Question "Reboot and select proper boot device" on MSI gaming setup

[GameTactrix]

I have a custom built gaming PC from a couple years ago. It's running MSI Z97 Gaming 5, windows 10. I am getting the infamous "reboot and select proper boot device" error, and I know there are a million things it could be, but I think someone with a little more experience may be able to narrow it down.
I've actually been getting this message for months now, but after a few restarts I can usually bypass it. I figured the issue was one of my hard drives was dying. I have 1 SSD and 2 HDD's. One of the HDD's was dying so I bought a new one, hoping this would fix the problem. I installed the new HDD tonight and am still getting the error message, however I cannot bypass it this time. I've tried the basic troubleshooting of CTRL-ALT-DLT, selecting different boot devices, etc. and I cannot figure it out for the life of me.
I don't know if removing my previous HDD has caused more of a problem, but I am now worried that since the hard drive is dying, even if I put the old one back in it still wont work. The bios recognizes all the hard drives and I have tried selecting every options to boot, but it immediately comes back to the "reboot and select proper boot device" error message. Because I can see all of my hard drives, it gives me the impression there is no faulty wire or connection.
The options it gives me are my SSD, my two HDD's, DVD RW drive, and UEFI: Built-in EFI Shell. None of them work when I select it as a boot device.

I'm sure you have a bunch of other info you need, or followup questions, but I appreciate any guidance you can give.

Thank you.

 

[okjak808]

As you said, one of your HDD is failing, it could’ve corrupted some important files relating to windows which is why you’re not able to boot to os since it can’t find a bootable device. Hard to explain but within your windows files they have a file that makes it possible for your bios to detect and able to boot from there, but since one of your HDD is failing it’s possible that it corrupted that certain file making it not booting to OS since your bios can’t find it.

You didn’t say on which windows is installed, your SSD or the 2 HDD??

If it were installed within the failing drives then it’s possible that it corrupted your windows.

Remove all the current data drives you have in your pc including the SSD, use your new hdd and install windows 10 and boot from there to see if the problem occurs. Once you’ve done that boot to windows while switching SATA ports to make sure all the SATA ports on your board is working fine and is not at fault.

If the problem does not occur then it could be because of a corrupted file. You said you’ve also manage to bypass this after a few restarts but you assumed that removing your old drive made the situation even worse, if so then that could be a board problem but I’m not to sure you need to conduct the tests I’ve mentioned to you above to see if it really is.

Another thing is that any software installed in your OS could be conflicting with windows as well causing you to restart multiple times in order to bypass that un bootable device message, maybe it’s possible that you have something installed in one of your drives and it could be causing the problem you have now.

If you manage to enter windows again run CMD as “Admin” and type this down

sfc/scannow

This will check for any corrupted files and fix’s them, but sometimes it won’t be able to fix every corrupted file if it’s to complex for it in which you would have to do it manually which is very tedious.

Have a good day hope this helped.

-Okjak

 

[GameTactrix]

As you said, one of your HDD is failing, it could’ve corrupted some important files relating to windows which is why you’re not able to boot to os since it can’t find a bootable device. Hard to explain but within your windows files they have a file that makes it possible for your bios to detect and able to boot from there, but since one of your HDD is failing it’s possible that it corrupted that certain file making it not booting to OS since your bios can’t find it.

You didn’t say on which windows is installed, your SSD or the 2 HDD??

If it were installed within the failing drives then it’s possible that it corrupted your windows.

Remove all the current data drives you have in your pc including the SSD, use your new hdd and install windows 10 and boot from there to see if the problem occurs. Once you’ve done that boot to windows while switching SATA ports to make sure all the SATA ports on your board is working fine and is not at fault.

If the problem does not occur then it could be because of a corrupted file. You said you’ve also manage to bypass this after a few restarts but you assumed that removing your old drive made the situation even worse, if so then that could be a board problem but I’m not to sure you need to conduct the tests I’ve mentioned to you above to see if it really is.

Another thing is that any software installed in your OS could be conflicting with windows as well causing you to restart multiple times in order to bypass that un bootable device message, maybe it’s possible that you have something installed in one of your drives and it could be causing the problem you have now.

If you manage to enter windows again run CMD as “Admin” and type this down

sfc/scannow

This will check for any corrupted files and fix’s them, but sometimes it won’t be able to fix every corrupted file if it’s to complex for it in which you would have to do it manually which is very tedious.

Have a good day hope this helped.

-Okjak

Thanks for your help. I'll be honest, I didn't even know which hard drive had Windows installed, so I looked it up. My SSD drive has the "windows" folder on it, so I assume it's that one. It was weird though how when I disconnected the faulty drive, is when I was unable to bypass the booting error.

My PC also created a new "drive" called system reserved which says to have 461mb of 499mb free, however when I click on it, it says it's empty.

Because Windows is installed on my SSD, it's odd to me that the bios message wont let me click on that drive as the boot drive when the faulty drive is disconnected.