Corrupted system files, incorrect boot order, or hard drive failure leads to reboot and select proper boot device error. These are just some of the common causes of this error in Windows. Windows starts up or restarted the error appears. It will not be able to boot as it will encounter a black screen with an error message:
Reboot and select the appropriate boot device OR insert the boot media into the selected boot device and press a key. In some cases, even replacing the faulty hard drive doesn’t seem to fix the problem. But don’t worry here in the troubleshooter, we’ve listed some possible solutions that will help you easily fix this problem. Below methods fix windows 7 and windows 10 both.
7 Methods to fix Reboot and select proper boot device [Error]
Method 1: Set the correct boot order
The boot order is not reset correctly may get the “Reboot and Select proper Boot device” error. It means that the computer is trying to boot from another source that does not have a proper boot device. Operating system and therefore cannot. To fix this problem, you must set the hard drive as the top priority in the boot order. Let’s see how to set a proper boot order:
- When the computer starts up (before the boot screen or the error screen), repeatedly press the Delete key or the F1 or F2 key (depending on the computer manufacturer) to enter BIOS setup.
- Once you are in the BIOS setup, select the boot tab from the list of options.
- At this time make sure the computer hard disk or SSD is set as the maximum priority in the boot arrange. If your hard disk is not on top priority, use the up or down arrow keys to set the hard drive to the top priority, which leads to the computer will boot from it first priority option and not from any other options.
- At last, press F10 to save the change you have done and exit. This should have the reset button fixed and select the proper boot device issue, if not then go ahead.
Method 2: Surely check Hard Drive is failed or corrupted
If the above method fails for you, and then there is a strong possibility that your hard drive is spoiled or corrupted. In any case, you should replace your old hard drive or SSD with a new one and install Windows again. But before reaching any conclusions, you should run a diagnostic tool to check if you really need to replace the hard drive or SSDs.
To run Diagnostics restart your PC and as the computer starts up (before the boot screen), press the F12 key and when the boot menu appears, highlight the Boot to Utility Partition option. Utility) or Diagnostics option and press enter to start diagnostics. This will automatically check all the hardware on your system and report if any problems are found.
Method 3: Check if the hard drive is properly connected
In 50% of cases, this problem is due to the bad or loose connection of the hard drive and to make sure it is not, you need to check the PC to see if there is any kind of connection failure.
Important: It is not recommended to open your PC case if it is under warranty as it will void your warranty, a better approach in this case will be to take your PC to the service center. Also, if you don’t have any technical knowledge, don’t mess with the PC and be sure to find an expert technician who can help you check for a loose or bad connection to the hard drive.
Once you have verified that the hard drive connection is correct, restart your PC and this time you may be able to fix the restart and select the proper boot device problem.
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Method 4: Run Automatic Boot / Repair
- Insert the new Windows 10 bootable installation CD/DVD or USB and restart your PC.
- When you are prompted to press any key to boot from a CD or DVD, press any key to continue.
- Select your language preferences and click next.
- Click Repair your computer at the lower left of your screen.
- At the option selection screen, click Troubleshooting.
- On the troubleshooting screen, click the advanced option.
- Now click on the Automatic Repair or Startup Repair.
- Wait until the Windows auto start repairs complete.
- Restart and you will have fixed the problem of rebooting and selecting the proper boot device, if not then continue.
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Method 5: Enable UEFI boot
- Start again your PC and press F2 or DEL to open Boot Setup.
Make the following changes:
- Change boot list option to UEFI Disable legacy ROM load option Enable Secure Boot
- Then press F10 to save and exit boot configuration.
Method 6: Change Active Partition in Windows
- Open the cmd again using the Windows installation disc.
- Type the following command in cmd and hit enter in all one by one:
- Note: Always ensure the System Reserved Partition (mostly 100mb) active and if you don’t have a System Reserved Partition, check C: Drive as the active partition.
Commands:
- Disk Part
- disk list
- select disk 0
- partition list
- select partition 1
- active
- Close the cmd or command prompt and restart your PC. In many cases, this method was able to fix the reboot problem and select the proper boot device.
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Method 7: Repair Install Windows 10
If none of the above methods working for you, then you can be sure your HDD is fine, but you may see the error ‘Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media to selected boot device and press a »key because the operating system or BCD information on the HDD has been erased in some way.
Well, in this case, you can try to repair the Windows installation, but if this also fails, then the only solution left is to install a fresh copy of Windows (Clean Install).
That’s it, you have successfully fixed the boot device problem, but if you still have any questions about this post, feel free to ask in the comment section.
