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No Boot Device Listed In Windows 8.1

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by James Martin, 2014/07/02.

  1. 2014/07/02
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Hi all,

    I am using a Windows 8.1 laptop (Gateway NV52L15u), and on occasions, the laptop will display a message "Boot Device Not Found" (or something like that). I am instructed to press a key, and doing so takes me to a blue & white Boot Manager page, but there is no device listed to boot from. All I can do is shut down the laptop and boot back into Windows.

    This phenomenon usually happens while the computer is unattended and attempts to go into sleep / power conserving mode. The power cord is attached for what it's worth.
     
  2. 2014/07/06
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Update...

    I ran sfc /scannow in an elevated command prompt, and it found errors, but was unable to fix some of them. I ran commands posted at this link, and now sfc is coming up clean.

    Not sure if this has any bearing on the missing boot device issue, but time will tell.
     

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  4. 2014/07/06
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Thanks for the "heads up" James. Hope I don't get the hassle. Neil.
     
  5. 2014/07/06
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Thanks, Neil.

    Most of these problems randomly cropped up during a disk defrag, or after the laptop had been left unattended for a period of time, but there have been no such hiccups during the last two defrgging attempts. I usually update this unit via TeamViewer, but we drove 600 miles to attend a family reunion, so now I get to work on the Gateway in person.

    I'm glad to be here because this has been my only opportunity to deal with Windows 8 / 8.1. It's a much different animal than previous Microsoft operating systems, so there is much to learn. I am beginning to like the photo viewer app more than I did in the past. It allows one to scroll & view both photos and videos in the same window using the left & right arrow keys.
     
    Last edited: 2014/07/06
  6. 2014/07/06
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I've just been on TeamViewer with my older brother (2 hours drive away) as he ran into problems with his new OS. I installed W7 Pro 32bit on his Lenovo M55P and he couldn't email me because he'd forgotten how to set it up.
    I was worried when he rang because he said they'd had a power outage yesterday (Sunday) and I immediately thought the comp was fried!
    All was OK and I connected and set him up with Outlook again.
    You might enjoy W8.1 so much that you will update to it.:D Neil.
     
  7. 2014/07/07
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Well, bummer. The boot device issue cropped up again. This time, it happened when I was using CCleaner. Not sure what to make of this. Another scan of scf /scannow is coming up clean.
     
    Last edited: 2014/07/07
  8. 2014/08/04
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    I never could figure out the issue with this unit. A system recovery might be what the doctor ordered, but in light of possibly paying to reinstall 8.1, I left well enough alone and enjoyed what time I had left doing a little sightseeing.

    Found these critters (Cottonmouth vipers - one is in the hole) about a half-mile from the location we were staying at (I took the image from the top of a highway bridge). I named them Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. :D Notice the 4th of July bottle rocket lying beside the snake on the rock.
     

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  9. 2014/08/05
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    That's one good thing about New Zealand - we don't have snakes!
    We only have one reptile - a Tuatara (Lizard) which keeps very much to itself and is not poisonous and not harmful.
    Have you tried a System Restore on the W8.1 Laptop? Neil.
     
  10. 2014/08/22
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    No. The problem has been ongoing since early 2013, and I don't think restoring the system that far back would have been practical.

    Sorry for the late response.
     
  11. 2014/08/23
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Are you manually running defrag? If so, why? With W8.x, you should just let Windows manage it.

    W8 is not XP. Do NOT assume what you had to do with XP needs to be done with W8. Making that assumption will most likely impact performance negatively.
     
  12. 2014/08/23
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    Yes, it was a manual defrag. This unit is not left on long enough for scheduled processes to run any length of time - except maybe for the two weeks that I was there.
     
  13. 2014/08/23
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Then it probably is not on long enough to need defragging - especially if you have lots of free disk space on the drive. It does not matter if your files are scattered all over the place, as long the segments are not.

    For my machines that don't sit idle for very long, I might defrag them once, or twice a year. Otherwise, it just puts wear and tear on the drives.
     
  14. 2014/08/23
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    A system recovery may be necessary to fix the boot device issue, but reinstalling 8.1 sounded intimidating at the time, so I balked.
     
  15. 2014/08/23
    retiredlearner

    retiredlearner SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    James, have you had a look in msconfig > Boot? and a further check in Startup to see if there is anything unusual happening? Neil.
     
  16. 2014/08/23
    James Martin

    James Martin Geek Member Thread Starter

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    No, but I usually use CCleaner for that purpose. I could find nothing out of the ordinary the last time I checked. I'll recheck the list on the next remote connection.
     

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