In message .com,
" writes
I purchased a Gateway laptop about 1.5 years ago and have only used it
maybe 100 hours at most. Recently it locked up so I shut it down. But
when it rebooted it did not fully load. Then I think it asked if I
wanted to reload, restore (or something like this) the Gateway
software. I clicked yes but now I get a black screen with a choice of a

boot or bios menu (which is only for the computer settings). Then it
runs and says "operating system not found".
Gateway did not provide a restore disk with the laptop (now they want
$35.00 for the disks). I tried my desk top restore disk and it was
working but then it said "hard drive not found, can not continue". How
do I fix this?

Download yourself a copy of the IBM/Hitachi drive fitness test, write it
to floppy and boot the laptop from it, run the diagnostic tests, report
back here. From your description though, it sounds like the HDD is
faulty. Generally not difficult to replace usually and not expensive
either. As for the backup disks, buy them once you've determined and
fixed the fault.
--
Clint Sharp