Operating system not found hard drive

[Udyam]

Hi
Yesterday i purchased new 160GB SATA Hard Drive from stores and i fixed in my computer and boot my computer then i get the message operating system not found ?

Can you help me ?

Thanks

[Maceo]

First Check for a loose hard drive interface or power cable first. Check that cable has connected properly to motherboard. Can you hear the hard drive spinning when you power on computer ?

[Kaydence]

Have you formatted HDD with HTFS/NTFS XP file system then you will not able to see hard drive when you boot from floppy. If you are using Other then Windows 2000 or Xp or NT then you will need to FDisk then Format and Reload.

[HANAE]

Go into your BIOS setup and check the devices are identified there. BIOS setup is accessed by pressing a certain key when the system first boots the most common access keys are F1, F2, Del, and Esc.

[jeryruse]

Hello Friends.
Can anyone tell me that What is the difference between reinstalling the operating system and formatting the hard drive? I have Windows Vista and I want to completely delete everything of the computer and restore it to the original settings. Does reinstalling the operating system and formatting the hard drive both delete your data files and restore the system as it was when the computer was purchased? Also, the manual says I can reinstall the operating system by pressing the F8 key repeatedly when computer is starting.
Thanks.