but to re-install. But this is rare; it's quite difficult to wipe an entire operating system accidentally.

If you do manage to get the hard drive working again, you should in any case run some disc-checking software to verify its condition (you can download such software for free, from IBM for example). Something must have caused this problem, and it's unlikely to have been the registry cleaner.


On Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 7:21 am, Linda wrote:
>I used a registry cleaner program and I must have totally wiped out my OS. I get
>nothing but a black screen and occ. the "A" or "R" drive letter.
>
>Is there any help available?
>
>Also, if I have the hard drive replaced, will this give me a new OS?
>
>Thank you in advance.

Written in response to: Major Mistake (Linda: Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 7:21 am) There are presently no replies to this message.