A desktop PC had its failed 3.5-inch hard drive replaced with a 2.5-inch SATA SSD, and a sector-by-sector image of Windows 10 was restored to the new drive. On the first power-up the system finishes POST, then displays "Bootable device not found-please insert boot media." UEFI setup lists the SSD as the only installed drive and reports it as healthy. Which troubleshooting step should be performed first to restore normal boot operation?
Replace the SATA data cable connected to the SSD
Change the UEFI/BIOS boot sequence so the SSD is first in the list
Boot to Windows Recovery and run bootrec /fixmbr and /fixboot
Reinstall Windows 10 from original installation media
Because the firmware can see the SSD, the data and power connections are working and the drive itself is functional. The most common reason the system still cannot boot is that the firmware is trying to start from another device (such as a network adapter or optical drive) before the new SSD. Placing the SSD at the top of the UEFI/BIOS boot sequence allows the system to locate a valid bootloader without further hardware changes. Replacing cables is unnecessary when the drive is already detected, reinstalling Windows re-images the drive instead of correcting the boot order, and running bootrec commands is appropriate only after the firmware is pointed to the correct disk but still cannot locate boot files.
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What is UEFI/BIOS boot sequence?
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Why is changing the SATA data cable not the correct first step?
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When is it appropriate to use bootrec /fixmbr and bootrec /fixboot?