[NorthstarATL]

I have an old HP Pavilion 6635 that was running Windows 2000. It has an Intel Celeron 533 MHz processor. Not a great computer, but I was happy with it as a back up for writing and editing video files, etc. I ran into a problem with it a couple of days ago where it wouldn't let me access display settings. It's never had an internet connection, so there couldn't have been a virus, but I did a CC Clean on the system. I somehow removed something essential from the registry as the computer sut own and wouldn't restart into Windows , but rather gave me a 'no operating system found' message instead. (I backed up the registry, but it does me no good, as I cannot access the back up.) How do I know it was registry related? There was an error message that said something about a registry thing missing before the 'no operating system' message, but I didn't write it down and haven't seen it since.
I got into BIOS and found that no hard drive is listed. I went into the computer and adjusted physical connections, but only the CD drive shows up in BIOS. I attempted using a CD with Windows 2000 reinstall/repair on it, and it cannot find an existing operating system or (using different paths) it cannot detect a hard drive, or requires additional drivers on a floppy disk, which I don't have the capability of creating, as my Dell doesn't have a floppy drive. I attempted to use a flash drive, but couldn't figure out how to get the computer to recognize it instead of a floppy in the A drive.
I know it's an old computer, with an unsupported operating system (if it's even still there), but I hate to give up without making every effort. Any guidance or assistance would be greatly appreciated. I've pretty much exhausted my meager knowledge.

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For once i thought, repairing using the OS cd would restore the system but you have already tried it. If you have very important data that is now inaccessible you may use a data recovery software to get it back. For that you might need to attach this hard drive as a secondary device to another computer and see if it is being detected.

For installing OS again, insert the OS disc CD drive & in BIOS set the boot option to CD. The system would boot from CD and then would start the installation after your inputs.

[silvernoodles]

For once i thought, repairing using the OS cd would restore the system but you have already tried it. If you have very important data that is now inaccessible you may use a data recovery software to get it back. For that you might need to attach this hard drive as a secondary device to another computer and see if it is being detected.

For installing OS again, insert the OS disc CD drive & in BIOS set the boot option to CD. The system would boot from CD and then would start the installation after your inputs.

[NorthstarATL]

Thanks for the reply! Thankfully, there's no data that needs saving on the drive! I did attempt to install Windows 2000 from the CD, and that's where my problem lies. I do not have the capability of making a floppy disk with drivers, and I cannot figure out how to (if there even is a method) get the HP to recognize a USB Flash Drive as a floppy, which seemed to be the best solution.
At this point, I'd have no trouble with wiping the drive and reinstalling Windows, but I'm not certain that it would take if the BIOS is not acknowledging the hard drive.

[Ztruker]

Sounds to me like the hard drive has died. Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics

[NorthstarATL]

I created a disk to check my hard drive through one of the links, and sure enough it told me there was no hard drive! I have an old Dell 2400 with a seemingly working Seagate HD that I also checked in the HP, and it registered as needing to be verified or something. I don't recall what the message was exactly because the CD Rom drive broke immediately after! I think the final analysis is that the entire machine was about to give out, and I'm probably fortunate that I have another computer and that I never stored anything on the HP. I'm thinking of taking out the working parts of the HP and seeing if I can't use them to create some sort of hybrid with the working parts of the Dell?
Thank you for your help. I guess this thread can be closed now.