No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key

Hey everyone, so I have a question. My laptop was working fine the last couple of days, and then I think I Got a virus some how. And now all it says when I turn it on is:

Intel UNDI, PXE-2.0 (Build 083)

For Atheros PCIE Ethernet Controller v2.1.0.9

Check cable Connection!
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM.
No Bootable Device -- Insert boot disk and press any key

And of course when I bought this laptop, it didn't come with any disks. And of course I didn't make a back up. (I regret that now)

And I have been researching forums and all over the internet, and I'm pretty sure that my HD malfunctioned. And I just want to get a second opinion on this. I will give the best information that I can.

About my system:

Don't know much on the top of my head other that

~Toshiba Satellite C855D-S5351
~Running Windows 8
~500GB

That's all that I know about it without seeing the specs..

So here is what I did:

I tried setting the computer to factory settings, I tried the hold down 0 and tried holding down F10. They both did nothing except give me a silver screen. I couldn't see my mouse or anything.

When I go into BIOS here is what I did:
I changed the Boot mode to CSM Boot (Still didn't work)
I changed the loading to everything that I could
~1.HDD/SDD TOSHIBA
~2.ODD MATSHITADVD
~3.LAN Atheros Boot Agent

I changed those around to every possible combination and that still didn't work. I can't start up safe mode. I'm not sure what else to try other than purchasing a new HD. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advanced!

EDIT: If I have to buy a new HD, would I be able to load up Windows 7 from a USB drive? Because my friend has Windows 7 on his USB drive.

AddRAM said:

Is the hard drive seen in the bios ?

Check to make sure it hasn`t become loose. ( the hard drive )

Don`t start making a bunch of changes or you`ll never figure it out, 1 step at a time.

It`s easiest to re install windows from a dvd, but try to get yours working before you go that route.

Yes, I have checked to make sure it was not loose. Although, the screw that is holding it isn't very secure. Would that be the problem? I will check that out.

And I don't have a dvd right now unfortunately

And if it is shown in the BIOS, what would it say?

mike159 said:

Hey everyone, so I have a question. My laptop was working fine the last couple of days, and then I think I Got a virus some how. And now all it says when I turn it on is:

Intel UNDI, PXE-2.0 (Build 083)

For Atheros PCIE Ethernet Controller v2.1.0.9

Check cable Connection!
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM.
No Bootable Device -- Insert boot disk and press any key

And of course when I bought this laptop, it didn't come with any disks. And of course I didn't make a back up. (I regret that now)

And I have been researching forums and all over the internet, and I'm pretty sure that my HD malfunctioned. And I just want to get a second opinion on this. I will give the best information that I can.

About my system:

Don't know much on the top of my head other that

~Toshiba Satellite C855D-S5351
~Running Windows 8
~500GB

That's all that I know about it without seeing the specs..

So here is what I did:

I tried setting the computer to factory settings, I tried the hold down 0 and tried holding down F10. They both did nothing except give me a silver screen. I couldn't see my mouse or anything.

When I go into BIOS here is what I did:
I changed the Boot mode to CSM Boot (Still didn't work)
I changed the loading to everything that I could
~1.HDD/SDD TOSHIBA
~2.ODD MATSHITADVD
~3.LAN Atheros Boot Agent

I changed those around to every possible combination and that still didn't work. I can't start up safe mode. I'm not sure what else to try other than purchasing a new HD. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advanced!

EDIT: If I have to buy a new HD, would I be able to load up Windows 7 from a USB drive? Because my friend has Windows 7 on his USB drive.

Hi there

He probably would NOT have W7 on an external USB drive -- you CAN have the recovery disk or the install disk.

If he says he's got W7 on a USB drive that boots and runs ENTIRELY from the external device please can he post here how he made it -- a lot of people would be very interested. !!

Note we aren't interested with those solutions that MOUNT a VHD as you need to start the BOOT from the HDD of the computer. I'd really like to see his solution and see if it boots and RUNS properly without even HAVING an HDD in the computer.

The normal way of getting a "Portable" windows system is to create a bootable Linux system - these do boot and run from an external device, then start a program like VMWARE PLAYER and launch a Windows virtual machine. This type of approach works and is well tried and tested.

You can experiment by following this thread.

How to make Portable Windows system (any version)

If you imaged your system say with something like free macrium you can always restore to new disk.

For laptops a good way ito restore the image is using a USB==>sata connector for the new HDD.

Cheers
jimbo

I don't know exactly. He just told me he has Windows 7.

AddRAM said:

Hopefully he just means a thumb drive.

But by all means, if he`s running Windows 7 off an external hard drive, enlighten us

In the bios it would tell you the maker, for example a Western Digital would have WD then the size etc. A Seagate usually says ST then the size etc.

If you don`t see it in the bios, that`s a problem.

Would I be looking in the Boot settings? If so, all I see is:

Atheros Boot Agent
Matshitadvd-ram
toshiba mk6475GSX

Hi there
If the Windows OS is still on the disk and it's the BOOT that can't be found it's easy to fix.

1) insert W7 / W8 recovery disk or install disk. (USB if you have a bootable copy). You can actually use a W7 disk to fix W8 boot or a W8 disk to fix W7 boot !! but it's best to use the correct disk.
2) Boot from it
3) Choose Repair Windows
4) choose utilities ===>command mode

Now switch to the bootrec directory and enter these two commands

fixmbr
fixboot..


Now if there's a windows system on your HDD it should boot normally again.

Cheers
jimbo