How to fix Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media, No bootable device and similar error

If when you start your computer you see a message on a black screen whose full text says "Reboot and select the appropriate boot device or insert the boot media in the selected boot device and press a key" instead of the usual boot screen Windows 7 or 8 (The error can also appear in Windows XP), then this manual should help you. (Options for the same error text - No boot device - insert boot disk and press any key, No boot device available, depending on BIOS version). 2016 Update: Boot Failure and Operating System Not Found Error in Windows 10.

In fact, the appearance of this error does not necessarily indicate that the BIOS is configured in the wrong boot order, it can be due to errors in the hard disk, caused by user actions or viruses and other reasons. Let's try to consider the most probable ones.

A simple method that usually works

In my experience, No Boot Device, Reboot, and Select Proper Boot Device errors are usually caused by more mundane things than a bad hard drive, incorrect BIOS settings, or a corrupt MBR registry.

The first thing to try if this error occurs is to remove all flash drives, CDs, external hard drives from your computer or laptop and try to turn it on again - the boot may well be successful.

If this option helped, it's a good idea to find out why boot device errors appear at all when drives are connected.

First of all, go to your computer's BIOS and look at the boot order you have set - the system hard drive should be set as the first boot device (here is how to change the boot order in BIOS - applied to a flash drive, but it's pretty much the same for a hard drive). If not, set the correct order and save the settings.

Apart from that, usually in offices or older home computers, the following causes of the error have been found: a dead battery on the motherboard and the computer unplugged, and power problems (surges) or with the power supply of the device. computer. One of the main symptoms that one of these causes is applicable to your situation is that the time and date are reset every time the computer is turned on, or they simply go wrong. If this is the case, I recommend replacing the battery on your computer's motherboard, taking steps to ensure a stable power supply, and then setting the correct boot order in BIOS.

Select proper boot device or no boot device and Windows MBR errors

The errors described may also indicate that the Windows boot loader has become corrupted. This can be caused by malicious programs (viruses), power failure in the house, improper shutdown of the computer, inexperienced user experiments with hard disk partitions (resizing, formatting), installation of additional operating systems on the computer.

I already have two step-by-step guides on this in., Which should help in all the above cases except the last one, which is just below.

If the boot device related errors appeared after installing the second operating system, the above instructions may not help, and if they do, it is likely that only the originally installed operating system will start. You can describe your situation with the OS and the installation order in the comments, I will try to help you (usually within 24 hours).

Other possible causes of the error

And now the less pleasant causes: problems with the boot device itself, that is, the hard drive of the computer system. If the BIOS does not see the hard disk and you hear a strange noise from it (HDD), it may be physically damaged, and therefore the computer will not start. This can be caused by a falling laptop or a blow to the computer chassis, sometimes due to an unstable power supply and often the only possible solution is to replace the hard drive.

Note: The fact that the hard drive does not appear in the BIOS may be caused by something other than its damage, I recommend checking the interface cable and the power connection. Also in some cases the hard drive may not be detected due to a power supply failure in the computer – if you have any suspicions of this recently, I recommend you check it out (symptoms are: the computer does not turn on right away, restarts on shutdown and has some other weird power on/off issues).

Hopefully some of this will help you fix No boot device available or Reboot and Select proper Boot device errors, if not then ask, I'll try to answer.