The “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error may appear once in a while upon rebooting your Windows PC. Normally, the rebooting process on Windows will take a couple of minutes to finish and the computer will turn back on. When a black screen appears with the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” message appears, it can indicate an error in the system.
Since the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” issue may deal with the Windows system itself, you will need to be careful to fix it. Similarly to KMode Exception Not Handled issue, several core Windows elements may contribute to this error. If your Windows PC has corrupted system files, then the chance of this booting error happening is high.
Other than that, the incorrect boot order or hard disk failure can also cause the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error. In case you want to prevent this error from happening, you can simply check your Windows system files regularly. Make sure each one of the Windows services, like Windows Modules Installer Worker and Service Host Superfecth, work as they should.
In case the error already happens, then you must try to fix it immediately. If you see a black screen with an error message “Reboot and Select proper boot device or Insert Boot Media in Selected Boot device and press a key” during the booting process, then you can use the methods we provide below to fix it.
Some people may think that replacing the hard disk can fix the issue, but it often does not work. In order to fix the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” issue properly, take a look at the methods below.
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Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device
Rebooting Windows 7 or 10 computer may be an easy way to solve any types of issues. However, that is not the case when the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error occurs. This type of problem will not allow you to boot your Windows 7 or 10 computer. If that is the case, then you should try to fix it immediately or else you may not be able to turn your computer back on.
In order to fix this problem, take a look at each one of the methods below and see which one works for you.
Perform Automatic Repair
If you are not familiar with the manual Windows system repairing, then you can try to fix the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” issue by performing an automatic repair. To do so, you can follow the steps below.
Step 1: Put the Windows 10 bootable installation DVD into the DVD box.
Step 2: Afterward, restart your Windows 10 PC.
Step 3: If there are any instructions to Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, do it and follow the rest of the instructions displayed on the screen.
Step 4: Choose the language preference, and click Next.
Step 5: Look for the “Repair” option on the bottom-left of your computer.
Step 6: Among the options displayed on the screen, click Troubleshoot.
Step 7: Afterward, click on the Advanced option.
Step 8: Continue the operation by clicking Automatic Repair or Startup Repair.
Step 9: Afterward, you can wait for the Windows Automatic or Startup Repairs to complete.
Step 10: At last, restart your Windows 10 computer and see if the black screen with “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error no longer appears.
Enabling UEFI Boot
If you want a quick fix to the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error on your Windows 7 or 10, then you can use the simple instructions below. Follow the steps below to perform this method.
Step 1: Proceed to restart your Windows 7 or 10 PC.
Step 2: Press the F2 or DEL button to open the Boot Setup.
Step 3: Make changes according to these commands below.
Change Boot list option to UEFI Disable Load Legacy option ROM Enable Secure boot
Step 4: At last, press F10 to save the changes and exit the boot setup.
Set the Boot Order Correctly
If you see a black screen during the Windows booting process with a message saying “Reboot and Select a proper Boot device”, then you can fix it with the correct boot order. Since the boot order is not set correctly, the Windows operating fails to recognize the order.
In doing so, the rebooting process fails to operate. If you want to use this method to fix this error, then you must set the hard disk as the top priority in the Boot order.
Take a look at the steps below to perform the correct boot order.
Step 1: As soon as you turn on your Windows 7 or 10 PC, you must press Delete or F1 or F2 key repeatedly. Look at your computer’s brand as well to know which button works to enter the computer BIOS setup.
Step 2: Afterward, the BIOS setup will appear on the screen.
Step 3: Proceed to choose the Boot tab from the list of options.
Step 4: Take a look at the top priority of the boot order and see if the Hard disk or SSD is there. In case the hard disk is not on top, you must move it to be the top priority.
Step 5: Once you set the hard disk as the top priority, your Windows 7 or 10 operating system will boot from the computer and not the other hard disks.
Step 6: At last, press F10 to save the changes made in the boot order and close the window.
In case this method does not fix the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error, you can take a look at the other methods below.
Inspect the Hard Disk’s Health
If setting the boot order properly does not fix the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error, then it means there is something wrong with the hard disk. In case the hard disk is damaged, you will need to replace the current HDD or SSD with a new one.
Afterward, you can install Windows operating system once again. Before impulsively buying a new HDD or SSD, you must run a Diagnostic tool first. With this tool, you can check whether or not the hard disk is damaged.
If you want to run the Diagnostics, you can restart your PC first. Once the computer turns back on, press F12 key. As soon as the Boot menu appears, select the Boot to Utility Partition option or the Diagnostics option. Press enter to begin the Diagnostics.
At last, the Diagnostics tool will automatically scan all the hardware of the Windows system and compile the result once it finishes.
Connected Hard Disk
First and foremost thing you should check when fixing the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error is the connected hard disk. It is possible that the hard disk is loosely connected, therefore the booting process is disrupted.
If you want to check whether or not the hard disk is connected, you can bring your Windows 7 or 10 PC to the service center. The technician will help to fix the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error safely. Keep in mind that this method will need an expert since you need to open the hard case of the computer to see if the hard disk is connected or not.
After the hard disk is properly connected, you can finally reboot your Windows 7 or PC at once. This time around, you will not see the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” message.
Changing the Active Partition in Windows
In order to perform this method, you will need to use the command prompt. Follow the steps below to fix the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error on your Windows 7 or 10 computer.
Step 1: Open the Command Prompt from the Windows installation disk.
Step 2: As soon as the Command Prompt window appears, type in the command below and type enter after each one of the commands.
DiskPart / list disk / select disk 0 / list partition / select partition 1 / active / exit
Step 3: Exit the command prompt window and restart your Windows 7 or 10 PC afterward.
Repair Install or Clean Install Windows 10
In case the methods above fail to fix the “Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device” error, then you can repair the installation of the Windows PC or reinstall the Windows operating system. You may see the HDD has no problem but you may keep seeing the “Reboot and Select proper Boot device Or Insert Boot Media in Selected Boot device and press a key” message all over again.
This may be caused by the missing BCD information on the HDD. If this error keeps occurring, you can repair install Windows. For the last measure, you can install a new Windows 10 operating system again if all else fails.
Conclusion
If you see a black screen with “Reboot and Select proper Boot device Or Insert Boot Media in Selected Boot device and press a key” message, then you must fix the error immediately. While the problem seems like nothing, it can actually affect your entire computer experience. If you do not fix this issue soon, then you may not be able to operate your current computer.
To fix this issue, you can try to perform an automatic repair first. Other than that, you can bring your computer to the service center and have the expert technician check it for you. When all else fails, you can install a new Windows 7 or 10 back on your computer.
