Thread: No bootable device

I am by no means an expert, but I would say stay off the booze for now. Sounds like it cannot find the hard disk, that does not mean the data written on the disk is lost for ever.

Boot into BIOS/CMOS and check the BOOT Order, C: 1st.

Power ON - tap F2 until it responds

Boot order should be C:, then DVD

If that does not work you need Acer's help. And they can sell you Repair and Boot Disks cheap.

If you have to use a recovery or boot disk then change the order again to CD/DVD 1st.

Hard drive could be bad.

More answers here

Acer aspire laptop will not boot (at start up) - Microsoft Answers

Hi StrongArm, It's either the HD has gone bad, the cable from the HD to the PCB inside the laptop has come loose (if it got whacked recently), or the CMOS settings have somehow been corrupted (sometimes can happen if the CMOS battery has died).

First thing is to try resetting the CMOS here Getting media test failure, check cable error when computer boots.

.. then if that doesn't fix it take it to a repair shop and ask them to check the cable, can't charge you too much for that as its maybe a 20-30m job.

If the HD has gone, there is still a good chance of getting the data off it, and if you did have to buy a new HD, you should be able to transfer your OS and excel etc over using the old licenses so no need to buy all that stuff again

Another quick thing you can try is to boot off a CD and then see if the HD shows up.. just because its not bootable doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to browse it etc after booting from a CD.

More answers here, some strange ones too

pxe-e61:media test failure check cable

From: Bridget & Waylon Vary on 11/11/2011
So my husband called Toshiba Tech Support and they could do nothing for him and that he should send it in to have it repaired... and I found this thread for him... It suggested that you bang the harddrive to get it back on its rocker he looked at me like I was off mine lol... But it worked... Guess whos getting head!

LOL.. yeah sometimes just giving it a whack can fix things... if its the cable thats come loose it makes sense

154
iPatch Solutions Says:
December 28th, 2010 at 12:31 am
The person that noted the meaning of the acronym PXE (Pre-Boot Execution Environment) was pretty much spot on. If your computer is showing PXE-E61, chances are your hard drive has failed or is in the process thereof. In rare cases I see hard drives that have become dislodged due to jarring of a laptop. In either case, it’s always a good idea to rule this out by disconnecting then reconnecting the hard drive. Especially since this usually takes 2 minutes. If you need help locating the hard drive and how it is installed, just type your computer name into Google. You should be able to find this simple info on nearly all computers. It’s something that most people can do without fear of ruining the machine, even if you’re not tech savvy. Another thing that will allow you to tell if it is indeed the hard drive: if you or a friend have another working laptop, just install that hard drive and see if windows boots up. It can be from another brand machine ie. an HP hard drive installed in a Toshiba or a compaq in a Toshiba etc. You’ll be able to tell right away by looking at the size (usually 2.5″ drives are standard now on both PCs ad Macs). Just don’t use a Mac hard drive for a PC. As far as HITTING a machine to get it working: Yes, you might very well free up the hard drive and it will seem fine. However, I would spend my time immediately after it boots up copying the data to another media storage device like an external hard drive. It is only a matter of time before it fails for good and all the kicking and hitting in the world won’t bring it back. I don’t recommend it AT ALL, EVER but to customers that feel like they have nothing to lose, it’s kind of hard to say not to. Hope this helps someone.

I keep getting PXE-E61 Media test failure error on laptop start up - Ask Laptop Freak

looks like giving it a good whack round the HD is the thing to try, according to most of the ppl on that thread!

^ Yep.

If in doubt, Give it a Clout

Thanks all,

Changed the SATA Mode from AHCI to IDE which got a few things moving. On start up it took me to the following screen:

Launch startup repair (reccomended)
or
Start windowns normally

I tried both options, the first option took me to a screen that checked my system for problems and told me that "Startup repair cannot repair this computer automatically" and highlighted "bad disk" and then sent me back to the previous screen.

The second option just keeps taking me back to the original option screen, basically going around in circles.

with regards to hitting the hard drive, where exactly on the laptop would that be, I dont' want to go belting it all over the place.

Currently still in Australia, but will be back in bangkok on Tuesday. The mrs knows the guy who managed the IT in her last company in Bangkok, so we are taking the laptop to him on Wednesday in the hope he can perform some magic.

Originally Posted by Strongarm

with regards to hitting the hard drive, where exactly on the laptop would that be, I dont' want to go belting it all over the place.

It will be under the 2.5 inch cover underneath

What model number is your Acer ?
Type it into you tube or Google and the words hard drive or HDD replacement

This is where it is on the Acer Aspire One