W10 machine won't boot ("Reboot and Select proper Boot device" error)

geojay · 20 Apr 2020

I've been changing a disk on my Shuttle PC (SZ68R5) and when I turned it back on, I get the "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device" error message. My system boots from a Kingston SUV500MS mSATA SSD drive which is screwed to the motherboard and I haven't touched as part of this work. I've checked the BIOS and the boot order is still correct and the Kingston SUV500MS drive still shows in the SATA config page.

I then created a Windows 10 installation media on a USB stick and booted from this. I followed the "Repair your computer" -> Troubleshoot -> Start-up Repair and it reported that it was unable to repair my PC.

What diagnostic / fix steps should I apply now?

Thanks in anticipation...

Samuria · 20 Apr 2020

The error means the boot sector is missing if you boot from repair disk CMD prompt can you see c ie dir c:

geojay · 20 Apr 2020

When you say “repair disk”, what would you recommend?

spunk · 20 Apr 2020

I then created a Windows 10 installation media on a USB stick and booted from this. I followed the "Repair your computer" -> Troubleshoot

this is your Repair Disk. At the Troubleshoot menu, choose Command Prompt.
At command prompt (x: sources) type this exactly as written:
bcdedit |find “osdevice” (Must inc ” and the |), the | before Find is the Upper case \ key) press enter. This will tell you what drive letter the OS is on.It may not be on the C: drive.
Now use the returned as the drive letter for OS, for this example, assume C: or whatever drive letter is the os device.
At the x sources type: chkdsk c: /r press enter, 5 stages of check disk will run. It will test the HDD for errors. it may take a while.
If you are more concerned about recovering the files then the drive, pull it from the computer and attach it to a working computer via a USB Adapter or Dock, if the drive comes up you can copy the files off of it.

geojay · 20 Apr 2020

spunk said:

bcdedit |find “osdevice” (Must inc ” and the |), the | before Find is the Upper case \ key) press enter. This will tell you what drive letter the OS is on.It may not be on the C: drive.

That gives a blank response...

Running just bcdedit gives:
The boot configuration data store could not be opened.
The requested system device cannot be found.

This doesn't fill me with optimism!

Thanks

spunk · 20 Apr 2020

You cannot run any commands in the X:\ drive, this is a temporary drive.
At the X\ > type C: and press enter.
In the C:\> drive type DIR and press enter. This will list all folders in the drive, if any of them are Windows, then you are in the Right drive.
If not, type D: and press enter then type DIR and press enter. Keep doing this on every Drive letter till you find Windows. Then you can run Check Disk type
chkdsk /r press enter, 5 stages of check disk will run. It will test the HDD for errors. it may take a long while
If you can't find a drive with Windows, then your HDD has failed and needs to be replaced.

geojay · 20 Apr 2020

spunk said:

You cannot run any commands in the X:\ drive, this is a temporary drive.
At the X\ > type C: and press enter.
In the C:\> drive type DIR and press enter. This will list all folders in the drive, if any of them are Windows, then you are in the Right drive.
If not, type D: and press enter then type DIR and press enter. Keep doing this on every Drive letter till you find Windows. Then you can run Check Disk type
chkdsk /r press enter, 5 stages of check disk will run. It will test the HDD for errors. it may take a long while
If you can't find a drive with Windows, then your HDD has failed and needs to be replaced.

I only found C: and X: plus four drives where "The device is not ready" which I assume are the memory card reader slots. Only X: contained Windows which I assume relates to the recovery process...

spunk · 20 Apr 2020

The device is not ready can be an optical drive or an SD card reader but also a Failed drive.
X:\> is thetemporary Virtual drive created from the Flash drive. You cannot use that Windows folder.
Boot into Setup (Bios) in System Information it lists all the drives on the computer, if it doesn't list your HDD/SSD then it is either unplugged or has failed.

geojay · 20 Apr 2020

OK, I unplugged the card reader to remove that from our investigation and running "wmic logicaldisk list brief" gives the following:

Code:

DeviceID  DriveType  FreeSpace   ProviderName  Size        VolumeName  
C:        2          3722469376                8010072064  ESD-USB     
X:        3          531222528                 533771264   Boot

That looks like there are no disks other than the USB stick, right?

When I check in BIOS, I still see the Kingston mSATA SSD in the SATA config. Does this seem strange or is that to be expected if the drive has failed?

Thanks!