The computer gives a reboot and select proper error. Reboot and select proper boot device – what does this error mean?
Quite often computer users encounter this problem. The Reboot and select proper boot device error can occur for many reasons, and if you encounter this problem, your computer will not be able to load the operating system.
I would like to note that the Reboot and select proper boot device error is not as critical as it might seem, and often this problem can be easily solved without calling a specialist or incurring any costs.
Below I would like to present you with a number of reasons for the Reboot and select proper boot device error and their solutions.
Reason #1.
One of the reasons for the error may be that the computer is trying to load the operating system from an external hard drive, flash drive, etc.
In this case, you should disable everything external drives and restart your computer. If this was the reason, then the computer should boot.
Reason #2.
One of the most common causes of the Reboot and select proper boot device error may be the computer attempting to load the operating system from another hard drive on which it is not installed. This happens due to not correct settings BIOS, in order to set boot priority from the hard drive you need, you need to change the settings.
Go to the BIOS, open the Boot tab and look for something like the “Boot Device Priority” item.
Please note that the settings for each manufacturer are different and the names may differ, therefore, either try to find out how to change the boot priority setting yourself, or you can ask a question in the comments to the article, indicating the brand of your motherboard and its manufacturer, I will try to tell you.
After you find this item, indicate the hard drive on which you have the operating system installed. Press F10 and put the letter “Y” in the pop-up window to confirm saving the settings. Restart your computer.
If you couldn’t cope with the BIOS settings, then there is another option: when you boot the computer, press the F10, F12, rarely F8 key; here, too, it all depends on your motherboard.
If you pressed the correct key, you will see a window with a selection of drives to boot. 
Select the one on which your operating system is installed.
Reason #3.
If you tried to change the boot priority using any of the methods above, but did not find your storage medium in the list, this may mean that you have problems connecting the hard drive, check the SATA connectors.
Reason No. 4.
It is unlikely, but it is quite possible that your hard drive has failed, this could happen, for example, due to viruses in the system, a power failure, power surge, etc. In this case, the system will no longer detect your hard drive.
Reason #5.
The Reboot and select proper boot device error can also occur due to a dead battery on motherboard, which is responsible for saving BIOS settings. It is quite easy to determine whether the battery is dead or not; you need to turn off the computer and unplug it from the outlet for about three minutes.
Then turn on the computer and go to the Bios settings to check the date and time, if they are wrong, then you need to.
Reason No. 6.
One of the reasons may also be damage to the bootloader. Windows file and if none of the options above suits you, then most likely the Reboot and select proper boot device error occurs precisely because of this.
This case may require, but only if it is not possible to restore the boot file.
I’ll give you an example of how you can try to recover a boot file. operating system Windows 7.
I wrote about this earlier, and this article will be useful to us now.
And so we boot the system with DVD disc with the operating system, we will think that you have the original operating system installed, and not “assemblies” available on the Internet, or in the case when you are using some converted assembly, then you have the disk from which it was installed. But I advise you not to install modified builds of the operating system; you can find disks with the original system on the Internet.
After choosing to boot from a DVD, we will see a window to begin installing the operating system. We are interested in the “System Restore” item in the lower left corner of the window. 
By clicking on it, select the operating system from the list for which we want to restore the boot file. In cases where you use one operating system, you will not have much choice. 
Next we need to select “Command Line”. 
Enter the following commands “bootrec /fixmbr” and “bootrec /fixboot”, after entering each command, press the “Enter” button. 
We're closing everything command line and reboot the computer, if everything written above was done correctly, then the computer should boot. The Reboot and select proper boot device error should no longer bother you.
Most often, we think about the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) only when we need to reinstall the operating system and need to somehow set it to boot from a disk or flash drive. I often wrote about this in articles such as:, and others. Now I want to put it together and refer only to this article when necessary. This article will be useful for all BIOS versions and for different companies. A kind of single reference book
The first thing you need to know is that BIOS is divided by manufacturer and version.
To change boot method in BIOS- You must first enter it.
You can, of course, find out what version and manufacturer of your BIOS is from the manual that came with your computer.
You can also find out by looking at the line at the top of the black screen when loading (the manufacturer will be indicated there).
Well, then enter the BIOS, knowing what it is for you.
Some BIOS versions do not have such a screen showing lines. There’s just a logo there and at the bottom it says something like “Press F2 to enter SETUP,” which means press F2. If there is just a logo and there are no inscriptions, press ESC, and then del or f2
Here is a small list of manufacturers and keyboard shortcuts for entering BIOS:
Also at the bottom of the black screen there are keys for entering the BIOS and for displaying a list containing available devices to download and so that you can boot from it. But more about him at the end of the article.
As you can see, most often you need to press the key F2 or Del.
Now you need to load a flash drive or disk.
Let's look at a few examples that differ from the BIOS manufacturer.
Setting up Award Bios to boot from a flash drive or disk:
The main window looks like this, in which we need the second item:
Further depends on the firmware version. In one case, you will need to go to an item similar to “Boot Seq & Floppy Setup”
in another case, you don’t need to go anywhere - everything will be right before your eyes
Clicks on First Boot Device(First boot device), click Enter and a window like this will appear
in which you need to select the disk or flash drive that will launch first. You can specify a Second boot device, for example, but usually the BIOS itself fills in this data.
Note:
If you select a flash drive, then, among other things, you also need to go to the “Hard Disk Boot Priority” item and move our flash drive to the very top using the “+” and “-” or “PageUp” and “PageDown” buttons:
It is also worth remembering that In order for the BIOS to see the flash drive, it must be connected before turning it on or before rebooting
Then press “F10” (see the exact key in the hint at the bottom of the screen called “Save”, “Exit”) or go to the main BIOS menu and select “Save and Exit Setup”. In the red window, select “Yes” using the “Y” button on the keyboard and press “Enter”
The computer will reboot and when booting from installation disk With Windows, you may receive this request for a few seconds: “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...”
Which translates to “Press any button to boot from a CD or DVD.”
This means that if you do not press any button on the keyboard at this moment, the computer will continue to boot from the next device on the list.
Another version of this BIOS:
I've only seen this on old computers from ten years ago, before 2003. The main menu looks like this:
To configure the boot order, you need to go to the menu BIOS FEATURES SETUP:
At this point, use the PageUp and PageDown buttons (or Enter and arrows) to select what to put first - CDROM or flash drive. DO NOT forget about the second and third device
And one more thing:
How to choose what to boot from in AMI BIOS
If, after entering the Bios, you see such a screen, it means you have AMI BIOS:
Use the right arrow button on the keyboard to move to the Boot tab:
Go to "Hard Disk Drives" and in the line "1st Drive" (may be called "First Drive") select a disk or flash drive:
Next, go to "Boot Device Priority", go to "1st Boot Device" and select from the list what you selected in the previous tab (i.e. if you selected a flash drive in Hard Disk Drives, then you need to specify it here too. This is important! )
To boot from a CD/DVD disk, you need to select “ATAPI CD-ROM” (or simply “CDROM”) in this menu; there is no need to go to the previous “Hard Disk Drives” menu.
Now we save the results with the “F10” button or go to the BIOS “Exit” section and select “Exit Saving Changes”.
Another AMI BIOS, but everything is clear here:
Setting up Phoenix-Award Bios to boot from a flash drive
If, after entering the Bios, you see a screen like this, then you have a Phoenix-Award BIOS:
Go to the “Advanced” tab and opposite “First Boot Device” set what you need (flash drive or disk):
Save with F10 key
Setting up EFI (UEFI) Bios with graphical interface to boot from a flash drive
Now this won’t surprise anyone. Almost all new computers are equipped with a similar shell. You can read more about it in the article.
When loading, at the bottom of the screen there is a “Boot Priority” section, where you can use the mouse (by dragging) the pictures to set the desired boot order.
You can also click the “Exit/Advanced mode” button in the upper right corner and select Advanced mode in the window that appears.
Next, go to the “Boot” tab and in the section Boot Option Priorities in the “Boot Option #1” field, set the default boot device to be a flash drive, DVD-ROM, hard drive or other available device.
How to boot from a flash drive or disk without entering BIOS
This is what I wrote about almost at the very beginning of the article.
This is when you need to press a key once and a window will appear with a boot selection. This method does not change the BIOS settings.
Usually Award BIOS suggests pressing “F9” to call boot menu, and AMI asks you to press “F8”. On laptops this may be the “F12” key.
In general, look at the bottom line and look for items like “Press F8 for BBS POPUP” or “Press F9 to Select Booting Device after POST”.
Why can't I boot from a flash drive into BIOS?
Possible reasons: 
On older computers there is no way to boot from USB flash drives at all. If a newer BIOS does not exist, then the project may help.
1) Download from the link above latest version"Plop Boot Manager" and unpack.
2) The archive contains the following files: plpbt.img – an image for a floppy disk, and plpbt.iso – an image for a CD.
3) Write the image to disk and boot from it (or from a floppy disk).
4) A menu will appear in which we select our flash drive and boot from it.
A small explanation of disk designations when selecting:
Do not forget, after you have done what you wanted (namely, why you changed the boot in the BIOS) - return the boot settings back so that the computer boots with hard drive.
Updated: 2019-11-27 / Victor Trunov
Often a situation arises when, when we turn on the computer, we are faced with something other than the usual loading Windows, but with various errors that arise for unknown reasons.
Today we will look at one of these errors with the text “reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press any key", translated this means the following: reboot and specify the required boot device or insert boot drive into the boot device and click any key."
But that's not all. Depending on the version of your BIOS, the error text may vary, for example, the following symbols may be present: , Boot failure or No boot device available. In general, the solution to the problem is the same; there are only some additional points for each type of malfunction. You can familiarize yourself with them in more detail in the corresponding articles, where each problem was touched upon in more detail.
The appearance of the reboot and select proper boot device error may indicate incorrect settings in the BIOS, the presence of damage to the hard drive or its incorrect connection, damage boot entry"MBR" and much more.
Let's talk specifically about what to do in this situation, let's look at the reasons for the appearance of this message and we will try to fix them ourselves.
A simple and effective way
Perhaps the simplest thing that can help correct the situation is to disconnect all third-party peripherals from the PC or laptop. This includes: flash drives, external HDD drives, cameras, USB cameras, Wi-Fi adapters and everything else.
After you disconnect all this, try turning on the computer again and look at the result. This will most likely help fix the problem.
If this method helped you, then it is obvious that the problem was on the side of the BIOS settings. And in order not to turn off all the equipment every time, you need to change the settings.
To do this:
In some cases, the settings may not be saved and the next time you start the computer you may see the same reboot and select proper boot device error. This mainly happens due to a dead BIOS battery, after a sudden shutdown of the PC, as a result of a voltage drop in the electrical network or power supply.
This can be signaled by resetting the current date and time. In this case, you should replace the battery, ensure a stable voltage in the power supply, replace the power supply (if it is faulty) and only then set the necessary settings again.
Resetting the BIOS settings to default will also help.
An alternative way to boot from the desired drive
The good thing about the method we’ll look at now is that you can select the boot device without going into the BIOS. It is enough to immediately press one of the keys when you turn on the computer: F8, F10 or F12. Each case can have its own unique key.
So, the procedure will be as follows:
Main disadvantage this method The problem is that every time you turn on the computer, all actions must be performed again. But as a check, you can use it.
If it really was an incorrect boot order of the devices, then this will help fix the reboot and select proper boot device error.
Checking the hard drive and its power supply
Hard drive “HDD” is a device on which all your data is stored, like the installed Windows OS. Investigator, if it partially or completely fails, various errors may appear. Therefore, you need to make sure that it is connected correctly in general.
To do this, we perform all the points one by one:
Usually, after correcting all the above problems, the situation improves.
However, if the computer still writes that it cannot find a boot device, as evidenced by the message reboot and select proper boot device, then move on to the next step.
Bug fixes
As a result of various failures, it could fly off file system. To restore it, you need to boot from any LiveCD, bootable flash drive or a disk with Windows installed.
If you decide to boot from disk, then:
We wait until the check is completed and boot the PC as usual.
If you use a LiveCD, for example, from Dr.Web, it will be additionally useful, since they, in turn, can also influence the appearance of the reboot and select proper boot device error.
Checking the system board
The most common cause is swollen capacitors or a faulty SATA connector.
In the first case: Visually inspect the capacitors on the motherboard. Their surface should be smooth and flat, they should not have any bulges. If it is clear that the capacitors are swollen or burst, then they need to be replaced. Experts will help you with this service center. The procedure is quite fast and does not take much time.
In the second case: connect the SATA cable to another connector and check operation.
If you bought a new HDD drive, made sure that it works by connecting it to another PC, but does not want to be displayed on yours (even in the BIOS), then most likely the motherboard is faulty.
Bootloader recovery
As I already said, the main error reboot and select proper boot device, which we analyze throughout the entire article, in some cases appears in a completely different version. For example, you may see the following messages: Boot failure, No bootable device, or No boot device available. They all talk about a crashed bootloader that needs to be restored.
I will show you how to do this using Windows 7 as an example:
If indeed the problem was on the bootloader side, then this will help get rid of the message “reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press any key”.
Additional Methods
All of the above helps in almost all cases, however, there are exceptions and then you can try the following:
Now I suggest you familiarize yourself with the main list of recommendations that will warn you against such problems and help you detect and eliminate them in time:
- Always use UPS. This will solve the problem with voltage drop in the electrical network.
- Change the BIOS battery periodically, especially when you start to notice that the current time and date are reset to several years ago. Typically the battery lasts for 3-5 years.
- Trust PC setup only to competent people who understand this matter.
- Be sure to install, even if you consider yourself an experienced user and download files only from trusted resources. They will protect you from sites that automatically download viruses to your system.
- Check the HDD for errors from time to time. This will allow you to timely detect and eliminate the malfunction, while preserving the information on it.
- Create a copy of all important data that should preferably be stored on another drive. You can also create a backup system partition and after an unexpected failure, restore it. This is done using the True Image program.
If none of the methods helped you and the computer still does not turn on, then ask your questions with detailed description the whole situation, we will solve the problem together.
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This could be: a failure of the motherboard, power supply,
hard drive, video card, RAM etc.
It is important to diagnose and repair the breakdown in time,
to prevent failure of other components.
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Very often, users encounter an error such as “Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media.” This error appears immediately after turning on the computer and does not allow you to load the operating system.
Fortunately, this error not too serious and in most cases it can be eliminated without the help of a specialist and without additional material costs. Now we will look at a number of the most common causes of this error and tell you what you can do.
Reason #1: The computer is trying to boot from an external drive.
If, when you try to turn on your computer, you receive the error message “Reboot and select proper boot device,” then the first thing to do is disconnect all external storage devices (, memory cards, external hard drives and CDs) and restart the computer. It is quite possible that after this the computer will start booting normally.
Reason #2: The computer is trying to boot from a different hard drive.
Very often, the cause of the error “Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media” is that the BIOS settings are set incorrectly and because of this the computer boots from a different hard drive. In order to fix this problem, find the boot settings there and select the drive on which the operating system is installed.
All BIOSes are very different from each other. Therefore, it will not be possible to describe the setup process for everyone possible options. As an example, we will show how this is done if you have an AMI BIOS.
So, in AMI BIOS you need to go to the “BOOT” section and open the “Hard Disk Drive BBS Priorities” menu item.
After this, you need to configure the priority of drives when loading. To do this, simply select the first disk to be the disk on which the operating system is installed. After that, press the ESC key to return to the previous BIOS screen.
After this, you need to pay attention to the general list of devices used to boot the operating system. IN this list must also be present hard drive with the operating system.
If the hard drive you need is not in this list, then open one of the items and select the hard drive.
After making all changes, do not forget to save them. This can be done by simply pressing the F10 key.
Reason No. 3. Problems with connecting hard disk.
If you tried to change the boot order (as described above), but did not find the drive you need in the list of drives, then most likely you have some problems with . In this case you need to check SATA connection cables to the hard drive and motherboard. These cables are not attached very securely, and sometimes the contact at the connection point may be poor. Because of this, the hard drive can be disconnected or connected for no apparent reason.
Reason #4: The hard drive is faulty.
The reason is quite unlikely, but quite possible. If your hard drive has completely failed. Then it will not be detected by the system, and you will receive the error “Reboot and select proper boot device”.
Reason No. 5. Dead battery on the motherboard.
One more possible reason, this is a dead battery on the motherboard. It is very easy to check and exclude this option. Turn off your computer and unplug it from power for a few minutes. After that, go to BIOS and check the time and date. If the time and date are wrong, then you need.
Reason #6: Damaged bootloader.
A damaged bootloader can also cause the “Reboot and select proper boot device” error to appear. If you have ruled out all other options, you can try restoring the bootloader.
Restoring the bootloader to different versions Windows, this is a topic for a separate article. Here we will simply demonstrate how this is done using Windows 7 as an example.
Boot from the Windows 7 disc, and when a window appears on the screen asking you to install Windows, select the “System Restore” option.
After that select "Command Prompt"
Then enter the commands “bootrec /fixmbr” and “bootrec /fixboot” into it
After entering these commands, close the command prompt and restart your computer. If the problem was in the bootloader, then the error “Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media” should no longer appear.
It’s nice when a computer starts up every day without problems and allows its owner to perform assigned tasks, have fun, and much more. Unfortunately, sometimes even while trying to start the operating system, the message “No bootable device insert boot disk and press any key” may appear on the computer screen, which does not allow you to use the equipment for its intended purpose.
Therefore, you need to start looking for a solution to the problem. You can do this by reading this material.
What does the error No bootable device insert boot disk and press any key mean?
The first step in the upcoming treatment method is to understand what this error means.
An approximate translation of the phrase from the message allows you to obtain information that when trying to start the system, the computer contacts the device on which it is located, but cannot connect to it. Next the PC asks the user to insert boot disk and press any button to continue the operation.
That is, the phrase “No bootable device insert boot disk and press any key” actually signals to the user that there is no access to the hard drive being used.
There are several reasons for this situation:
- Problems with the drive caused by physical impact (for example, the PC was accidentally dropped or carelessly moved from one place to another).
- Temporary, non-systematic failure.
- Consequence of the influence of malware.
- An attempt was made to boot from a drive that is not specified as a priority in the hardware settings.
- The battery on the system board has expired.
- Problem with USB ports when trying to use this type connections.
- Problems with the operating system itself.
Based on the root causes described above, you can try to correct this not the most pleasant state of affairs.
Several troubleshooting algorithms
So, the easiest way, which often allows you to correct this situation, is to simply restart the equipment. If a normal failure occurs, then this procedure should help.
The next step is to remember whether any physical impact was applied to system unit? If yes, then it is recommended to remove the side cover, find all the connections of the hard drive you are using and check them for reliability. It is important to make sure that the cables are correctly connected not only to the hard drive itself, but also to the motherboard.
The third stage is to exclude the PC from attempting to load the OS from other sources. To do this you need:
- Remove all discs located in CD or DVD drives;
- Temporarily remove all external drives;
- Initiate the next equipment restart.
If a person tries to start the system using a drive connected via a USB port, then it is recommended to try reconnecting it via another USB, fortunately on modern computer units There are usually quite a large number of them present.
The fifth step is to check the download priority. In some cases, this particular setting can lead to a similar situation:
- Start restarting the device;
- Press “Del” to go to the BIOS menu;
- Go to the section responsible for identifying and prioritizing the devices used (Most often you should look for the section with the word “BOOT”);
- The first in the list should be the device on which the operating system is located. If this is not the case, then the equipment must be swapped.
If the BIOS does not see the required device at all, and the user is confident that the connection is correct and reliable, then most likely the hard drive is faulty.
Solution: send the hard drive for service and, quite possibly, purchase a new device.
Sometimes in a situation with a similar error, you may notice that the changes made in the BIOS settings are rolled back during each subsequent restart of the PC. This is a clear sign of a battery problem. You will have to replace it, fortunately you can do it yourself, and the cost of a new product is minimal.
If the hard drive is perfectly detected by the hardware and has the required priority, then there is another option for correcting the “No bootable device insert boot disk and press any key” condition. True, for this you need to have a boot disk or its equivalent on a flash drive on hand:
- Insert the disk into the drive or connect a flash drive.
- Go into the BIOS and set the startup priority from the boot disk/flash drive. Save changes, restart computer.
- After starting the program, go to “System Restore”.
- Select command line.
- Force three commands to be executed in turn: bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot and chkdsk: /f /r
If none of the proposed methods brought positive result, then, unfortunately, you will have to take the equipment to a specialized service and, possibly, buy new hard disk.
