Poorly desktop help.

elsien

I have a Cube Caiman Micro ATX Desktop, bought in about 2014.
Intel(R) core(TM) i3-4160CPU@3.60GHz

The last couple of times I've tried to turn it on I've had a message saying "reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press key"
Turning it off and on again has so far allowed it to boot properly but I suspect not for long.

As a non-techie person, is there an easy fix, do I need to get someone to look at it, or is it likely to be something not particularly cost effective to repair?
Opinions welcome. Off to work now, so can't give any more information immediately but will check in later.
It's got windows 10 home, if that makes any difference at all.

Neil_Jones

Few things that can cause this:

1) Power supply not providing enough 12v power on the rail from a cold boot (ie off) to spin the hard drive up, so it doesn't get going, computer can't see it and so "no boot device detected".

If you press the Reset button on the case (not turning the computer off) does the computer boot then?

2) Loose internal SATA connector or power cable - the connectors are only cheap pieces of plastic and easily break

3) Potential issue with one of the bridges on the motherboard, typically the south bridge is where all the drives connect.

4) Hard drive beginning to fail.

that

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Few things that can cause this:

1) Power supply not providing enough 12v power on the rail from a cold boot (ie off) to spin the hard drive up, so it doesn't get going, computer can't see it and so "no boot device detected".

If you press the Reset button on the case (not turning the computer off) does the computer boot then?

2) Loose internal SATA connector or power cable - the connectors are only cheap pieces of plastic and easily break

3) Potential issue with one of the bridges on the motherboard, typically the south bridge is where all the drives connect.

4) Hard drive beginning to fail.

I'd got with #4

grumpycrab

Neil_Jones wrote: »

4) Hard drive beginning to fail.

that wrote: »

I'd got with #4

So... check any documents,pics etc are backed up. Check disk SMART status with something like HDSentinel (free); get a computer friend to have a look.
https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_sentinel_trial.php

EveryWhere

https://neosmart.net/wiki/reboot-and-select-proper-boot-device/

Sounds like a good opportunity to change over to a solid state drive.

elsien

Thanks - will have a look at the li.nk
What's a solid state drive?

EveryWhere

elsien wrote: »

Thanks - will have a look at the li.nk
What's a solid state drive?

https://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/ssd/series/MX500

If you are going to have to replace the internal mechanical drive, you should replace it with a much more efficient solid state drive.
It will be much faster and more responsive than before.

esuhl

Sounds it could be a flat CMOS battery...?

Neil_Jones

esuhl wrote: »

Sounds it could be a flat CMOS battery...?

Wouldn't cause a "no boot device" error in modern computers.
Computers of 25 years ago maybe so but not today.

elsien

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Few things that can cause this:

1) Power supply not providing enough 12v power on the rail from a cold boot (ie off) to spin the hard drive up, so it doesn't get going, computer can't see it and so "no boot device detected".

If you press the Reset button on the case (not turning the computer off) does the computer boot then?

2) Loose internal SATA connector or power cable - the connectors are only cheap pieces of plastic and easily break

3) Potential issue with one of the bridges on the motherboard, typically the south bridge is where all the drives connect.

4) Hard drive beginning to fail.

Reset button gives me the connection.
Sentinel gives me



What would you suggest next?

EveryWhere

elsien wrote: »

Reset button gives me the connection.
Sentinel gives me



What would you suggest next?

It tells you. Check your cables. If still problems, replace the drive.

As suggested, it's a good time to upgrade to a solid state drive anyway, instead of waiting for the drive to fail.

You can prepare installation media and back up data now.

It should be easy to do it yourself.