My computer blue-screened while I was watching a stream. After restarting, it displays "Checking media presence," followed by "Start PXE over IPv4" and then IPv6, as if it is trying to boot from the network. In the BIOS, I tried enabling CSM, which made my hard drive appear in the boot menu, but selecting it results in "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key." Windows is installed on a separate SSD, but that drive does not appear in the BIOS at all. What should I check to determine whether the SSD is disconnected, failing, or still recoverable?
2 Answers
The PXE messages usually appear when the motherboard cannot find a bootable local drive, so it falls back to trying network boot. Since the SSD is missing from the BIOS, start with the physical connections: shut the computer down completely, unplug it, and reseat the SSD. For a SATA SSD, reconnect both the data cable and power cable, and try another SATA port or cable if available. For an M.2 drive, remove and reinstall it securely. If it still does not appear in BIOS after that, the SSD may have failed and should be tested in another computer or with a suitable adapter before replacing it.
Enabling CSM making the hard drive appear does not necessarily mean it is the Windows boot drive. It may simply be detecting a secondary storage disk, while the SSD containing Windows remains absent. Check the BIOS storage or device-information section—not only the boot-order screen—to see whether the SSD is detected at all. If it is missing there too, troubleshoot the drive, cable, slot, and power rather than changing boot settings. If the SSD is detected but has no boot option, the Windows boot files or the UEFI/Legacy mode may need repair, but hardware detection comes first.
I forgot to mention that CSM only makes the hard drive show up in the boot menu. I’ll check whether the SSD appears anywhere else in the BIOS.
Thanks, I’ll check the connections and reseat the drive when I get a chance.