[Fixed] "No Boot Device Found" Error in Windows 10/8/7

Updated by

Linda 

Written by

Linda 

Last updated on April 19, 2024

When you boot up your laptop with Windows 10 or Windows 7 installed, you might be unexpectedly greeted with the "No Boot Device Found" error. However, you can fix the "No Boot Device Found 3F0" error by going through the following troubleshooting methods.

Please provide the English content you would like translated, and I'll promptly translate it into Chinese for you.

"Boot Device Not Found" translates to "Boot Device Not Found" in English. This message typically indicates that the computer is unable to identify or locate the correct hard disk drive or other boot media, such as a USB or CD/DVD, for loading the operating system during startup. This issue can be caused by hardware failure, incorrect connection of the drive, BIOS setup problems, or incorrect boot order configuration.

What is No Boot Device Found? The No Boot Device Found issue is one of the most common and sudden computer failures that leave users clueless. You'll see an error message that says "No boot device found. Please install an operating system on your hard drive. 3f0." What does it mean? In simple terms, a computer needs a boot device to start up normally. In theory, there should be one. However, in reality, you may encounter No Boot Device Found on Dell or No Bootable Device on Acer.

When the issue occurs, you might see one or more of the following error messages on the screen:

• 'No boot device found. Please install an operating system on your hard disk.'
• 'No boot device found. Insert boot disk and press any key.'
• 'No boot device found - Hard Disk (3f0).'
• 'No bootable device available.'

What causes the "Boot Device Not Found" error?

The "No Boot Device Found" error occurs when the hard drive doesn't support the system boot process. As the message implies, the Windows operating system is unable to locate a bootable device to start from. Typically, this could be an internal hard disk, an external USB drive, a CD/DVD-ROM drive, or a network adapter.

When this error appears on your screen, your computer fails to boot normally. Hence, you should immediately take steps to find out the reasons behind the missing boot drive. You can refer to the content below.

• Incorrect boot order in BIOS
• HDD connectivity issues
• Accidental corruption of system or boot files
• Damaged Master Boot Record (MBR) or boot sector on the bootable disk
• External interference, such as third-party system protection apps, viruses, malware, etc.

If you're interested in the same topic in notebook form, click below:

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5 Fixes for 'Boot Device Not Found' Error on Windows 10/8/7

Considering these factors, you should begin resolving the “No Boot Device Found” error by following the recommended solutions below. We provide both video and text tutorials for your convenience.

1. Reset your computer

A hard reset can re-establish the connection between the BIOS and your hardware, which might fix the “No Boot Device Found 3F0” error.

Turn off the computer. Remove the computer from any docking station, and then disconnect the AC adapter from the computer. Hold down the power button for 15 seconds to discharge any residual power. Press the power button to start the system. When the Startup menu appears, use the arrow keys to select Start Windows Normally, and then press Enter.

2. Solving "No Bootable Device Found" with a Hard Drive Reset

If the error is due to some loose connections, resetting the hard drive might fix the issue.

• Hold down the Power button for a few seconds to turn off your computer.
• Unplug the power cord. Now, disconnect and reconnect the hard drive.
• Reassemble your computer and try to boot it up to see if it works correctly.

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3. Restore the BIOS to its default settings and change your PC's boot order

To rule out problems with computer settings that might prevent booting from a disk or device, you need to check your BIOS settings. The following instructions detail how to reset the BIOS on a Hewlett-Packard (HP) computer so that the Windows operating system can detect a bootable hard drive:

1. Press the Power button, then repeatedly tap the F10 key to enter the BIOS setup menu. (Depending on the manufacturer, it could be ESC, F1, F2, F8, or another key.) 2. On the BIOS settings screen, press F9 to select and load the BIOS default settings. 3. Press F10 to save and exit. 4. Use the arrow keys to select "Yes" when asked if you want to save the changes, then press Enter. 5. Follow the prompts to restart your computer.

Check and change your computer's boot order:

If the issue was resolved by changing the boot order, congratulations! If not, then the problem might be a bit trickier. Try the solutions from How to Use Bootrec.exe in the Windows RE to Fix Boot Issues. If the Bootrec.exe fixes didn't solve the "Windows 10 couldn't find the startup drive" issue, don't despair; try the next solution.

4. Check for bad sectors on bootable hard drives

Bad sectors are damaged clusters on a hard drive that can be the result of physical damage. If your hard drive has bad sectors, it will fail to respond to read or write requests. Thus, you need to detect and repair bad sectors to resolve the “boot drive not found” error.

A professional partition and disk management tool - AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, can help you easily and quickly perform surface test on bootable disks. Since your current computer cannot boot the system, you need to first create a WinPE bootable disk, and then boot the computer from the boot disk to check and repair bad sectors.

Then boot from the WinPE disk and use it to check and repair the boot drive.

Step 1. Open Partition Master. Right-click the drive you want to check and click "Surface Test."

Step 2: The operation will be performed immediately, and all bad sectors will be marked in red.

Bad sectors can be divided into two categories: logical bad sectors and physical bad sectors. The former can be repaired with CHKDSK /F or SFC command lines, while if there are too many physical bad sectors on a hard drive to the point where it can't find the boot device, you might need to consider getting a new one.

5. Repair and rebuild the corrupted MBR (Master Boot Record)

The Master Boot Record (MBR) is information located in the first sector of any hard drive or floppy disk that indicates how and from where an operating system should be loaded into a computer's primary memory or Random Access Memory (RAM). Hence, when there's an issue with the MBR, you'll typically encounter a "boot device not found" error. The MBR might become corrupted due to malware attacks, disk failures, or if it gets overwritten. In such cases, you can attempt to rebuild the MBR to resolve the issue.

Step 1: Create a Windows PE boot disk

• Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, and click “Create Bootable Media” on the toolbar. Choose “Create Bootable CD/DVD”. • Click “Next” to finish the process.

Creating a Bootable Disk

Step 2. Boot into Partition Master Live USB

1. Connect the bootable USB or CD/DVD to your computer. 2. Restart your computer and press F2 or Del to enter BIOS. Set it to boot from "Removable Device" or "CD-ROM Drive". The Partition Master tool will then launch automatically.

Step 3: Rebuild the MBR

Click on “Toolbox” and select “Rebuild MBR”.

Rebuild MBR

Select the disk and MBR type, then click “Rebuild”.

You should then see a message that says “The MBR of Disk X has been successfully rebuilt.”

If none of the above solutions resolve the 'No Boot Device Found' error in Windows 10, please reach out to our technical support team for further troubleshooting.

Conclusions

The 'No Boot Device Found' error in Windows 10 can render your computer system non-functional. When faced with this issue, don't panic; try fixing the hard drive error code 3F0 with the effective solutions provided in this guide. If you're unable to resolve it yourself, seek assistance from our experts.

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"Frequently Asked Questions About 'Boot Device Not Found'"

Read more on how to fix the Windows 10 Boot Device Not Found issue.

1. How do I resolve the issue of "No bootable device found"?

To resolve the "No Bootable Device Found" issue in Windows 10, this article will introduce five methods you can try:

• Perform a hard reset on your computer and hard drive.
• Reconnect the hard drive.
• Restore your BIOS to its defaults.
• Scan for and repair bad sectors.
• Check and rebuild the MBR.

If these solutions don't work, you can reach out to the Tools technical support team at techsupport@tools.com.

2. What could cause a failure to find a boot device?

Possible causes of a hard drive 3F0 error include:

• Incorrect boot order in BIOS
• Damaged Master Boot Record (MBR) or boot sector
• Hard drive connectivity issues
• Malware attack
• Corrupted hard drive partition
• Failed or failing hard drive

What should I do if my HP laptop displays "No Boot Device Found"?

As mentioned above, there are several ways to fix the No Bootable Device Found issue on HP laptops.

• Perform a hard reset
• Restore BIOS defaults
• Test the hard drive using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics
• Reset the hard drive
• Reinstall Windows on the hard drive