Strange Issue Booting Windows - Need Help Please.

tbird2340 · 10-27-2007, 07:08 PM

I have an Asus K8V-VM motherboard and I'm using a SATA HDD.

I am having an issue on the first cold boot of each use.. I turn the carputer on and then after about 15 seconds I get:

"Error Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"

All I do is hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, it resets and it then boots right into Windows.. Makes NO sense what so ever.. I can then do system restarts with no problem but if I do a shutdown or a hibernate and try to turn it back on it does the same thing.. It tells me the above error, I manually reset and it goes right into Windows..

Any ideas on this?

Thanks much.

DarquePervert · 10-28-2007, 07:29 AM

Id' check in your BIOS to see if you have USB Boot enabled.
You might also make certain that your SATA HDD is the first item listed in the boot order.

Grrrmachine · 10-28-2007, 08:25 AM

It's probably something to do with the drive not spinning up fast enough to have its boot area accessed in time - you might have to try and lengthen your POST times (make it do a long memory check, turn on all your onboard devices etc) and see if that helps.

tbird2340 · 10-28-2007, 08:33 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Grrrmachine

It's probably something to do with the drive not spinning up fast enough to have its boot area accessed in time - you might have to try and lengthen your POST times (make it do a long memory check, turn on all your onboard devices etc) and see if that helps.

This could very well be it because when it does boot it's in Windows in what seems like seconds. POST FLIES right by so I think you may have something.

@ DP, yes.. It's the first (and only) device listed in boot order.

Thanks fellas!

tbird2340 · 11-09-2007, 08:43 AM

I am still having this problem. I turned off Quick boot in the bios and I still have to hit CTRL+ALT+DEL upon the first boot 80% of the time..

Splash-X · 11-09-2007, 12:51 PM

Double check the SATA and Power connections on the board and the drive. You may need to hot-glue the plugs in place.

There is also a chance that your drive may be defective and doesn't spin up properly.

tbird2340 · 11-09-2007, 01:20 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Splash-X

Double check the SATA and Power connections on the board and the drive. You may need to hot-glue the plugs in place.

There is also a chance that your drive may be defective and doesn't spin up properly.

I'll double check those this weekend.. However, if the drive was defective.. Wouldn't it show some signs other than this?? I mean it works perfectly fine after the reboot..

Also, I had this exact system working fine in a bench envinroment.. My motherboard's USB ports died so I then got a new one and that is when this started.. The POST on my new motherboard is the fastest I've ever seen even with all the options for "quick boot" turned off.

longhair · 11-14-2007, 12:44 PM

What was the ambient air temperature when you had this issue? Hard drives and PCs in general don't like being really cold at first boot.

If you are in Poland shoot me a PM as I work in Boardman. I do IT work for a living.

Ramanator · 11-14-2007, 01:09 PM

[quote=longhair;1141723]What was the ambient air temperature when you had this issue? Hard drives and PCs in general don't like being really cold at first boot.

If you are in Poland shoot me a PM as I work in Boardman. I do IT work for a living.[/QUOTE

Funny, Mine does the same thing except its on my test pc. (notebook) Mine happens about 90% of the time and i either 3 key or hard off and windows fire right up. SO i dont think it is the ambient temp Longhair. However it may be a spinup issue as mentioned by Splash-X as mine didnt start happening until i replaced my original hd.

tbird2340 · 11-14-2007, 01:12 PM

Yea, I don't think it has anything to do with temperature.. I'm going to swap the HDD's and see if that fixes it because I changed all options I could in the BIOS and still every time I have to restart upon cold boot.

Splash-X · 11-14-2007, 01:17 PM

Improper spinup or long spinup is a sign of a defective drive. Use software such as Norton Ghost or Acronis TrueImage to make a clone of the drive onto a new or spare drive.

tbird2340 · 11-14-2007, 01:20 PM

Yea, I have an Acronis image of it already but like I said, there are ZERO other signs that this drive is bad.. It worked totally fine booting up with my last motherboard but I have since replaced that one and now it does this..

The new motherboard's POST is insanely fast and I think that has something to do with it..

Ramanator · 11-14-2007, 01:25 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by tbird2340

.. I'm going to swap the HDD's and see if that fixes it because I changed all options I could in the BIOS and still every time I have to restart upon cold boot.

Report back if that fix your problem. Since mine was happening on the test pc it was just a minor annoyance, but i never gave thought to it being a spin up issue. Then may be they'll let me exchange it.

tbird2340 · 11-14-2007, 01:26 PM

Will do...

longhair · 11-14-2007, 01:39 PM

So does it do this on the bench? Also you should be able to download a hard rive tools disk from the manufacturer website. Maxtor had MaxBlast and Seagate had SeaTools....they will allow you to run some in depth diagnostics. Also, depending on the age of the drive and if it was OEM or retail, you might be able to get it warrantied from the manufacturer.

You might also consider doing a low level format since you have an image handy and see if that clears the issue. I have seen drives exhibit all sorts of maladies in the past 14 years.