Aug 04, 2023 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions
Sometimes, when you start your computer, you may see a black screen with an error message that says "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk & Press Enter". This message indicates that your system is unable to boot from the hard drive. If you're experiencing this issue, you may be wondering how to fix it. In this article, we'll discuss methods to repair a hard drive that won't boot and explain what disk boot failure is.
A disk boot failure is an error that can prevent Windows from loading correctly on your computer. This error may be caused by issues with your software or hardware. It can also occur if there is a CD in the drive when you boot your system. Now that you understand what disk boot failure is, let's explore some methods for fixing a computer won't boot.
Most of the time, hard drives do not last forever and, due to mechanical or other failures, are susceptible to data loss. And, each hard drive type has its own signs or symptoms to show physical or logical failure.
There are many reasons that can trigger disk boot failure issue, and some of them are as follow:
BIOS is a program that helps to search the bootable hard drive depending upon its boot device order when you started a computer. So, if the BIOS sequence is inappropriate or incorrect, it will not be able to search for the bootable drive.
Most of the time, viruses only damage the files or folders of the hard drive. But, there are some viruses that can also damage the boot sector of your hard drive. And, if the boot sector gets damaged, then the hard drive will not boot up.
If your hard drive or partition is damaged, you will face a "disk boot failure" error. It is because once the disk gets corrupted, all the data will surely suffer, including the booting process.
It is possible that with a new hard drive, too, you will face disk boot failure. In this case, the configuration of the hard drive is improper.
Apart from improper configuration, plugging in the hard drive in an improper way can also cause a disk boot failure issue.
Moreover, you can also face disk boot failure when your Windows system fails.
Are you facing disk boot failure on Windows 10? If yes, then this guide part is for you. In this part, we have discussed the three ways to fix hard drive that does not boot up on Windows 10.
Take a look!
The first option is to check the boot order of the system. For this, you need to follow the following steps:
If you have recently added new hardware, then follow these tips:
The chkdsk utility can help in determining or checking if the computer's hard disk has certain issues or not.
If you are using XP Windows, then follow these steps:
chkdsk C: /R
Where C: is the Windows installation drive. Now, wait for the scanning process to end and restart the system
If you use Windows Vista, 7, 8, or 10, follow these steps:
If you are using Mac, then you will need to be careful while fixing disk boot failure. So, if you are facing a hard drive not booting up the issue on Mac, follow the following steps:
First, you will need to back up your data so that you can save it from any damage due to disk boot failure. Maintain a habit of performing regular backups.
After creating a backup, check the BIOS of the Mac and restart your system.
Every Mac comes with a disk utility tool feature. It can help extend the life of a hard drive by fixing problems on time.
First, you will need to run the First Aid process so that the Disk Utility can repair file permissions or issues causing trouble to the hard drive.
It will check for the potential issue and will alert you to an impending drive failure if any.
Recovering Your Lost Data/Files Caused By Disk Boot Failure
Despite your best efforts, if you fail to fix the "hard drive does not boot up" issue, you might be worried about your data loss.
Well, in this case, you will need to use Wondershare Recoverit – Data Recovery tool. This tool can help recover any type of data in no time. The best thing is that it supports both Windows and Mac.
Here are the steps that you will need to follow to use Recoverit – Data Recovery:
Step 1: Install Recoverit on the system
First, you will need to install Recoverit on a working system, a blank USB drive, or a CD/DVD. Now, connect it to the crashed computer.
Step 2: Create a bootable media
Now, to recover data from an unbootable system, you need to create a bootable media by following these steps:
Step 3: Backup and format data
Step 4: Recover data from crashed computer
There are multiple factors that may cause problems during Windows startup and therefore, the first step you should take is a diagnosis that helps you find out what has been the origin of your problem in particular.
Every time you turn on your computer. Your motherboard firmware must choose a boot device. This is not necessarily C: / drive. Motherboard firmware is sometimes configured to give external storage devices a boot priority to facilitate the operating system installation processes, and if the firmware cannot find a removable storage device, then it advances to devise C: /. Once this happens, Windows performs a brief evaluation to help you determine if all connected components are working properly. This is done through the drivers that are installed and, when one of these determines that one or more of the connected devices is failing. A series of errors are triggered that, in some cases, could prevent Windows from initializing correctly. For this reason, if your computer does not get Windows to start correctly, the first thing you should do is: disconnect any pen drive and confirm that everything is correctly connected to the motherboard.
Sometimes when an operating system fails to boot, knowing whether or not your computer is turned on may be a bit confusing. The first thing to do to find out is to check if the computer's fans are working. There are some laptop models whose cooling system may be very discreet but, in most cases, they have a LED that lights up when the computer is on. In case your computer does not turn on at all, it is very likely that the problem is related to a malfunction of your computer's power supply. To solve this problem, it is advisable that you request the technical assistance service of your provider or that you obtain a replacement power supply in case you cannot request the technical assistance service.
As I mentioned before. The firmware of the computer is in charge of looking for the boot device and if it cannot find a bootable device, it is very likely that the device where the operating system is stored has suffered some damage that corrupts the integrity of the partition table or the file system.
If Windows freezes during startup, it could be due to corruption or loss of data that makes up the boot structure of the operating system. To fix this problem, you may need to do a clean installation of Windows again.
On the other hand, if Windows manages to start but it freezes, it is probably due to the execution of a program with corrupted files or it may even be a sign that the partition table of device C is damaged. Fortunately, these types of problems can be fixed with native Windows tools.
Although the problems I mentioned above are usually solvable, it is not always possible to repair the integrity of the data on the device. For this reason, it is advisable to take precautionary measures to avoid losing information by making backup copies frequently.
We hope that from the above article, you have learned about how to fix disk boot failure in Windows 10 and Mac. There are many reasons due to which the hard drive does not boot up, but with the above tricks, you can try to fix this problem.
Also, use Recoverit – Data Recovery to recover the lost files from a hard drive that is not booting up.
It’s likely that the drive isn’t booting because of damage. If the drive is visible but not accessible, the partition table is most likely corrupt. However, if the drive can’t even be visible, especially on a Linux machine, it may be physically damaged.
This error occurs when BIOS cannot detect a bootable drive to start the computer during the starting process, resulting in a disc boot failure. You can fix it by:
Cloning the hard drive results in a bootable new hard drive that contains the state of your computer at the moment of the clone. You can clone to either a hard disc in your computer or a USB hard disk Adapter. Afterward, you can boot immediately from the cloned hard drive without having to reinstall everything.
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Theo Lucia
chief Editor