Message "no bootable device insert boot disk and press any key" on a hp laptop

[coachdave]

Hello,
My hp laptop was working fine, no problems, then the message 'no bootable device insert boot disk and press any key' appears on my screen. Now, I cannot do anything. Windows Vista is the operating system.
...What happened & how can I fix this???

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Make sure your hard drive is listed first in BIOS boot order.

 

[coachdave]

Thanks! What should identify the hard drive when I look in BIOS?

 

[coachdave]

I am technically challenged. What is a hard drive's identity in BIOS?...

 

[jay_nar2012]

Should come up in SATA/IDE devices or configuration like this- http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=hard+drive+in+bios&hl=en&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=E13OaCwFSRC5IM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tomsguide.com/us/hp-pavilion-dv8000z-is-big-heavy-and-full-of-features,review-620-14.html&docid=ohMo1fq-MXdADM&imgurl=http://img.tomshardware.com/us/2006/01/11/hp_pavilion_dv8000z_is_big_heavy_and_full_of_features/hp_dv8075_harddrive.jpg&w=425&h=319&ei=ppnbT52RMYPV8gPI1-3DCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=373&vpy=2&dur=969&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=209&ty=92&sig=116979267451063450456&page=4&tbnh=138&tbnw=182&start=66&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:66,i:288&biw=1345&bih=631

Except this guy has two, your hard drive should come up as -manufacturer-Model-
It should also be in the boot priority section.

If there is no hard drive then it is faulty.