NO POST, Can't access BIOS and "no boot device found"

Lexemic · Dec 13, 2015

Hello all. I left my laptop on overnight and it woke me up by randomly making a huge amount of noise while on the Alienware screen. I decided to turn it off (mistake!).

The following morning I tried to turn it back on and it just beeped 5 times and then turned off. When trying to access BIOS it would just turn off while BIOS was still loading. I couldn't think of anything else to do so I opened it up.

Decided the best bet was to try to reset the CMOS battery so I took the whole thing apart.

Put it back together and now it turns on to the Alienware screen and just sits there while beeping successively. Trying any of the F keys or FN to enter BIOS brings up a loading bar but it always ultimately winds up at the "no boot device found" dialog.

My guess is that the hard drive is fried, but I'm unsure why it wouldn't enter BIOS if that were the case.

Also, it's important to note that the first time I started it after putting it back together I was able to get into BIOS. It registered all the components on BIOS, ram, GPU, CPU - everything except the hard drive.

Should I just go buy another hard drive and a new copy of windows?

Any help or advice is appreciated. Thanks!

rujoesmith · Dec 13, 2015

What is the model of the laptop? The beeps you are hearing are beep codes, very important for troubleshooting. Consult the manual and try to match what you are hearing to one of the listed beep codes. It should give you a better idea as to what is causing the problem.

Also, what windows do you have? If it is windows 10 the product key is tied to the motherboard.

Lexemic · Dec 13, 2015

rujoesmith :

It's an Aienware 17, and the computer is beeping continuously which isn't covered in the beep codes.

Yes, I have windows 10. Not sure how to go about getting a new copy of it.

mbarnes86 · Dec 13, 2015

Hi
Can you unplug the hard drive
Many Dells have hdd in. Tray held in by a few screws
Remove main battery first

Then replace battery and see if it boots up to bios normally and then complains about no hard drive or boot device

How old is pc is it still under warantee?
Dell will sell a recovery dvd or usb much cheaper than Microsoft or a pc dealer

Regards
Mike Barnes

rujoesmith · Dec 13, 2015

ya try what mbarnes86 said.

You can reinstall windows 10 with the media creation tool http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 you will need a flash drive to install this to. Windows will automatically activate once installed.

Lexemic · Dec 13, 2015

mbarnes86 :

Hi Mike,

I did as you suggested and the beeping has gone away. The computer is still unable to access BIOS regardless of which button I press. It ends up at a dialog screen of "Checking Media..." and then at the "no boot device found" screen.

It might be worthwhile to mention that it is doing all of this a lot quicker than before. It was taking about 20 seconds to move from the Alienware screen(POST) to the error dialog screen, now it does so in just a few second.

Thanks!

mbarnes86 · Dec 13, 2015

Hi

This seems to confirm a dead hdd with a fault on hdd circuit board

It often takes a long time for Dell bios to accept there is no hdd

Try again to get into bios F12. May get into boot or bios or diagnostic menu

What size hdd do you have ?
As a ssd is much faster though still expensive for 480/500 GB ssd
240 GB SSD are at acceptable price compared to 500GB or 1 TB hdd

Unless laptop still under warantee

Regards
Mike Barnes

Lexemic · Dec 13, 2015

mbarnes86 :

It's 500gb. I wouldn't mind an SSD. That would mean something good came from all of this.

It still wouldn't let me get into BIOS.

Will simply buying a new SSD fix my issue?

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NO POST, Can't access BIOS and "no boot device found"

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