Laptops·2,672 discussions

reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot

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hi,

for the past week, everytime i leave my laptop idling for more than 20mins, the following error would occur:

reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device

My laptop is able to restart as per normal after i turn off & on the power.

Pls kindly advise on what i should do.

thx

Topic

Clarifications

In reply to reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot

Clarifications

The likely culprit is CPU overheating

In reply to reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot

Accumulated dust can reduce air flow, and the ambient room temperature may be a factor.

I recommend careful disassembly, thorough cleaning, and air-conditioning (if available).

If the problem recurs as you describe, consider an auxilary cooling device, such as:

http://www.quadcooler.com/

Be sure the air vents are unblocked, and the fan is operational.

Rick/Portland, OR

Along with nepenth0

In reply to reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot

I agree that it is overheating. You could try a Google for Service ‘Notebook Model’, you may be able to find a Service Manual with the steps needed to access the Parts that need cleaning.

Laptops run fast microprocessors that can generate a lot of heat. The heat is mainly vented out of the bottom of the laptop but ventilation effectiveness is reduced when the laptop is placed on a solid surface. A hot laptop can suffer from reliability problems and a system that overheats can fail.

Adjusting your power options will help your laptop from heating up when not in use even if for short periods of time. You can set your hard drive and display to turn off after a set time period. Another option is to set the laptop to go into standby or hibernate mode.

One way to help in this situation is to use a Notebook Cooling Chill Mat.

Indications of laptop overheating problem:

The keyboard and the bottom of your laptop are very hot when the laptop is working.
The CPU fans are working all the time at maximum rotation speed and operate much louder than before.
The laptop suddenly shuts down by itself without warning. When it just started, the laptop was shutting down after 1-2 hours and how it shuts down after 5-10 minutes of operation.
The laptop works fine when it runs idle, but shuts down as soon as you start using any memory demanding applications (DVD player, image editing software, video editing software, etc.).

Solution:

If the CPU heatsink is not clogged with dust and lint completely, you can use canned air and just blow it inside the laptop through the openings on the bottom and on the sides. It?s nice as a precaution measure, but it might not work if your laptop already has a problem and the heatsink is completely clogged.

sounds like your “MBR” to me..

In reply to reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot

Your “MBR” (master boot record) might not be working as it should, so that when your computer is idle for a long time (and you try to wake it up) it (Windows)can not find the right spot where you left off. Either that or your hdd is failing slowly. Put in your Windows disk and try the repair option “R” (you will have to bootup your computer with the disk in to do this). If it works then ok, but if it still does it then i would get another hdd and then transfer all your docs over to your new drive, oh make sure you get a external hdd case/caddy so that you can put your old drive in. Make sure it is a powered caddy.

Please post back if you have any more problems or questions.

While it could be a Heat Issue if you can use it and it continues to

In reply to reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot

Work without a problem I don’t think that Heat is the issue here. Though to be fair the Cool Pads that are available I consider as a [b]Must Have[/b] for any NB. The ones that I use suck air under the NB and blow it out the bottom this sucks any dust in the air with it and the NB tends to pickup clean air as all the bigger bits of dust or whatever are moving too fast to get sucked into the NB. They stay much cooler and last mush longer with a Cool Pad than without one.

But if you can use the NB without problems for the same length of time it sounds as if either there is a Hardware issue which is preventing the HDD from being read or Windows is falling over and failing to recover from Hibernation or Power Saving or whatever.

The way to test the Hardware is to get yourself a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD and test your hardware. You can download the UBCD Free from here

http://tinyurl.com/3jnpy

Burn this to a CD and drop it into your Optical Drive and boot off it. Test the HDD with one of the drive testing utilities and all your Hardware. If you run into a problem you know what needs attention and where to start looking for a resolution.

If it passes all the hardware tests Windows itself could be damaged so you can try a Repair of Windows or depending on what version you are running a In Place/Repair Install if you have a OEM Disc.

If you only have the Makers Recovery Disc this option isn’t available so backup all your Data to something and run the Makers Recovery Disc to restore the system to a clean As New Install and then reload whatever other software you have added. You can import your Data from the Backup when you are finished.

If you have run Windows for a few years without problems a reload isn’t unreasonable as over time a lot of rubbish gets deposited in various parts of Windows that sometimes isn’t possible to remove or it can be very time consuming to fix so a Recovery or In Place Install cures the problems.

Ideally what you should do is setup the NB the way that you want it and then make a Clone or Image of the HDD so you can restore from this as and when required quickly.

Col

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