Solved Reboot and select proper boot device

[lonny]

I have/had a dual boot PC, XP and Windows 7, each on their own drive. Decided to dump XP and changed the dual boot via EasyBCD to Windows 7 only.
It worked fine, then decided to wipe XP's drive.
With the next reboot I have nothing, only "Reboot and select proper boot device"

Decided to start afresh and reinstall Windows 7 with the original DVD but still above option prevailed.
The only CD that opens normally is Linux and within I can see the Windows 7 drive with all the data intact. Therefore the DVD writer and both hard drives fine.

I find no problems when using F8, the boot order is correct.
What can I do to reinstall Windows 7?

 

[samuria]

The error means there is no bootable boot sector it's possible the boot files were on the do drive not on 7. When you reinstalled did you have another drive in? Remove other drives boot the DVD and do a repair

 

[lonny]

Currently I have two drives, one with the previous Windows 7 and another empty/wiped drive.
I cannot reinstall due to "Reboot and select proper boot device"
If the boot sector was on the now empty/wiped drive it makes sense.

I ask myself when a new PC is purchased without an OS how do you install a new/fresh OS?

 

[Megahertz07]

Probably the win 7 boot loader option was on the Win XP boot loader. As you deleted Win XP, you can't boot Win 7.
Is your win 7 a Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT disk?

You don't need to reinstall Win 7. All you need is to make the win 7 disk boot able.
Detach all other HDD from the MB (power or SATA cable) and boot from the Win 7 installation disk and do a boot repair.

Where did you get your Win 7 DVD?
Did you enter BIOS and set the CD / DVD as the priority disk to boot from?

 

[samuria]

It should boot ok from usbor dvd if you set it a first boot drive

 

[iko22]

Currently I have two drives, one with the previous Windows 7 and another empty/wiped drive.
I cannot reinstall due to "Reboot and select proper boot device"
If the boot sector was on the now empty/wiped drive it makes sense.

1) Still check that the empty drive partition is flagged as "inactive" and the Windows 7 partition is flagged as "active" Partition - Mark as Inactive

I ask myself when a new PC is purchased without an OS how do you install a new/fresh OS?

2) You install fresh OS by performing Clean Install Windows 7. None of this will be any good if Windows 7 partition is not marked as "active" AND that is the only partition marked as "active", as I instructed in step 1).

3) As the others have already said, you might not need Clean Install, because you can always repair the boot loader, and delete the unwanted boot entry in Boot Manager. Here is how Windows Boot Manager - Delete a Listed Operating System. If you still can access EasyBCD, then use option three, otherwise use option two.

 

[lonny]

Megahertz07 - I detached both HDD and for the first time I could start from the DVD
It is the original MS DVD that came with the PC when I purchased it.

The second step is to do a boot repair but I do not know which option to select?

 

[Megahertz07]

Megahertz07 - I detached both HDD and for the first time I could start from the DVD
It is the original MS DVD that came with the PC when I purchased it.

The second step is to do a boot repair but I do not know which option to select?

Did you enter BIOS and set the CD / DVD as the priority disk to boot from?
To do a boot repair the Win 7 HDD disk must be attached before you boot the installation disk.
If it's a MS installation DVD disk, after booting from it you will see a Boot Repair option.

 

[lonny]

"Did you enter BIOS and set the CD / DVD as the priority disk to boot from?" Yes
It booted fine with the MS installation DVD

I did not see the specific wording "boot repair" and selected as follows:
1. "Choose a recovery tool"
2. "Startup Repair" - took about 6 minutes
3. After completion - "Restart"
4. Removed the MS installation DVD

Upon restart I'm back again to "Reboot and select proper boot device"
Once again checked the BIOS to confirm the boot up order:
Primary IDE Master = NEC DVD writer
SATA3 WDC hard drive
USB

Whatever I attempted after all above it remains "Reboot and select proper boot device"
Could the hard drive be faulty?

 

[Megahertz07]

I did not see the specific wording "boot repair" and selected as follows:
1. "Choose a recovery tool"
2. "Startup Repair" - took about 6 minutes
3. After completion - "Restart"
4. Removed the MS installation DVD
Yes, that is a boot repair

Upon restart I'm back again to "Reboot and select proper boot device"
Once again checked the BIOS to confirm the boot up order:
Primary IDE Master = NEC DVD writer
SATA3 WDC hard drive
USB
Whatever I attempted after all above it remains "Reboot and select proper boot device"
Could the hard drive be faulty?

Now try to set SATA3 WDC hard drive as the primary boot disk.

 

[lonny]

I've changed the BIOS so that WDC drive is the primary, same result - *"Reboot and select proper boot device"

Removed the hard drive and linked it to my working PC and via Explorer can view/open all folders.
What I've noticed is that the 100 GB System Reserved partition not there, confirmed it via MiniTool Partition Wizard. I suspect therefore it will never boot up.

Plan B - Why I cannot *start the PC to try and reinstall Windows 7 remains a puzzle.

 

[Megahertz07]

Please edit your profile with ALL your hardware specs.
System Info - See Your System Specs

There are two types of disks: Legacy - MBR or UEFI-GPT
What kind of disk is your Win 7 disk?

 

[lonny]

"There are two types of disks: Legacy - MBR or UEFI-GPT"
Both MBR on this PC, the problem PC maybe more difficult.
Can it be seen via the BIOS? I tried before but did not see it there?

"What kind of disk is your Win 7 disk?"
This PC = Both WDC WD10EZRZ-00HTKB0 ATA 1 TB

 

[Megahertz07]

Let's try another approach.
On BIOS. set the CD / DVD as your first boot option.
Boot from the Win 7 installation DVD.
On the main screen press Shift+F10 to launch the CMD window.
Type:
diskpart (to enter diskpart)
list disk (to list the disks. You will see your disk and the type (MBR or GPT)
exit ( (to exit diskpart)
exit (to close the CMD window)

Report

 

[lonny]

Followed yr steps:
after "list disk" I see 0 = Online 465 GB / Free 211 GB
and four disks with No Media

Good or bad news?

 

[Megahertz07]

What about the disk type (MBR o GPT)?

 

[lonny]

Sorry, that showed as MBR

 

[Megahertz07]

On BIOS, set the CD / DVD as your first boot option.
Boot from the Win 7 installation DVD.
On the main screen press Shift+F10 to launch the CMD window.
Type:
diskpart (to enter diskpart)
list volume (to list volumes on the disk. Identify and take note of the Windows volume number).
select volume n (replace n by the Windows volume number from the previous cmd)
active
exit (to exit diskpart)
exit (to close the CMD window)

Shutdown, remove the DVD and see if it boots.

 

[lonny]

Success!
Booted up a few times to check and it's running 100% Have not yet done any work on it but started a few programs and all fine.
Thank you Megahertz07 for your efforts and diligence to see it through to the end, much appreciated.

Off topic - maybe I should start a new thread, I've not run MS security updates for some time, too risky. "Security only" KBs can no longer be trusted.
Read somewhere on this forum about Simplex pack but can you advise if it's safe?

 

[Megahertz07]

Success!
Booted up a few times to check and it's running 100% Have not yet done any work on it but started a few programs and all fine.
Thank you Megahertz07 for your efforts and diligence to see it through to the end, much appreciated.

Off topic - maybe I should start a new thread, I've not run MS security updates for some time, too risky. "Security only" KBs can no longer be trusted.
Read somewhere on this forum about Simplex pack but can you advise if it's safe?

Glad you have it working again.

My Windows update on services is set to Manual an on WU is set to never check. I install only the security only updates. So far so good.

On my laptop, after a clean install I have used Simplix. It is updated every month. Very good.

MS releases SP2 for Windows 7