Windows install problems, "No bootable device. Insert boot disk and press any key" and general wrongness

Hi,
I've been having this issue with a Windows 7 install.
Firstly, I have successfully installed Windows 7 before. I partitioned my HDD, held down option when booting up, booted off a USB and after a few goes it all worked fine. I didn't use boot camp assistant to install. I then proceeded to remove Windows a little while later. To do this I used disk utility to erase the partition on my HDD and but afterwards discovered my imac would continue to try to boot off the now non existant Windows partition. I solved this problem by using boot camp assistant via the "Remove Windows 7 Install" option. My imac booted up exactly as I would like it to from then on.
I am now trying to reinstall windows. I tried the way that I did it the first time but after partitioning my HDD via disk utility, inserting my USB and rebooting with option held down I am only given the option of my main HDD and my recovery drive. I have tried burning the files on the USB to DVD and booting off the disk drive by holding down C while starting up. Neither the USB or DVD are visible to be selected when I hold down option during startup.
When I try to use boot camp assistant to install I get a "No bootable device. Insert boot disk and press any key" error after the step where it partitions your HDD you. Also, my option to create an install USB via boot camp assistant is greyed out and unavailable for clicking.
Help?

Fix your superdrive.

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Bootable device--insert boot disk and press any key, bootable device--insert boot disk and press any key

tengo el problema de bootable device--insert boot disk and press any key, bootable device--insert boot disk and press any key y no se como solucionarlo agradeceria una solucion de la que no pierda la informacion gracias....

Start up you computer holding down the option and select Macintosh HD (or whatever name you gave your OS drive). If successful, take a trip to System Preferences->Startup Disk and make sure the proper HD is selected. Hope this helps.

Can't install Windows "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key"

I'm running OSX 10.9.3 on my Macbook Pro 13-inch, Early 2011 and trying to install Windows 7 via Boot Camp Assistant and I'm using a flash drive loaded with bootable copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (legal, if that makes any difference).
Here's what I've been doing:
1. Plug in my flash drive, then on Boot Camp Assistant, click "Install Windows 7 or later version"
2. Set my Windows partition to 45GB and continue... so far so good...
Then the problem:
3. My computer restarts, goes to a black screen with the message "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key"
The flash drive is still plugged in but is it not being recognized or something? Nothing happens when I press any keys.
I can use OSX just fine by holding down "Alt/Option" on restart, but in my case what can I do to continue further with the Windows install? It's basically an empty partition as of now. Any help appreciated!

Ive been having this problem and have been trying to figure out how to fix it for almost a week now. I have a 2011 17" MBP with the superdrive removed. Ive tried many different methods and many different methods to no avail. If anyone can help, please do!
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you can find it here:
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Boot Camp not installing Windows 7 - "No bootable device, insert boot disk and press any key."

I need some help with something. A while back, I put a brand new hard drive in my MacBook, a 500 GB model to replace the 120 GB one. I cloned everything successfully to the new drive via Carbon Copy Cloner, but now I want to make a Boot Camp partition on the drive. The SuperDrive in it is defective, so I use an external FireWire drive. So far the Boot Camp Assistant in 10.7 Lion works fine in creating the partition, but when it gets to the part where it tries to boot into the Windows installation disk (32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, or could the 64-bit work fine as well?), it shows a black scree nwith "No bootable device, insert boot disk and press any key." I try pressing keys, but nothing happens.
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MacBook (Early 2009 model)
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NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics chip
Mac OS X 10.7.2 Lion
Can anyone help me out with this? Is there some sort of workaround?

Wiley207 wrote:
Believe it or not, it was the FireWire drive that was the problem! I managed to successfully install Windows 7 using an external USB DVD drive!
Well I am truly staggered, I have tried this on two different MacBook Pros, with three different external USB optical drives. Don't know if you googled as I suggested but you would find hundreds of others who have found same thing. The exception is MacBook Air which works with the Apple writer, but I don't know much about this.
Were you doing any of the special workarounds with refedit etc?
What model USB DVD drive?

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Problems with Bootcamp Assistant: no bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key

Hello Guys,
I got a problem setting up Windows 7 on my recently bought 13" MacBook Pro (2,3Ghz Core i5).
I used the bootcamp assistent to create a partition of 50GB on my Mac, everything is fine until now. I insert the Windows 7 disk and follow the instructions. But when I restart in spite of starting the installation of Windows 7, a black screen appears with a note saying "no bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key". To exit this screen I then have to restart my Computer again, holding down the alt-key. In the following window I can just chose my Mac-Harddrive to boot from, the partition is not shown.
I used the software actualization tool to update to version 10.6.7 which is the most recent one i think.
The Windows 7 CD I use is actually a burned one. My University is a member of the msdn academic alliance and therefore offers me to download microsoft software for my work. I stress out that this is absolutly legal, I will only be allowed to use the software unitl I finished my studyings.
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The Windows 7 CD I use is actually a burned one. My University is a member of the msdn academic alliance and therefore offers me to download microsoft software for my work. I stress out that this is absolutly legal, I will only be allowed to use the software unitl I finished my studyings.
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No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key - problem

Hi,
I'm running an early-2008 MacBook (13-inch) that has previously had Windows Vista and Windows 7 installed to it through Bootcamp over the years.
A few weeks ago I did a fresh reinstall of OS X Lion (10.7.5) and decided to reinstall Windows 7 as well. I deleted all the partitions and started afresh. However, upon trying to reinstall Windows 7 I've become a wee bit stuck.
Bootcamp works fine at first - it lets me partition the HDD without any issues (the partition is MS-DOS - FAT32), but when it reboots it gives me a message 'No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key' against a black screen. I've never seen this message before and it won't let me continue with the installation. I'm able to get back into OS X by pressing the option key upon reboot.
Any idea what I'm doing wrong? As I said I've used Bootcamp several times in the past on this machine without any problems. The only difference between then and now is that my Superdrive no longer works so I'm using an external DVD drive. However, the error happens regardless of whether it's plugged in.
Cheers,
Matt

jeffjefftyjeff wrote:
The only difference between then and now is that my Superdrive no longer works so I'm using an external DVD drive. However, the error happens regardless of whether it's plugged in.
For Macs with built-in Optical drives, it must be functional for a Windows installation/installer to work. You will also need a USB2 flash drive.
On such Macs, the BCA sets the boot device to be the non-functional Optical drive, which is why you see a No boot device message.

Help with "No bootable Device -- Insert boot disk and press any key" problem

Alright, I am on an Early 2011 17inch macbook pro. I have removed the superdrive to install a secondary disk drive for mass storage, then replaced the original one with an SSD blah blah blah. I do everything from the books, run bootcamp, make my USB windows 7 bootable in Bootcamp, go through everything and allocate 65gb towards windows. I have tried 4 different USB sticks and 3 different ISOs. Every time I try it, I get the same "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key". I then have to hold down the power button, then restart, hold down option/alt key, and boot regularly into mac. I also read that holding option/alt whilst starting the macbook pro will show the windows USB stick, well it never appears. I dont know what I need to do, what I am doing wrong, but nothing is working. I guess the last thing I have to try is buying a superdrive and burning ISO to disc then try that. But I dont want to go out and spend more money. Other people have gotten it to work just fine from USB, I dont know what I must do or what I am doing wrong...
Open to suggestions and in desperate need of help. Anything is appreciated.
Thanks!

Don't bump
get a new usb2 only flash drive and try the solution posted by kunu here and report back
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5105056?tstart=0
How to install Bootcamp on a 2009 Macbook Pro that does not have a disc drive

After Update Mac from OS 10.7 to OS 10.8 No windows- no bootable device insert boot disk

Hi Please help.
I ve updated my mac from OS X [10.7] to [10.8] and then i tried to use windows but i get this error "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key"
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I can see my boot camp hard drive partion in mac and even i can see my stuff in it. but no start up with PC
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I made the System Recovery Options and it is showing "Checking for rrors this might take more than an hour..."
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Hallo, ich wollte auf eine eigene Partition von meinem mac noch windows installieren, doch jetzt komt beim starten immer nur: no bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key. Was soll ich tun??? Oder woher bekomme ich so eine Boot disk?

Hi,
ich wollte auf meinen Imac noch zusätzlich Windows 7 installieren.
jetzt kommt aber wenn ich starte nur noch: No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key.
was soll ich jetzt tun?
Woher bekomme ich so eine Boot disk?
Gruß steini

Starte deinen iMac neu und halte dabei die Alt/Option-taste gedrückt bis der Start-Manager erscheint.
Wähle deine OSX-partition aus und dann Enter.
Nachdem OSX gestartet ist, gehe zu Systemeinstellungen dann Startvolume and setze dein OSX als Standard.
Wenn nötig öffne danach den BootCamp-Assistenten und lösche die Windows-partition.
Stefan

TA21888 No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key how can i fix this problem to may desktop mac?

No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key......thats the words always show every time i start may desktop mac

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Try starting your Mac holding the Option (Alt) key, so you should see all bootable devices on the screen. If you see the OS X volume, select it. After starting, open System Preferences > Startup Disk, and choose the OS X volume.
If you don't see anything, try holding the key after hearing the startup chime. If you still don't see anything, your hard disk could be damaged

No Bootable device insert boot disk on iMac Wireless

Hi,
We just recently bought an iMac with Intel just a month ago. Earlier today my computer completely froze so I restarted it. When I turned it on. I received the "No Bootable device--insert boot disk and press any key". Well with the new computers, we did not receive a disk and there is no disk drive in the machine. I have an external disk drive and I unfortunately do not have an external hard drive either. I have most of the files saved on a separate computer.
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If anyone has any other ideas or tips please let me know.

OK. That's not the best news. I can take you through some Terminal commands to attempt to mount the volume if that's possible. Or, you can just erase the volume and reinstall OS X. I suppose your choice here depends on whether you have backups of your files.
Install or Reinstall Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion from Scratch
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Erase the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your startup volume (usually Macintosh HD) from the
      left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Optionally, click on
      the Security button and set the Zero Data option to one-pass. Click on
      the Erase button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible
            because it is three times faster than wireless.

Windows install problems, "No bootable device. Insert boot disk and press any key" and general wrongness

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