As it’s a BIOS Error, which means you can get this error message on any computer running on any Operating System (Windows 7 or Windows 10) and it can be on anything like your Notebook, Laptop or your Desktop PC. #Quick Tips:
In case, if you are getting this problem while booting your bootable USB flash drive then it’s quite possible that the software what you used to make your Flash Drive Bootable isn’t working on your computer. In this condition, you can try to use some different softwares in order to boot that USB. We can use softwares like; Rufus, Yumi or WinToFlash. In case, you made a new build for yourself or bought a new Computer and having this problem on the startup of your new PC, then it’s 100% possible that your computer or laptop don’t have an Operating System installed in it. And yes, it happens a lot when you install a new Hard Drive or SSD into your computer, because not a single drive comes with the preinstalled OS in it. Suggested Link: How to Install Windows in Laptop or Desktop Computer? If you’re having this problem randomly, or maybe your hard drive isn’t detected by the BIOS then it’s quite possible that your HDD/SSD got dead or having some problem with the cables. And for that, you just need to continue to read this troubleshooting guide.
So, What does “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” Means?
Mainly there is a chip soldered on your PC’s Motherboard called the “BIOS Chip”, and that chip is actually responsible for starting your Computer System, mainly from the beginning. In case, if you don’t know, your Operating System is installed in your Computer’s Hard Disk Drive or a Solid-State Drive (which depends on your PC) and that BIOS Chip is the one, which starts the Operating System from your HDD/SSD by using the Boot Volume. And by showing the error name “Reboot and select proper boot device” or “Insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key” your BIOS is just trying to say that it isn’t able to recognize or find your Computer’s Operating System Drive which it’s trying to boot. In case, if you are having this problem on a new computer, where not a single drive is connected to the computer’s main motherboard, then I think you should need to connect one and after that install a proper Operating System in it. Or otherwise, your computer’s display will always show that error message on the power-on-self-test (POST) screen. Just continue to read if you do have an OS (Operating System) installed in your system’s drive and still having this problem;
Why Do We Continuously Seeing This Error, Again and Again?
Mainly, this error message is seen right after your computer’s startup and sometimes, it just freezes your computer and stops the keyboard from working. Not just the error occurred when you remove or disconnect your OS Drive from the Computer’s Mainboard, but sometimes it’s possible that you’ll face the problem even when you didn’t touch your Systems Drive at all. And yes, it’s possible when your System’s Primary Storage Device cable connection gets loose automatically due to long aging or time, or it’s just your HDD or SSD which has become irresponsive. Not just these two; It’s also a possibility that your Computer’s BIOS get automatically reset too, which can make your System’s BIOS to forget their Boot Selection Setting, causing not to boot the main System’s Drive, mainly the one where your OS is installed. In case if we don’t know about the Boot Selection Setting, then actually it’s a BIOS Setting Menu where we mainly select and arrange the Storage Drives which is connected to our computer and tells BIOS to boot which particular bootable device at first or last. Other than the hardware’s fault there is one more reason for this error which shows up on your computer’s screen even when your System’s Drive or BIOS is working perfectly. In a general language, bootstrapping mainly refer to a self-starting process of your computer which doesn’t need any external input command to perform itself. So, in technical language people starts to using the word called booting for this whole loading the software to the memory process and the word booting become quite famous instead using the word bootstrapping… Read More Usually, this is the topmost possible reason why you are getting this error on your computer’s screen and that reason is the corrupted Operating System or the corrupted Boot Volume of your Operating System. Where both can be fixable. So, there are a lot of different reasons which can make your windows corrupted, like a bad BIOS or a bad Windows update or maybe a virus attack. Anything’s possible but the good part is, in any condition you can fix your Computer or Laptop without worrying about what happened to your computer. Now let’s see what’s going to help you to fix your computer on your own;
#First Thing First
Mainly when our computer starts to operate right after when you press the power button, it actually starts to scan every storage device which is connected to the computer. When it finds anything bootable connected to your mainboard besides your main System’s Drive, like something connected through the USB, then it’s also quite possible that your computer has changed the boot sequence itself and starts showing the error message on your screen. So, make sure you disconnect everything connected to your Computer’s USB Ports. Mainly the External Hard Drive, Flash Drive or any other kind of External USB Drive. If the problem still not solved, just continue;
#Troubleshooting System’s Drive
If the above trick won’t work for you then now it’s totally your Computer System’s Drive related problem and right now it’s very important to troubleshoot your Computer’s OS Drive, in order to make everything back to work. Now the first troubleshooting step which I want you to do is to check your Computer’s Hard Disk Drive or Solid State Drive is connected properly to your computer or not. And you can easily do that by checking the Storage Device Connection Status in the computer’s BIOS, and that will definitely ensure you about the drive whether it is working or disconnected. To open your laptop’s or desktop’s BIOS Menu, first, you’ll need to hit Del or F2 key on the keyboard again and again ,right after when you start your computer system. Make sure you press the key repeatedly. In case, if your computer is Powered ON right now, then you’ll need to turn it OFF and then again turn it ON to do Del or F2 key tapping procedure. You can only do that while you see the first black background screen which appears on your computer’s display, right after when it’s Powered ON. There is also a possibility that your computer doesn’t open the BIOS Setup Screen even after hitting the ‘Del’ or ‘F2’ key again and again on the keyboard. It all happens because when your computer is having its own and some different predefined key to open the BIOS Menu. But the great thing is, you can actually check that predefined key on your computer’s start screen (POST Screen), as shown in the picture given below: After when your BIOS opens up, just go to the “Main Setting” or “Standard CMOS Features” or maybe some other BIOS option which can show your all connected bootable devices like your system’s hard disk drive or an SSD. You’ll easily find it because you only need to explore your BIOS’ menu a bit;
@What to Do – If Your Drive Isn’t Listed in BIOS (Skip This Step If It Listed):
In case, if you aren’t able to find your OS’s Drive listed or mentioned in the BIOS Menu then it’s quite possible that your Hard disk Drive or Solid State Drive is not connected properly because of some faulty cable, or maybe there is also 1% chance that your main storage drive got broken too. Both of the things can be possible and to check what happened to your computer, you’ll need to open your Computer’s Casing and change the SATA Cable with some new one. But at first, you can try to disconnect the SATA cable from the old slot and reinsert it in some another free one. And not just that, you can also try to change your Storage Drive’s Power Connector too. To do that, just put out the main power cable connector from the storage device and then just put it back some other one ,which is free and coming from the PSU (Power Supply) of your computer. If you don’t have any new cable on your side then you can try to use that SATA Cable which is connected to the Optical Drive. You can’t replace any cable in a laptop because it relays on the inbuilt SATA Connector. So in laptops, you’ll need to use some different compatible and working drive in order to test the internal Connector. I know sometimes replacing SATA Cable won’t works either, or it’s also possible that your laptop is having some problem to find the HDD/SSD in BIOS too. Nothing frustrates a person like a sudden PC malfunction. You PC have to undergo a series of diagnosis to figure out what is the actual problem. The problem comes when determining whether you need a simple repair or replacement of a certain PC component. One of the issues that your PC might face is a faulty SATA/IDE Port on the motherboard or generally a faulty SATA or IDE Cable… Read More In both conditions, it’s 99% possible that your HDD/SSD drive got faulty and to confirm that, you can also try to use some other new or working HDD/SSD in your computer or laptop, just for the testing purpose. And yes, you can borrow it from your friend too, but make sure it’s compatible. In case, when you actually found your HDD or SSD is dead, then you can check out these guides listed down below, which can help you to find out a new perfect storage drive for your laptop or computer. Suggested Links:
How to Buy A Good New Hard Disk Drive? 👩🏻💻 🔥 Top & Best Hard Disk Drives of This Currently Month!! 🔥 How to Buy SSD (Solid State Drive) For PC & Laptop? 👩🏻💻 🔥 Top & Best Solid State Drives of This Currently Month!! 🔥 Do I need HDD or SDD & What’s The Difference?
@ What to Do – If Your Drive Does List in BIOS:
Mainly, a listed status of HDD or SSD in BIOS fully indicates that the storage drive of your computer is connected properly but the problem is coming from some other possible reasons, and those might be are:
Changed BIOS “Boot Setting” Windows “Startup” Problem Windows Drive Got ‘Inactive’. Corrupted Windows “Master Boot Recode”
And to find out, your computer is suffering from which one of these conditions you’ll need to troubleshoot everything step by step in your computer to fix this “Reboot and select proper boot device” problem. So, let’s find out;
Solution No. #1 – Fixing Boot Sequence
Boot Sequence is a BIOS’s Boot Configuration which allows your BIOS to boot all the connected bootable device in a proper sequence, which is mainly preselected by the user or the computer’s manufacturer. Boot Sequence is all about ,what you want to boot first or at last; And by just changing the Boot Sequence/Boot Order/First Boot Priority of your system’s Primary Storage Drive, like your HDD or SSD where your OS is installed, you can actually fix this problem in no time. So, let’s see how to change Boot Setting:
Open your computer’s BIOS Setup. Open the Boot Setting. Set the 1st Boot Device Priority to your Hard Drive or SSD Save that setting and restart your computer.
If changing Boot Setting won’t works for you, or maybe your 1st Boot Device Priority Setting is already pre-defined to your HDD/SSD. In that case, you can move to the next step listed down below; By changing the Boot Sequence in BIOS, you can actually prevent your computer from booting the newly connected device other than the OS drive. I’m only suggesting this because most of the people just forget to unplug the used External USB Drive (whatever it’s the flash drive or an external HDD), which lead to some kind of boot problem on the next startup… Read More Actually, after this paragraph, this article only belongs to the Windows Users because I only listed solutions for the Windows Operating System. In case, if you are having some another Operating System installed on your computers, like a Linux or something, then I think now you should need to search the web and find the solution according to your OS, and somehow if you still can’t able to find any solution to fix your OS, then reinstall the OS will definitely going to work out for you. Or otherwise, if you are using Windows OS then just continue to read.
Solution No. #2 – Fixing Windows Startup Problem
When our Windows Operating System is having some problem to start itself, then it’s surely possible that the error occurs on your screen and stop the whole booting process. The word Ubuntu is an ancient African word which means humanity and compassion for others. Mark Shuttleworth, founder and CEO of Canonical Ltd, hoped the bring the spirit of Ubuntu into the world of computers since back in 2004… Read More The best way to fix this kind of problem is that you’ll just need to perform a startup repair procedure on your computer, mainly by using the Windows Operating Systems Bootable Installer Disc or a Bootable USB Drive, which you had used when you installed your OS. I know sometimes it’s also possible that you don’t have the same Installer Disc or USB. But the thing is; The Version of the OS in the Disc or in USB needs to be same as the OS which you are currently using in your computer. You can use any Windows Setup sub-version Disc or USB on your computer to use the Startup Repair Utility tool but make sure it’s the SAME Version. If you still don’t get it; Then I actually mean that you can use any Windows 7 Setup Disc/USB if you’er having Windows 7 installed in your PC or you can use any Windows 10 Setup Disk/USB if you’re using Windows 10 in your computer. So, let’s look over to the procedure of Startup Repair: There are lots of different problems what a normal computer users do suffer at least once in a while and it can be your computer who’s showing you the “BOOTMGR is missing “error on startup or maybe your windows goes into a blue screen or having auto system restarts loop on its startup process (normally when the windows logo appears)… Read More
First, you’ll need to boot your Windows Disk or USB by using the Boot Menu (which is quicker than the actual configuration) or Boot Sequence Priority. And right after when you get the “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD/USB” message on the screen, just press any key on your keyboard to continue, or to boot the Windows setup. Now you’ll need to go to the “Startup repair” or “Automatic repair” option, according to the version of your windows because the procedure is quite different in different versions of Windows.
And now, you can click on the given expansion down below to get the complete procedure according to the different version of Windows. [toggle title=”Solution No. 2.1 – Startup Repair for Windows Vista & 7” state=”close”] Note: Move to Solution No.2.2 for Windows 8 & 10 Startup repair procedure. Right after ,when the setup booting process gets done, you’ll able the see the setup’s first menu options on the screen. In that option; You’ll just need to Click on the “Next” button and after that click on “Repair your computer” to start the “Startup Repair” utility tool. After that, the setup will start to scan your computer’s drive and show your previously installed Operating System, in the “System Recovery Options” box. Now, just select the listed OS and click on the “Next” button to start the Windows Startup Repair process. In case, if you can’t able to find your Windows listed in that Box, then you can skip this solution and just move to the next one. When the process gets started, you’ll need to wait until the startup repair gets completed. [/toggle] [toggle title=”Solution No.2.2 – Startup Repair for Windows 8/8.1 & 10” state=”close”] Right after, when the setup booting process gets done, you’ll able the see the setup’s first menu options on the screen. In that option; You’ll just need to Click on the “Next” button and after that click on “Repair your computer” to start the “Startup Repair” utility tool. After that, it will show you three options, but now you’ll only need to select the second one called “Troubleshoot”, and right after when the second screen menu pops up, you’ll need to select the third option called “Advanced Options”. Now select the Startup Repair on Windows 10 or Automatic Repair on Windows 8 to repair your computer. [/toggle]
Solution No. #3 – Fixing Windows Inactive Drive
An Active Partition is a partition of your computer’s HDD/SSD which is also known by its other name, “Bootable Partition”. That’s the partition which mainly contains your PC’s Operating System Boot Files; Normally only one partition can be active at a time and sometimes that partition also gets inactive due to some reasons like virus attack, registry corruption or maybe something else, but in that case, you’ll need to reactivate the OS Boot drive in order to start your PC. And to do that, you’ll have to open the CMD Command Prompt on your Computer’s Screen, and then just input some commands in it to reactivate your Windows drive, and yes, to start the OS properly. I know your Windows isn’t working, and now you are wondering ‘how can I possibly open CMD in this condition?’, but the thing is; You can actually open CMD even outside your OS and to do that you can follow this link which will show you; 4 Different Ways to Run CMD on Your Computer. Now open the command prompt on your screen & then type these commands one by one which all listed down here:
Command #1 – diskpart This command will start the Disk Part Utility in the Command Prompt and when the Diskpart starts, you’ll able to see the “DISKPART>” sign on the left side of the command prompt window. Command #2 – list disk This will list all the connected drives of your computer. Command #3 – select disk 0 In this step, you’ll need to select your main Hard Drive, mainly where your Window is installed. In my case, I’m selecting Disk 0 because that’s the only drive shown in my CMD, and that’s also the one where my OS is actually installed. It is also possible that you will see more than 1 disk in the CMD, and mainly that happens when you connect more than 1 Storage Drive to your computer. Command #4 – list partition This command will show you all the pre-created partitions of that disk that you’ve selected.
Command #5 – select partition 1 Normally we select “Partition 1” because in most cases it’s our windows boot partition, but sometimes other partitions can also be used because at times “Partition 1” can be your Windows Partition too. So, I’m just saying that select that partition where your windows boot files installed, which can not be more than 100 MB, 350 MB or 500 MB partition. Command #6 – active Now this command will make the partition active what you’ve selected in the above command. Command #7 – exit
After that, just restart your computer system and test it properly.
Solution No. #4 – Fixing Windows Master Boot Recode
The MBR or I can say Master Boot Recode, is the most important bootable data structure created in the OS Boot Drive and that’s the thing which is fully responsible for guiding your system’s BIOS to find the installed Operating System. The MBR is actually created during the process of Windows Installation and only needs to get repair when it mainly gets corrupted. It’s quite possible that your MBR got corrupted too, because some recently installed malware software, Viruses etc. and it’s always better to get it repair as soon as possible. Just like the above solution, this time you’ll again need to use the CMD Command Prompt on your computer because to fix the MBR you’ll definitely need to put some useful commands in it. Here’s the list of commands what you’ll need to enter:
Command 1# – Diskpart Command 2# – List volume Command 3# – Exit
Now you’ll need to find your Windows Drive letter in the list like mine is ’29 GB’ ‘D: drive’ as shown in the example picture. And after when you find what your Windows drive letter is, just use that drive letter in the next command which is given below:
Command 4# – D: Command 5# – Bootrec /fixmbr Command 6# – Bootrec /fixboot Command 7# – Chkdsk /f /r Command 8# – Y
After when the “chkdsk” command gets completed, just restart your computer and I hope your problem will be solved. If not, then you can repeat this whole MBR repair process again and use this “ Bootrec /rebuildbcd” command before “Chkdsk /f /r” like in the given picture below: If this error still stuck on your computer then the only way to fix it is by reinstalling your current Windows Operating System. But still; Before reinstalling the OS, there is one solution which you can try to fix the problem. Try to use the solution No. 3 from this article » “How to Fix “Startup Repair Cannot Repair This Computer Automatically” Problem?”, and maybe it might fix your problem. Or otherwise, you can follow this link to see » How to Install Windows on Desktop or Laptop Computer?. If you successfully fixed your computer or laptop then that’s really great and I know none of you wanted to see this error ever again on your computer’s screen. Operating system can be corrupted for numerous reasons such as corrupted registry file, conflict between two anti-viruses, incompatible new software etc. But the situation is really pathetic that results into data loss and make us unable to work on the system… Read More And not just this error, there are lot of major problems which can happen because of a single changed value in the windows registry database. So, it’s better to take protections before having any risk of a computer crash. If you don’t have any registry tuner or cleaner in your computer, then install the best class cleaner in your PC to get the perfect performance and an error-free system’s lifespan. “That’s all for now, thanks for sticking with the article, and you know it will always good to let me know about the article, in the comments down below.” 🙂 The Registry is a very important database that resides within your Operating System; It contains vital information on all the settings, preferences, etc. on hardware and software installed in your rig. When it comes to programs, the Registry also maintains data like the location of the program, what is required to launch the program, what sort of resources it needs from the computer, and so on and so forth. Read More
Anyway, thank you for this wonderful article. but may pc now hdd but alwys cive me this message may laptop toshiba satellte win 10 I use a Toshiba Satellite C850-F12S . When I tried to turn it on it showed a black screen which read this towards the end :- Exiting PXE-ROM , Reboot and select Proper boot device or insert boot device media. I don’t understand what this means. Please assist and I can even take a picture of what the screen looks like ….and all the writing there. Hoping to hear from you the soonest. Regards Tazz Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.
