[jdklscott]

Hello,

I have a Dell desktop with Windows Vista. Everything was working normally, but running a little slow, so I powered off before going to bed. The next day when I powered on, I get the black screen with "No boot device available - struje /f1 to try reboot, f2 for setup utility." The reboot does not work and returns this error each time.

Is there a way to repair this?

Thanks so much.

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Key F2, enter setup, is the hard drive recognised in the BIOS please

If it is and is listed in boot priority, as a boot device, come back out of there

F10 is normally save and exit

Then reboot, to your Vista DVD, on reboot follow the prompts, and after the keyboard, language and other options, click on the Repair Your Computer, bottom left of the screen - CAUTION do NOT click Install now


After you click on repair your computer, the system will be examined to ascertain if the operating system can be found.
If it is found, select it and then click next.
If problems are detected in starting Windows the system will automatically try to fix them, and you may be offered the option of a system restore.

If problems are not recognised the advanced screen with different options will appear,

Please post the results but I advise you do not proceed to the advanced screen option selection until you have told us what options you have presented to you

You will notice that my colleague rshaffer61 has posted below and if the operating system is not found then that would have been my next suggestion.

[Macboatmaster]

Key F2, enter setup, is the hard drive recognised in the BIOS please

If it is and is listed in boot priority, as a boot device, come back out of there

F10 is normally save and exit

Then reboot, to your Vista DVD, on reboot follow the prompts, and after the keyboard, language and other options, click on the Repair Your Computer, bottom left of the screen - CAUTION do NOT click Install now


After you click on repair your computer, the system will be examined to ascertain if the operating system can be found.
If it is found, select it and then click next.
If problems are detected in starting Windows the system will automatically try to fix them, and you may be offered the option of a system restore.

If problems are not recognised the advanced screen with different options will appear,

Please post the results but I advise you do not proceed to the advanced screen option selection until you have told us what options you have presented to you

You will notice that my colleague rshaffer61 has posted below and if the operating system is not found then that would have been my next suggestion.

[rshaffer61]

Before attempting a repair installation Mac even if the hd is seen in bios I would suggest running hd diagnostics on it.

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, try the Hitachi DFT CD Image version of the software

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[jdklscott]

Hello,
Thanks for your quick reply. I'm not sure how to tell if the hard drive is recognized in the BIOS. Also, I cannot find my Vista DVD. Is there anything else I can try?

Thanks,
Dawn

[jdklscott]

Hi,
Thanks for your quick reply. I created the bootable CD per the instructions and ran the program. It says that everything is okay, but when I remove the CD I still get the "No Boot Device Available" response.

[Macboatmaster]

F2 to enter setup - on your first post and on my post 2.

[rshaffer61]

Since the hard drive is identified in the bios and passed the hard drive diagnostics test then I would suspect a doinked OS at this point.
I would also like to know is the Vista disk one that was included with the system as normally with most systems since XP the recovery is done using a hidden recovery partition on the hard drive. Be warned that normally this will format the drive resulting in the loss of all data so before attempting this let us know if there is data that needs to be saved so we can instruct you on how to gain access to the data using a Linux Live cd.

[Macboatmaster]

Also, I cannot find my Vista DVD

. I'm not sure how to tell if the hard drive is recognized in the BIOS

The purpose of checking in the BIOS is to ensure that the HDD is recognised and that it is listed as a boot priority device

Albeit I completely concur with my colleague rshaffer61, that this may very well prove to be a corrupted MBR/ Boot Configuration data


After you have satisfied yourself that the drive is shown in the BIOS setup and it is listed as a boot device, please exit out of there it is normally F10 Save and exit
(If you require more advice on checking that in the BIOS please post)

Then please immediately after the screen where you see F1 or F2 try keying F8 by tapping the key repeatedly and see if you can get to a screen amongst which are a number of start options including Safe Mode and Repair Your computer.
Do not please progress beyond that apart from telling us the options on the screen.

[jdklscott]

Thanks so much. I found the Vista disk and did the repair option you suggested. It is working and booting up fine now. Thanks so much!

[Macboatmaster]

Thanks for posting pleased it worked

Please be advised that the safest option is to establish a complete image of the drive with regular backups as well of your personal data on an external hard drive.

Do you need further advice on this


Here is the link to a short article I have written which covers backup
http://www.geekstogo...-your-computer/

and here is another link you will find useful depending on which Vista edition you have
http://windows.micro...tings-and-files

[rshaffer61]

Great news and glad you are now back up and running.
Remember to add to Mac's last post. If it is important enough to backup then make at least 3 copies to be safe. On different media preferably so that you have multiple choices in case one goes bad. Again I would like to say Congratulations. for a successful resolution for your issue.

I'm glad we could help and please let us know how everything works out for you.
If there is anything else we can do to help please feel free to ask. I appreciate that you allowed us to assist you with your issue and for your patience.
Thank you for choosing GeeksToGo for help.
This issue now appears to be resolved.


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