Windows is undoubtedly a great Operating System which is loaded with outstanding applications and is admired by many users. However, if you are unable to open your computer due to an error ‘reboot and select proper boot device’ or ‘Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key’, then don’t worry because here you will find the effective and utmost solutions against an issue. But before heading towards the solution end, let’s know about the issue and the causes behind it.
What does ‘reboot and select proper boot device’ error mean?
The error ‘reboot and select proper boot device’ or ‘Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key’ means that the System BIOS is failed to detect the bootable drive/disk and as a result, the display shows this error and your keyboard will stop working.
Usually, the OS drive gets disconnected from the motherboard and the HDD becomes unresponsive. As this error refers to a BIOS error, that means you can face this error message on any computer running on Windows 10/8/7. In most of the cases, your Windows startup remains blocked even if you have reboot the computer.
Why the error ‘Reboot and select proper boot device’ appear on Windows OS?
The prime reason behind ‘Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key’ error is the failure of the Operating System or might be it got corrupted. Another reason is the failure of the boot volume. Well, if you want to go deeper, then secondary reasons may be the virus attack or corrupted registry files which came with BIOS update. The reasons behind this error are listed as under:
- Your Boot Disk is not detected by BIOS
- Boot Disk is detected by BIOS but not connected properly.
- Damaged Boot Disk.
- Legacy mode activated or Disabled on UEFI-based computers
- No active partition.
- Master Boot Record is damaged.
- Corrupted Boot files.
- Wrong Boot Sequence.
How to fix ‘Reboot and select proper boot device’ or ‘Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key’ error in Windows?
We have discussed the causes behind the issue. Though it is not possible to find out the exact cause behind the error. However, I have listed some best solutions to fix this error. Need not to try them all. Just try the solutions one by one until your error is fixed.
Clean RAM
Due to prolong use the RAM gets dusty and there are chances of occurrence of such errors due to dusty RAM. Just clean the dust on the RAM and see if the error continues.
Note: Use a soft cloth for the cleaning of RAM.
Ensure HDD is displaying on the list
As stated earlier, the prime reason of an error ‘reboot and select proper boot device’ or ‘Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key’ may be the failure of the Operating System, so first and foremost, you will have to ensure whether HDD is in the list of System or not and for the same, you will have to follow a few steps which are listed below.
- Remove all the peripherals and shut down the PC.
- Now, you will have to enter the BIOS settings and for that press the Power button and immediately press the relevant key to get into the BIOS such as F12 or ESC key.
- After getting into the BIOS settings, move to the Boot, and select boot priority option.
- Once you reach on the said page, you will find the list of Drivers and your job is to find out HDD in the system list. If it is not showing, then maybe HDD is lagging the cable connection and in this case, you will have to replace the existing SATA cable with the new one.
- However, if HDD is showing on the system list, then go for the next solution.
Change Boot Order in BIOS
Generally, Windows boot from the Hard drive, but if an external drive is connected and is set as a primary one then it will display an error ‘reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key’. So, you will have to change the order and keep the hard drive at the priority level.
- Shut down your PC. Press the power button and immediately press the relevant key to get access to the BIOS settings. Generally, it is an F8 or F12 key.
- Now move to the ‘BIOS SETUP UTILITY’ page and select ‘Startup’ from the menu.
- Thereafter, you will get two options of the boot device, select the first one, and keep it as HDD.
- That’s it, now save the changes and restart your computer.
Set Primary Hard Drive in Active Mode
The error ‘reboot and select proper boot device windows 10’ or ‘Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key’ also occur due to the primary partition, if the same is not in active mode. So move to the partition setting and enable it in active mode and the process for the same is simple and as follows.
- Make sure you retain the working Windows Installation CD because you will have to insert the same in CD/DVD Drive.
- After inserting the disc in the drive, restart your computer.
- Thereafter, your screen will display ‘System Recovery Options’ select ‘Troubleshoot’.
- In the ‘Troubleshoot’ page select ‘Advanced’.
- Here also, you will get additional options, select ‘Command Prompt’.
- Now, type diskpart in the command box and make sure to avoid an inverted comma and then press the ‘Enter’ key.
- Now you can perform changes in the disk partition and to select the disk, enter ‘select disk O’, and press ‘Enter’ key.
- Well, disk 0 shows the place where Windows is installed. However, if you want to see the full list, then type ‘list disk’ and hit Enter button.
- It’s time to go for the primary partition and for that, type ‘list partition’ in the command box and press the ‘Enter’ key.
- Now, type ‘select partition 2’ in the box and then hit on ‘Enter’ key. Here, 1 denotes the primary partition.
- Last and final command; in the box, you will have to type ‘active’ and further press the ‘Enter’ key.
Please note that these settings navigation may vary in your system.
Disable Legacy Boot
- Restart your computer.
- Open the UEFI menu by pressing the necessary key(depends on the computer manufacturer). It can be F2, F8, F12, or the Delete key.
- Go to the Advanced tab > Legacy support and Disable the Legacy option. Save the settings.
- Exit the UEFI mode and Restart your computer.
Replace CMOS Battery
Many users reported that the error has been fixed by replacing the CMOS battery. To fix this error replace the CMOS Battery. The CMOS battery is a small circular cell located on the motherboard. It stores small errors and issues such as an error in its memory. To replace the CMOS follow these steps:
- Open your computer rig and gain access to the motherboard.
- Remove your CMOS battery and hold your computer’s Power button for at least 10 seconds and then replace the CMOS battery with a new one.
Conclusion
That’s it; these were the effective solution against the issue ‘reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key’. Let us know in the comment section which method worked for you? Wanna some more DeviceTricks? Keep visiting our website to get the latest updates on errors related to Windows, Mac, and Android. However, if you need additional support to fix the error in a short span of time, then contact us immediately.
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