What's wrong?

[philwon52]

I am trying to fix a problem with a pc. My friend told me she was on line when her computer crashed. She said she heard a strange noise from the computer and it shut down.

When I try to reboot I get: Operating system not found. When I try to use the recovery cd I get the following: Error-The hard disk was not found! If you have a hard disk installed, the cables may be loose or the disk may not be initialized.

You may need to run the FDisk program to initialize the disk. Use extreme caution with FDisk! FDisk will perform a low-level format on the disk and all data will be lost. Then the C:\> prompt.

I first replaced the hard drive cable, then the hard drive. I started the pc and still the same message. Please Help!!:(

P.S. could it be a virus? If so what can I do?

[philwon52]

I got it. I had to run FDisk to set up a new DOS partition. I couldn't do it before I replaced the hard drive, so I didn't try it the second time. I finally tried it, and it worked. Then I could format the new disk, and reinstall the original software. Thanks to all for your support.