I installed a bum program that made my computer unbootable
error: cannot find boot device.
I have a system image to restore from, and I want to boot to macrium reflect on CD, in order to restore.
problem: my BIOS menu is stubborn. Some days it opens, some days it doesn't.
today it won't open.
How to boot to CD?
Not sure if this is what your talking about.. but state if this is exactly what you did:
When your BIOS screen shows up, try to press F8 a few times, hopefully a list will come up to ask you from where to boot from first. This should happen after the BIOS screen goes away.
> F8 is usually the standard for changing the boot options for that current run of the computer.
the problem is getting that BIOS screen to come up.
It doesn't always come up. Sometimes it will show after an hour, and sometimes even all night long doesn't help. Until then, I just see a dark screen.
I went for a nap just now, and came back to find the BIOS screen greeting me. But it got totally stuck when I tried to enter boot options, and I had to shut down.
Not getting into BIOS is not normal, you probably have some other problem (not only not bootable OS).
Something is causing problem probably on hardware level try to disconnect unnecessary devices, fore example USB devices, even if it just cable, disk drives/SSD, if you have any unnecessary expansion cards, try to remove some or swap around RAM modules etc. After removing device try to enter bios if you can't try removing more, if you can that what causes problem.
Right. it is not normal. I probably have a faulty BIOS chip, or at least that is what ASUS support tells me. The firmware periodically loses its settings and reverts to default settings. Yes, I tried flashing to a newer version.
But I don't really want to troubleshoot my BIOS right now, I am just wondering if there is some neat trick how to boot to CD or to USB drive.
The firmware losing it's settings , it could also be that your Motherboards On-Board Battery might be dead.
Not sure if your Windows was installed using GPT disk scheme but if it is then try:
- Win ->Power. Hold SHIFT KEY + Restart. This should get into Recovery
- Click on "Use a device"
- Select CD/DVD. This should set a one time boot using CD/DVD
What is the make and model# of your computer/motherboard? Different makes use different keys to access the Bios.
Burn programs do not make your HDD un-bootable, however, coincidentally, your HDD may have failed, or at least the Boot sector has become corrupted
Not being able to load the Bios, means there is a hardware problem, not necessarily with the Bios or Motherboard, but more then likely the HDD or some other hardware device.
If you can't boot into Setup (Bios) Remove the HDD and attach it to a different computer via a USB Adapter or Dock, or Enclosure with a power adapter. If the drive doesn't spin up, it has failed. If you can access it, you can backup your personal files. Then you can download Seatools for Windows and run the Short and Long Diagnostic tests on the HDD. If either test fails, the HDD needs to be replaced.
guys, thanks for all your detailed ideas.
turns out that on windows 10, if you fail to boot a few times, you get to a Windows emergency screen with various options.
One option is to boot to a different OS.
I tried that one, and yes, I got to my macrium reflect recovery enviroment, not on CD, but on the hard drive itself.
I restored, and all is well... for the time being.
Now that I am back to my desktop, is there a way to set the boot priority from within Windows, without entering BIOS?
I could just set my boot priority to read the optical drive first, and then I am more secure.
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