Fix: The Requested System Device Cannot be Found in Windows 11

Resolve boot errors by activating partitions

5 min. read

Published onAugust 13, 2024

published onAugust 13, 2024

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PC crashes happen all the time and during recovery, you may be prompted to boot it from an external device. During such situations,the requested system device cannot be founderror may appear.

Your MBR may have been corrupted hence causing this issue. A USB drive is usually used as a bootable drive butWindows is unable to detect it. This could be a malfunctioning hard drive, afaulty USB portor misconfigured BIOS settings. If left unresolved, yourPC may get stuck on the boot screen.

How do I fixthe requested system device cannot be founderror in Windows?

1. Run Startup repair

2. Repair MBR

3. Run the Chkdsk command

4. Activate the disk partition

Your system looks for an active partition to boot from and if it’s the wrong one or unavailable, there will be no boot files to load. An incorrect disk partition can make your hard drive undetectable andmake it hard for your system to find the specified drive.

5. Reinstall Windows 11

To restore your old files,use the Windows.old folder to restore your files. Remember there’s a time stamp on the validity of these files and they will be deleted automatically after 10 days.

Additional tips and preventative measures

Therequested system device cannot be founderror in Windows usually occurs because of hardware failures so ensure you perform regular hardware checks to keep it in tip-top shape. Also, avoid using incompatible partition styles and update your BIOS, OS and drivers regularly.

Keep an eye on your PC’s boot behaviour. If yourcomputer always boots to BIOS, check your connections and any other features that may be causing it.

That’s it from us but if you have any other compelling solution you think should be on our list, share it with us in the comments section below.

Fix: The Requested System Device Cannot be Found in Windows 11#

How do I fixthe requested system device cannot be founderror in Windows?#

1. Run Startup repair#

2. Repair MBR#

3. Run the Chkdsk command#

4. Activate the disk partition#

5. Reinstall Windows 11#

Additional tips and preventative measures#