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Not sure if it's Vista or Windows 7 honestly because it's my dad's computer. When trying to start it up, it displays the error "Missing operating sys".

I looked around for methods to fix this and came across the CD to reinstall it, but couldn't find any instructions. From what I've read/seen, you need simply to insert the CD and start the computer, but the computer doesn't do anything different when I do this. What exactly do I need to do?

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If it's not your computer, don't re-install Windows without permission. You'll wipe out anything on the hard drive that might be important to save. – Joe Internet Jul 25 '11 at 16:32
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This is tricky to explain to someone who isn't used to playing around with computers. When you boot your computer chances are you see some find of screen which tells you to hit some of the function keys (F4 or F8 for example) to do some stuff.

You'll want to hit the proper key that says something along the lines of "Select boot order / Select boot device". If there isn't one, reboot your computer to get back to the screen (you only have a couple seconds to hit the key) and see if you have the option of hitting a key to "Enter setup" or something like that.

Basically, you are telling your computer to start booting not from the hard drive (that has windows already installed), but from the CD/DVD drive (which will fix windows).

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Alright, I went to Setup Options and boot from CD/DVD/etc drive and it seemed to be working, but after it finished loading I just got a black screen. Does that mean it's finished or something went wrong? Or does it just take a while? – Jim Jul 25 '11 at 15:51
After what finishes loading? Do you ever see a Windows/Microsoft logo or banner or something? It might be that the CD you have is either not a bootable CD or is corrupted. – MaxMackie Jul 25 '11 at 15:52
It showed a gray bar at the bottom of the screen with a white bar on top of it. I don't remember the text, but it was a loading bar that showed up after I selected the option so I assume it was the right CD (said operating system on it). After it got to the end, though, it just went off to a black screen. I have a cursor, but nothing else. – Jim Jul 25 '11 at 15:55
Yeah that's the standard windows loading bar. I would wait a little (I remember Windows installs taking a long time). If the black screen persists, it might your DVD drive. I did some Googling and other people who had this issue either had a faulty drive or faulty disc. – MaxMackie Jul 25 '11 at 16:00
Alright, I'll wait an hour or two and if there's still a problem I'll ask him about getting a new disc. If that doesn't work I suppose we'd have to send it somewhere to get it fixed. – Jim Jul 25 '11 at 16:01
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