Okay I found this laptop at my job,and so i decided to bring it and see if it still works and running there is a problem thou.I turned it on first there was a problem with the bios time and set i set that all up,and then they said operating system not found,so i popped in my windows xp cd,but i dont think the laptop detected my disc drive what am i suppose to do?

A lot depends on how old, what brand, what model, what processor speed, etc. It sounds like the clock battery is dead (not keeping time), so you need to determine that aspect. This might also affect whether or not it recognizes the hard drive. It's also possible the drive might have stiction due to long-term non-use. In any case, more information is needed.

Hi, I just saw this post and I had the exact same issues with the date and time. I tried your solution, but it didn't work, but I receive a few tips from an expert in a tech support site that helped me make it work.

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Jon

Inconsistent date and time is usually because of the 3V CMOS battery going south.

If you are going to install another operating system you will need to at least reformat the hdd.