"No Bootable Device" message shows when I try to start my Laptop - Acer Aspire 3, A315-21

Hello,
I have an Acer Aspire 3, A315-21, and I keep getting a "No Bootable Device" error message. (the one with the magnifying glass) I have watched MANY YouTube videos and surfed through Acer Support many times. The HDD is still working because it is showing in my BIOS. The time is correct, I tried resetting the battery, nothing works. I tried switching it to Legacy, but that gave me an error message too. When it is in UEFI mode, it won't let me change secure boot either. When I tried turning on f12 boot menu, it doesn't give me any options. It started when I was playing Minecraft and my computer blue screened. It went into Windows Recovery Mode and I chose "Continue to Windows". The screen kind of dulled and was frozen for a while. Then it said "No Bootable Device." Can anybody help me? Thank you so much!

//Edited the content to add model name.

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JackE

>>> I tried switching it to Legacy, >>>

Don't try to do this again or yourisk corrupting and losing everything on the HDD. Instead, try these steps in order listed even if you've done some of them before.

(1) Open Control Panel. Search 'button'. Click 'change what the power buttons do' in left pane. Click 'change settings that are currently unavailable'. Scroll down and make sure the box for fast startup is UNchecked.
(2) Uninstall, don't just disable, any non-Microsoft virus scanners. They're no longer needed for most folks.
(3) Shut down Windows normally if possible. Or press and hold the power button to force it off. Unplug the charger.
(4) Insert and hold paperclip into reset pinhole on bottom for about a minute
(5) Plug charger back in but wait till battery charge LED turns from solid orange to solid blue
(6) Then turn machine on and immediately press the F2 key to enter BIOS menu. Press the F9 key to load defaults. Press F10 to save defaults and exit
(7) Window should now start normally

think12

Hello, thank you for responding. I did everything you said, except for the stuff inside Windows. I don't think you understand, I can't get into windows at all. Whenever I try to start the computer it shows "No Bootable Device." Sadly, nothing worked.

Thank you so much for your help though!

JackE

Turn machine off. Then turn machine on again and immediately press the F2 key to enter BIOS menu. Please post a phone photo of the BIOS Information tab if possible.

Puraw

@think12
I think that your boot partition on your HDD got corrupted, there is no fix for that. If you wish to copy your files to another PC; buy an external USB HDD case (very cheap) and remove your laptop HDD, mount it in the USB case and copy your files to another PC, then you can also format the external HDD for security/privavy concerns. Put the external (formatted) HDD back in your laptop and bring the laptop to an Acer service center to completely re-install all drivers and Windows at a very small fee (in my case it was done free of charge).

Easwar

Hi @think12,

It looks like hardware issue. Contact acer tech support,

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/service-contact

OR book the unit for repair service,

https://customercare.acer-euro.com/customerselfservice/CaseBooking.aspx?CID=UK&LID=ENG&OP=1

JackE

Turn machine off. Then turn machine on again and immediately press the F2 key to enter BIOS menu. Please post a phone photo of the BIOS Information tab if possible.

padgett

Turn machine on then immediately press the power button until it goes off. Do this three times abd it should go into the repair menu. Are given several choices. The best one is if you have a recovery drive.

All of my laptops have had a recovery drive created on a 16GB micro SD which is then taped to the lid.

think12

@JackE
Here you go

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/wo/rku0tvd2ue41.png

//Edited the content to hide serial number.

think12

@padgett
I tried this but nothing happened. Is recovery mode a BIOS feature? If not, like I said, I can't get windows to boot up so wouldn't a windows recovery screen not be possible?

think12

@Puraw
Thank you for the advice.
I am currently on vacation right now so I will try this when I get home. The reason this is such a huge problem is because since I'm on vacation, I have to do online school, but I have to do it all on my phone so thats a pain

padgett

No, the rcovery screen is not in the OS. It looks like this:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/6x/2cqu2f3p4lso.jpg

If you cannot get to this screen, the whole drive may be corrupt.

BTW the

MQ04ABF100 Toshiba 1TB/1000GB 5400rpm

Should be removable. if won't talk to you I would remove and connect as a slave to a different PC for analysis. Is a great time to replace with a SSD, performance would be much improved. Crucial 2.5" SSDs come with cloning software. Once cloned should be plug and play. If won't clone may need to reload Windows. At least are under $100 for a terabyte.

Commodore_1995#

I suggest you check this link: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000124331/how-to-repair-the-efi-bootloader-on-a-gpt-hdd-for-windows-7-8-8-1-and-10-on-your-dell-pc?lang=en

JackE

Your HDD may have failed. Try this.

(1) Press and hold power button till machine shuts off. Then turn it back on and immediately start tapping the F2 key to go back into the BIOS menu.

(2) In the BIOS Main tab, make sure the F12 and D2D options are enabled. Then press F10 to save settings and exit.

(3) Then turn the machine off again. Turn it back on and immediately press and hold the ALT key while tapping the F10

(4) A recovery menu should appear to allow you to reset the machine while trying to save your personal files

If the recovery menu doesn't appear, then you must remove the HDD from the laptop if you want to try to recover any personal data from another computer's USB port. If you don't care about recovering data, then we can try to reinstall Windows from a USB installation pendrive using Microsoft's USB media creation tool.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/kn/qnhofihkjgez.jpg

think12

@JackE
Would I need to buy an adapter to use it as an external drive to clone it?

think12

@padgett
Yeah, I'm not getting that screen. I do remember getting that screen originally, I was playing minecraft and it was being laggy, then my computer bluescreened and after a bunch of loading went to that page. I hit continue, then the screen kind of dimmed, I couldn't use the mouse, and that's when the problem started. And yeah, my drive's probably corrupt. I had been letting my brother play games on it and he had had a number of rage moments and there had definitely been some slamming.

I'm working on a desktop rig so I don't know if I'll replace the drive I'll probably have to use my moms 2011 macbook in the meantime. XD Thanks soooooo much for your guys' help you have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Commodore_1995#

These scams may have damaged the hard drive. Can you test the hard drive on another computer?

JackE

>>>Would I need to buy an adapter to use it as an external drive to clone it? >>>

Yes. But only to get personal files off. You don't want to clone a failed or corrupt drive or you'd corrupt the new drive. A 2.5" USB-to-HDD adapter. Less than $10. For example, faster usb3 adapters are a dollar more.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/zf/z0hob4na7hci.jpg

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