Boot Device?

[Cloud1986]

Just finished a new build, my second gaming pc build ever- ROG Strix Z790-E, i9 1400KF, 8Tb HDD, and 1Tb M.2. I downloaded Windows 10 to a thumb drive, but I keep getting the error message "Reboot and Select proper Boot Device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key."

 

It's been several years since I built my last rig, what am I doing wrong?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Have you tried windows 11, windows 10 doesn't support new hardware that well now.

 

Where do you see this message? Is it on one of the first few screens or when its asking for where to install your media?

 

Try a different USB disk and make the USB bootable with rufus.

[Cloud1986]

7 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Have you tried windows 11, windows 10 doesn't support new hardware that well now.

 

Where do you see this message? Is it on one of the first few screens or when its asking for where to install your media?

 

Try a different USB disk and make the USB bootable with rufus.

I haven't tried Windows 11 yet, is there any reason to instead of 10? The message appears as soon as I power on. I'm thinking of unplugging the other drives so that only the thumb drive is visible. I'm not familiar enough with computers, unfortunately.

[Biohazard777]

8 minutes ago, Cloud1986 said:

I haven't tried Windows 11 yet, is there any reason to instead of 10?

So, in half a year or so you will stop getting updates (including security ones), unless you go with 10 LTSC or simply use 11.

[Electronics Wizardy]

8 minutes ago, Cloud1986 said:

I haven't tried Windows 11 yet, is there any reason to instead of 10? The message appears as soon as I power on. I'm thinking of unplugging the other drives so that only the thumb drive is visible. I'm not familiar enough with computers, unfortunately.

Windows 11 supports hardware like yours better as windows 10 has had most new features stopped a few years ago, and security updates will stop later this year. Apps have also started requiring windows 11 so soon ish you need windows 11 for a current windows system.

[Cloud1986]

1 minute ago, Biohazard777 said:

So in half a year or so you will stop getting updates (including security ones), unless you go with 10 LTSC or simply use 11.

So I'm guessing that I should just download and use Windows 11?

[Biohazard777]

Just now, Cloud1986 said:

So I'm guessing that I should just download and use Windows 11?

Yep, that would be the simplest way forward.
Even if you go with 10 LTSC and still get updates for the OS, no guarantees 3rd party software companies will continue supporting 10, who knows if say Steam or Discord will support 10 in 2026.

[Cloud1986]

2 minutes ago, Biohazard777 said:

Yep, that would be the simplest way forward.
Even if you go with 10 LTSC and still get updates for the OS, no guarantees 3rd party software companies will continue supporting 10, who knows if say Steam or Discord will support 10 in 2026.

Understood. I'll try with 11 now. Thanks for the help.

[Cloud1986]

11 minutes ago, Biohazard777 said:

Yep, that would be the simplest way forward.
Even if you go with 10 LTSC and still get updates for the OS, no guarantees 3rd party software companies will continue supporting 10, who knows if say Steam or Discord will support 10 in 2026.

My laptop says the file is too big for the USB drive. No idea what that means...

[Eigenvektor]

1 hour ago, Cloud1986 said:

My laptop says the file is too big for the USB drive. No idea what that means...

That means you need a USB drive with more storage capacity. If I'm not mistaken it needs to have at least 8 GB.

 

~edit: don't just download the ISO to the USB drive. Use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool to download the files and format the USB stick properly.

[Cloud1986]

16 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

That means you need a USB drive with more storage capacity.

I figured, but my USB drive is 32 gigs, the download is 8. Not sure what the issue is...

[Eigenvektor]

1 hour ago, Cloud1986 said:

I figured, but my USB drive is 32 gigs, the download is 8. Not sure what the issue is...

What partition type is the USB stick formatted with? For example FAT32 only supports files with a max size of 4 GB. You'll want exFAT for larger files while retaining most compatibility.

 

If you use the Media Creation Tool, it should handle the download and also make sure the stick is properly formatted.

 

~edit: as I said above, simply downloading the file to the USB stick is not what you need. It's contents need to be written to the stick and the stick needs to be made bootable. Use the tool, it does all of that for you.

[Cloud1986]

On 4/25/2025 at 1:45 AM, Eigenvektor said:

What partition type is the USB stick formatted with? For example FAT32 only supports files with a max size of 4 GB. You'll want exFAT for larger files while retaining most compatibility.

 

If you use the Media Creation Tool, it should handle the download and also make sure the stick is properly formatted.

 

~edit: as I said above, simply downloading the file to the USB stick is not what you need. It's contents need to be written to the stick and the stick needs to be made bootable. Use the tool, it does all of that for you.

Just saw this. I'll give that a try. Thanks.

[Cloud1986]

On 4/25/2025 at 1:45 AM, Eigenvektor said:

What partition type is the USB stick formatted with? For example FAT32 only supports files with a max size of 4 GB. You'll want exFAT for larger files while retaining most compatibility.

 

If you use the Media Creation Tool, it should handle the download and also make sure the stick is properly formatted.

 

~edit: as I said above, simply downloading the file to the USB stick is not what you need. It's contents need to be written to the stick and the stick needs to be made bootable. Use the tool, it does all of that for you.

Finally got it 'working'. it said that the PC doesn't meet the system requirements

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, Cloud1986 said:

Finally got it 'working'. it said that the PC doesn't meet the system requirements

Windows 11 requires a system with TPM 2.0 and secure boot enabled.

 

Your system is definitely new enough, most likely that stuff is simply disabled in the BIOS and would need to be enabled first.

[Cloud1986]

2 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Windows 11 requires a system with TPM 2.0 and secure boot enabled.

 

Your system is definitely new enough, most likely that stuff is simply disabled in the BIOS and would need to be enabled first.

I don't know what either of those bad boys are, so I'll start poking around in the BIOS or whatever menu.

[Cloud1986]

26 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Windows 11 requires a system with TPM 2.0 and secure boot enabled.

 

Your system is definitely new enough, most likely that stuff is simply disabled in the BIOS and would need to be enabled first.

Secure Boot was enabled, and now Windows 11 is finally installing. Thanks for all the help.

[Cloud1986]

On 4/28/2025 at 12:10 AM, Eigenvektor said:

Windows 11 requires a system with TPM 2.0 and secure boot enabled.

 

Your system is definitely new enough, most likely that stuff is simply disabled in the BIOS and would need to be enabled first.

Windows says that I need to be connected .to the internet in order to continue setting up my device. Where should I get the device drivers from?