Computer does not automatically boot from the hard disk

Question

When I start my computer, it does not boot from the hard disk. When I select "hard disk" by pressing F10 while booting, it correctly boots to Windows.

I have a DG41RQ board and a SATA hardisk.

Answer 1

There are two possibilities: you either need to change your boot sequence in order to correctly boot Windows, or you have to update your BIOS.

Editing the boot sequence

When you turn on your computer press the key associated with "setup" on the first splash screen you get — usually Del or F2. Now navigate through the BIOS settings and try to find a menu called "Boot sequence" or something similar.

In this menu you can change the boot sequence, make sure your hard drive is on top. Save, exit and reboot. If this worked for you, then you don not need to perform the other step.

For more information on changing the boot sequence, check out this About.com guide.

Updating the BIOS

It could be that your problems are caused by old firmware on your motherboard. In order to determine if this might fix the problem you are having we first need to find out the current version of the installed BIOS firmware.

Hit Windows + R, type msinfo32 and press enter. Look under "Processor" and make a note of the installed BIOS version. Now check your manufacturers website for BIOS updates, if there are none, your story ends here.

If there is a patch available, first RTFM and follow any instruction to install the patch.

For more information on updating the BIOS, check out this PC World article.