No Bootable Devices - strike F1 To Reboot F2 For Setup

[lcole]

please help.

all of a sudden, the screen on our Dell laptop inspiron e1705. Said somthing like Windows has encountered a problem and has shut down....

It would not go into safe mode, would not boot from a disc or anything. So, I bought a new harddrive.

Installed it and got the message......
No Bootable Devices-strike F1 To Reboot F2 For Setup

I tried all the suggestions that was offered by FASTCO that I saw in an earlier post that was similar to this.

I cannot get it to work. there are no plastic things on any pins on the harddrive.

It will only to the message about no bootable.....

I went in and changed the sequence and put CD as 1. It will not let me put numbers before any of the other items...ie: hard disc, diskette drive.. etc.

Can you help me? I really need to get this thing up and running again.

 

[kimsland]

I went in and changed the sequence and put CD as 1

The new HardDrive is not bootable, because it doesn't even have Windows installed on it yet.

You need to re-confirm the CMOS boot order (as CD first) then Save and Exit CMOS
Then put a bootable disc (ie Windows disc) and boot from it

edit:

Sorry I'm not "fastco" you can disregard my response until he checks the thread if you like

 

[lcole]

change of sequence

kimsland wrote:
You need to re-confirm the CMOS boot order (as CD first) then Save and Exit CMOS
Then put a bootable disc (ie Windows disc) and boot from it


I did go in and change it to CD first. Upon booting up, I hit the F key required and went to sequence. Changed to CD as #1. Then saved and exit. Then reboot.
It did not do anything. It beeped and said nonbootable device.

I am not a computer whiz and really cannot afford to take it in to have someone fix it. I would like to do it if at all possible.

I am hoping someone on here can walk me through this. It is so frusterating.
I wish that I could just use the previous harddrive but having a new one will be okay as it is bigger.

I only mentioned fastco because he/she is the one that helped a previous poster. I am hoping that i can get the same assistance.

I look forward to advice or help.

 

[fastco]

OK so like Kimsland stated, you put the CD drive up to the top in the boot order, saved and exited. What cd/dvd are you trying to boot from? Windows XP? If so make sure the cd is already in the drive, hit any key when prompted and the cd should boot and start the installation process see HERE. If the cd is set to boot first and the Windows disk is in the drive and it still does not boot you will have to try another Windows disk, or whatever operating system you are trying to install. Let us know how it goes!!

 

[lcole]

put the CD drive up to the top in the boot order, saved and exited. What cd/dvd are you trying to boot from? Windows XP?
********************************************************
After getting the BSOD, we assumed that the hard drive was maybe bad so I ordered a new one and put it in. So that brings me to here.
I am at a loss of what to do with it.
It is a DELL Inspiron E1705 Laptop. It is only a couple years old. Sorry to say, no longer under warranty so no tech support avail.

I did change to #1 for the CD. However, after saving and exiting, I rebooted and still get a screen that says:
No boot sector on internal hard drive
No bootable devices -- strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility Press F5 to run onboard diagnostics

F1 doesnt not reboot. Only beeps and gives the same message as above
F2 takes me to setup utility and the CD shows as #1
F5 I have run it already

I have a new windows XP disc that I have.

Am I out of luck?

 

[fastco]

No I don't think that you are out of luck. Triple check the boot settings. Dell bios boot options are sometimes difficult to configure. Let someone else check out the boot order setup screen to make sure. Download another boot disk like EBCD burn the iso and try to boot the computer with it. That will rule out or confirm a bad Windows XP disk. Also clean the laser lens on the CD/DVD drive with cotton and alcohol.

 

[lcole]

update on nonboot

ok. so hows this for odd?

as we were trying to get it to boot up again, my son hit the Media button at the top of the keyboard. Well, it opened up the Media Direct. (DVD player). And, the mouse works.

So, the hard drive can be accessed that way. How come it is giving me a blue screen stop error?

I just dont understand it.

 

[lcole]

oh. I guess I should have said, this last post is referring to the OLD original hard drive that we can still access.

 

[fastco]

The Stop Error Message is caused by Windows detecting an error with the operating system. Can you boot from the cd while the old hard drive is in? Sounds like Windows just needs to be reinstalled on the old drive if the drive is still physically healthy.
(I'll check back tomorrow must get some sleep!)

 

[lcole]

no boot

No, it will not boot from the CD for some reason. I have tried many many times. It just will not do it.