Laptop Shows “Boot Device Not Found” After Resetting BIOS Defaults
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MellowCedar42
My HP laptop had already been taking 5–10 minutes to get past the HP logo, and sometimes I had to hard-restart it several times before it would boot normally. I followed advice to restore the BIOS settings to their defaults, but now I get this message: "Boot device not found. Please install an operating system on your hard disk." I replaced the original hard drive with an SSD a while ago. Could resetting the BIOS have changed the UEFI boot order, and what should I check before attempting to reinstall Windows?
Answers
Resetting the BIOS may have changed the boot order. Go back into BIOS and check the UEFI boot settings. If the SSD is detected, set Windows Boot Manager on that drive as the first boot option. Also, the earlier slow startup could point to a drive problem or too many startup programs, but fix the boot configuration first.
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That message usually means the BIOS cannot find a bootable Windows drive. First check whether the SSD appears in the BIOS at all. If it does, make sure Windows Boot Manager is the first boot option. If the SSD is missing, it may need to be reseated or tested. If the SSD is detected but Windows Boot Manager is not listed, the EFI boot files may be damaged and could potentially be repaired using a Windows recovery or installation USB. Avoid reinstalling Windows until you know the drive is healthy, since reinstalling could put your data at risk.
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MellowCedar42: I replaced the original hard drive with an SSD. Is the setting I need specifically called the UEFI boot order? I’m looking at the BIOS menu now.