No bootable device insert boot disk and press any key

[ashbod]

Hi all,

So I have an iMac and I primarily just used the bootcamp windows
on it. One day, I was stupidly playing around with the partitions
(on the bootcamp side) and I accidentally deleted the entire mac
side of my iMac.

That's not the issue. Today, I decided to use a tool called testdisk
to try and recover that lost mac partition. Everything seemed to be
okay, and it told me to reboot. So I did.

When I rebooted, all that popped up was the message:
"No bootable device insert boot disk and press any key" with a
flashing white rectangle under it. I tried going into safe mode by
pressing F8, I tried pressing every key. Everything just leads me
to this same error. How can I at least get my windows side back?
Is this a lost cause???

 

[SIW2]

Did you run startup repair from the windows installation media/repair disc

 

[ashbod]

I'm sorry I'm a bit new here... I tried downloading the windows 7 ISO file to my USB to create a windows 7 bootable USB from the windows site but they required a product key which I do not have. Is that what you mean?

 

[SIW2]

Special bootable repair media:
17514x86.iso

17514x64-v9.iso

 

[ashbod]

Wow thank you so much for this. I will be downloading this and will return with the results of it tomorrow as it's getting pretty late here haha.

 

[ashbod]

So I downloaded the ISO file onto my USB and then used the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Toal to burn the iso onto my USB. I hope that's how you create a bootable USB. I plugged that USB into my iMac and it's still the same message. It doesn't seem to recognize my bootable USB?

 

[ashbod]

Also, I need to mention that I am on another laptop (PC) separate from my iMac. I cannot access anything on my iMac at all. I tried running the setup.exe after I burned the iso file, but it says "This version of Bootcamp is not intended for this computer model."

 

[iko22]

So I downloaded the ISO file onto my USB and then used the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Toal to burn the iso onto my USB. I hope that's how you create a bootable USB. I plugged that USB into my iMac and it's still the same message. It doesn't seem to recognize my bootable USB?

You probably just need to adjust the boot option priorities in BIOS, so that the computer boots from the USB stick first.

 

[SIW2]

1. Which iso file did you download?

2. I suggest using either rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way or usb7ice to create bootable usb.

View attachment Usb7ice.zip

So I downloaded the ISO file onto my USB and then used the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Toal to burn the iso onto my USB. I hope that's how you create a bootable USB. I plugged that USB into my iMac and it's still the same message. It doesn't seem to recognize my bootable USB?

 

[ashbod]

You probably just need to adjust the boot option priorities in BIOS, so that the computer boots from the USB stick first.

The thing is, I tried pulling up my bios page and NONE of the keys (I tried Esc, F1, F2, F8, etc.) would redirect me anywhere else except that error page.

 

[ashbod]

1. Which iso file did you download?

2. I suggest using either rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way or usb7ice to create bootable usb.

View attachment 406088

I downloaded the first of the iso links you sent me before called: 17514x86.iso. Okay, I'll let you know once I use Rufus/USB7ice!

 

[ashbod]

Hi. Sorry I was super busy this week with exams. I hope you are still with me. I tried the Rufus method and sadly my iMac still did not recognize it. Do you by chance have the iso file for the regular Windows 7? (not the bootcamp iso you gave) Thank you.

 

[SIW2]

It isn't a bootcamp iso. It is win 7 repair media iso, with extra programs and features.

I tried the Rufus method and sadly my iMac still did not recognize it. Do you by chance have the iso file for the regular Windows 7? (not the bootcamp iso you gave) Thank you.

You could get win7 installation media iso, but I expect you will get the same result.

 

[ashbod]

Yeah... I got the same result with Windows 7. Is my hard drive damaged from my partitioning mistakes? Do I have to scrape the data off it and buy a new hard drive?