I'm seeing "no bootable device" upon startup of w500 (windows 8). Tablet then boots fine.

Hello, I'm searching for some advice here as I seem to have exhausted my limited knowledge. I bought an Acer w500 running windows 7 and purchased / downloaded an upgrade to Windows 8. Upon my attempt to install it notified me that I didn't have enough drive space (a problem encountered by many) so rather than read extensively about a resolution online I opted to follow a post I found which recommended formatting the hard drive through the bios and starting from a clean install. Problem was, I only had an upgrade to windows 8 so this got me nowhere. After a short panic, I plugged in my external hard drive and ran the restore discs that came with the tablet and this got me up and running again. Somehow, I know had about 19gb free (clearly minus the bloatware) and proceeded with the windows 8 upgrade. Since then, I've been seeing the line "No bootable device - please restart" as I switch it on. Then, it restarts itself and more often than not it jumps into Windows 8. Is something damaged/corrupted? Is it easily fixed? Can I reinstall windows 7 from somewhere else then start again? Any help would be GRATEFULLY received! Many thanks in advance!

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Tabbiekatz

Usually when you upgrade to Win8, there is a BIOS update. I don't think that the w500 came with the UEFI bios installed on it. You might want to check the support website to see if there is an update. I do belive that may solve this issue.

stuartlawson78

Thanks for the comment! A few days ago I noticed that there were two bios downloads on the Acer site. One simply called bios and one called EC Bios. I didn't know what the EC Bios was so I installed the one named bios hoping that would help but sadly nothing changed. Could it be the EC option? Will it do any harm just to install everything on the w500 list? Many thanks!

padgett

Windows 8 Pro upgrade will install on Legacy as well as UEFI. Once you get it booted, run MSINFO32 and see what the "Bios Mode" is. Also is the "System" x86 or 64 bit ?

I have a W510 so am not sure just what you are seeing.

ps I have seen "no bootable device" if the boot device order puts priority to the USB or CD drive and media is in there.

stuartlawson78

Thank you. Bios mode is legacy based on msinfo32. Unfortunately it even happens if there is no SD or usb present.

stuartlawson78

It's x86 based. I'll try to install the EC bios update and see if that helps (unless anyone knows if that would be unwise!).

stuartlawson78

@padgett as soon as I turn the device on it gives me the Acer name/logo and then goes to a single line of No bootable drive - please restart, at which point it restarts and either returns to that or then goes to the windows logo and works fine. UNLESS it goes to sleep, then it crashes and gives me the new windows 8 blue screen of death (sad face, something went wrong page)

padgett

Check your BIOS boot priority and make sure it has the HDD first then try. It sounds like the priority is to a different device and it is trying that first, not finding an OS, and complaining. I have that happen on my notebook if I leave a flash drive in the slot but it does not go away until I remove the flash drive.

stuartlawson78

So I've installed the bios updates, no change. I've started it in safe mode, no change. I was sure that I had set the SSD as the primary choice for booting - problem with windows 8 booting to bios in legacy is that I apparently only have a 0.2 second window to hit that f2 key. I managed it once but it took me 3 days of trying.

Can I boot to the windows 7 recovery discs Acer provided from within windows 8 and reinstall windows 7? Sorry for the potential ignorance and thank you all for taking the time to assist!

padgett

Did you go into the Boot Setup (not the "safe mode" menu) and make sure that the Hard Disk (SSD?) has priority ? The user's manual should say how to get into the BIOS Setup (doubt that is the same as a W510)

stuartlawson78

Yeah, via bios by hitting f key during the 0.2 second window of opportunity. Could it be a hardware issue? Seems unlikely though as it performs really great beyond this issue and having done a sfc /scannow it gave me the all clear (maybe that wouldn't show me a problem, my limited knowledge keeps cropping up!).

So, worst case scenario, i get into the bios (by some form of miracle) and it shows me that I'm set to hdd (ssd) as primary source, does that mean that there is a hardware fault and would it therefore be covered by warranty? Or, can i simply reinstall windows 7 and resolve this whole issue.

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