Support Article - Missing or Select Proper Boot Device Error.

Terms and Abbreviations used

SSD = Solid State Drive

NVMe = (non volatile memory express) different type/format SSD

HDD = Mechanical Hard Drive 

Power on the PC whilst tapping the Del key to enter the APTIO BIOS Screen 

Use the Curser Keys to navigate & the Enter Key to select 

Once in the BIOS go to Advanced

Then to SATA Configuration

There should be one or 2 drives listed there

The smaller drive on Serial ATA Port 0, or SATA 0 is usually the SSD (solid state drive) commonly 128gb, 256gb or 512gb  in size

The drive on SATA 1 is usually the HDD (mechanical hard drive) and is usually 500,gb, or 1tb or 2tb

On some of our older PCs there is only a HDD

On some of our newer PCs the SSD will not be under SATA Configuration.

Instead you will have an  NVMe card which acts like an SSD but uses a different connection and format

To check this drive, go to Advanced, then into NVMe Configuration

On some of PCs there is only a single large SSD or NVMe drive 

As long as  you can see the SSD or the NVMe detected in the BIOS move on to the next step

Go back to the main screen, and select Boot

The Boot device windows is looking for is the SSD which is usually on SATA 0 or P0:

Boot option 1 should be Windows Boot Manager (which is on the SSD)

Or the name of the SSD on P0: (P0: is SATA Port 0) from the previous screen

Or the name of the NVMe

Make sure you have "Windows Boot Manager" or "the name of the "SSD" or "NVMe" always set as Boot Option 1.

If Boot Option 1 is set to a different device, for example the larger mechanical HDD.

Select/highlight  Boot Option 1 press enter

Change Boot Option 1 to "Windows Boot Manager" or the name of SSD or NVMe in the drop down menu screen

Next go into Hard Drive BBS Priorities

Similarly set the name of the  SSD or NVMe as Boot Option 1

The HDD should usually never be Boot Option 1 if you have an SSD or NVMe installed

However if your PC only has a HDD & no SSD or NVME

Boot option 1 should be "Windows Boot Manager" or the name of the "HDD" 

Press F10 to save and exit, and press Y or enter to confirm.

Windows 10 should now  boot normally

If the above steps didn't resolve the issue. Please go into the above screens and take some pictures to send to us. Then move on to the steps below

If the SSD or NVMe is not showing up in the BIOS screens that usually means a cable or connection is loose

Power off your PC and check the cables/connections  are all secure

The best way to check the cable connections is to unplug then plug the cables back in firmly

Sometimes the SSD is in the front of the case, next to the motherboard,  rather than in the rear (as pictured here). But the HDD is always at the bottom of the case.

If you have an NVMe rather than an SSD, the NVMe drive looks like this

To remove the drive undo the small holding screw and the card will pop out.

And reverse the process to reinstall.

After reseating the cables or card go back into the BIOS and check to see if the drive is now being detected correctly

If these steps  didn't resolve your issue with the SSD

Turn the computer off.

Swap the cables over for the HDD & the SSD, on the drives themselves.

Don't change the cables where they connect to the motherboard this time though, just swap over  the connections at the 2 drives themselves.

Then go back into the BIOS > Advanced > SATA Configuration and see if the SSD is detected.

Take another picture of this screen to send to us

These pictures will help us determine whether a cable or the drive itself is at fault

If after reseating the connections you still cant see the SSD in SATA Configuration or in NVMe Configuration. Take some more pictures; BIOS screens and of the hardware; cables, drives & cards etc  to send to us.

And then contact us. We will go through the next steps with you.