Many users have reported seeing the error message"No bootable device" in their HP, Acer, and Toshiba PCs. The error" No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key" appears on the screen when you try to turn on your PC, and the system cannot detect the hard drive with an operating system to boot from it. It occurs due to corrupted or damaged hard drives or misconfigured BIOS settings. Software-related issues can also lead to it. In this article, you will learn what this error is and how to eliminate it.
Part 1: Something You Need to Know about No Bootable Device - Insert Boot Disk and Press any Key Error
- 1. What is the "No Bootable Device - Insert Boot Disk and Press any Key" Windows Error?
- 2. What are the Causes of the "No Bootable Device" Error?
Part 2: How to Fix a No Bootable Device Insert Boot Disk and Press any Key Error?
- Fix 1: Use PassFab FixUWin
- Fix 2: Change Boot
- Fix 3: Reset the Boot Manager through Command Prompt
- Fix 4: Perform Startup Repair
- Fix 5: Manually Fix File System on Bootable HDD
Part 3: FAQs About No Bootable Device Insert Boot Disk And Press Any Key error
Part 1: Something You Need to Know about No Bootable Device - Insert Boot Disk and Press any Key Error
1. What is the"No Bootable Device - Insert Boot Disk and Press any Key" Windows Error?
No Bootable device insert boot disk and press any key error occurs when the system fails to detect a storage device, i.e., HDD, SSD, DVD, USB flash drive, or CD-ROM drive with an operating system. With this error, your PC does not start up, and you cannot access your data.
2. What are the Causes of the"No Bootable Device" Error?
Following are some common causes of No Bootable device insert boot disk and press any key:
- Missing or corrupted boot sector
- Incorrect boot order
- Damage MBR (Master Boot Record)
- Faulty hard drive or SSD
- Misconfigured BIOS
- Faulty drivers
In case of a damaged hard disk, you may lose your data as it becomes completely inaccessible.
Part 2: How to Fix a No Bootable Device Insert Boot Disk and Press any Key Error?
Fix 1: Use PassFab FixUWin
PassFab FixUWin is a comprehensive Windows repair tool that can detect problems in your system by scanning and resolving them automatically. You can use it to fix any Windows error such as BSoD errors, stuck on a boot or restart loop, Windows updates stuck, etc. This incredible Windows repair utility allows you to create a bootable disk with the help of another healthy PC. You can also fix the No Bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key error with this tool as it looks for the damaged or corrupted files and replaces them with their healthy version.
Install and launch the PassFab FixUWin software on your computer. Connect the USB/CD/DVD drive to your computer.
Go to Windows Repair, and click Create boot disk now button.
Choose your USB/CD/DVD drive from the list of available options and click"Next".
Wait until the bootable device has been created successfully. Switch to the faulty PC afterward.
Restart the faulty PC and enter into boot menu by pressing boot key continuously, set the bootable USB/CD/DVD created in the previous step on boot priority , save changes, and exit the boot menu.
Click Automated Repair to let the software start scanning the problem and resolve it automatically.
Choose the disk partition requiring repair and click Start Repair.
When you see the Automated repair completed screen, click the Restart button.
The program will start scanning the files on the hard disk. The more data in the hard disk, the more time it will take to complete the scan. Wait patiently, and do not interrupt the process.
After using this magical tool, you will need nothing else to troubleshoot Windows errors.
Fix 2: Change Boot Mode
If the boot mode is set to Legacy mode, try changing it to UEFI. UEFI is low-level software that is loaded before the operating system loads. If it is set to the wrong mode, you will face an error like"No bootable device." You can change the boot mode to UEFI by following the steps below:
Step 1: Restart your PC and press the BIOS key (F1, F2, F8, F11, DEL) to open the boot menu upon startup.
Step 2: Go to Boot Mode and set its value to UEFI.
Step 3: Now, Exit the boot menu after saving the changes.
Fix 3: Reset the Boot Manager through Command Prompt
You can also fix the No Bootable device insert boot disk and press any key error by resetting the boot manager via the command prompt. As your PC cannot boot, you can launch the command prompt by accessing Advanced repair options. To do so, you need Windows Installation Media, i.e., a DVD or a bootable USB drive.
While creating the installation media, choose the right settings; otherwise, the system will not boot from it. After getting Windows Installation Media, you can launch the command prompt and reset the boot manager by following these steps:
Step 1: Boot your system through Windows Installation Media.
Step 2: Select the Language and Region.
Step 3: Click Next and then Repair your computer link.
Step 4: Go to Troubleshoot, select Advanced Options, and then choose Command Prompt.
Step 5: Type the following commands and execute them respectively.
- Bootrec.exe /FixMbr
- Bootrec.exe /Fixboot
- Bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
Step 6: Reboot the system after the commands run successfully.
Fix 4: Perform Startup Repair
If you still face no bootable device - insert a boot disk and press any key give a try to Automatic Startup Repair. This will detect the problem automatically and perform troubleshooting correspondingly. You need a Windows Installation Media to access it. Once you get the Installation Media, follow the steps below to proceed:
Step 1: Boot your computer through installation media and click the Repair your computer link.
Step 2: Select Troubleshoot, go to Advanced options and select Automatic Repair.
Step 3: Wait until the system troubleshoots the error.
Step 4: Reboot the system after repairing completes.
Fix 5: Manually Fix File System on Bootable HDD
When the bootable device's file system gets corrupted, your PC shows no bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key error. To fix this issue, you can run the CHKDSK command as follows:
Step 1: Boot your PC with Installation media and open the Command Prompt.
Step 2: Type chkdsk E: /f /r /x, and hit Enter.
Tips:
"E" is the drive letter of the partition. You can also replace it.)
Step 3: Wait for the process to complete.
FAQs
1. How do I bypass the no-bootable device?
You can bypass the no-bootable device error by doing so:
Step 1: Restart the system and enter BIOS settings.
Step 2: Switch to the Boot tab and press + or – to set the hard drive on boot priority.
Step 3: Save changes and reboot the system.
Besides, you can try other methods mentioned in this article.
2. What does no bootable device—insert the boot disk and press any key mean?
This error message means that your system fails to detect any bootable device. This may occur due to corrupted or damaged hard drives or software issues.
3. How to fix a no-bootable device – insert boot disk and press any key on Mac?
You can fix a no-bootable device – insert the boot disk and press any key on your Mac by following the steps below:
Step 1: Shut down the Mac.
Step 2: Now, turn your Mac on and hold the Option key.
Step 3: When the Startup Manager opens, select the Startup disk (Macintosh HD), click the arrow icon, and then Return.
Step 4: Go to Apple menu - System Preferences - Startup Disk.
Step 5: Click the lock icon, enter the Administrator name and password, and click Unlock.
Step 6: Choose Macintosh HD as the default operating system.
Conclusion
No Bootable device—insert boot disk and press any key is a common error many users face. It mostly occurs due to faulty hard drives, improper boot orders, or damaged BIOS settings. In this article, we have provided some methods to help you to fix the No Bootable device—insert boot disk and press any key problem. Out of all solutions, PassFab FixUWin is the most recommended one because it can resolve any problem easily.