Have you ever encountered the “Invalid system disk. Replace the disk, and press any key” error message when you try to boot into Windows? A large number of users have encountered this matter according to a survey. How can you solve this issue? Is it possible to fix the invalid system disk error in Windows 10/8/7 without losing data?
To fix this error message more specifically, you may need to know the common causes of it.
Main Reasons for the Error – Invalid System Disk
The “invalid system disk replace the disk and press any key” error message can appear due to a variety of reasons. Here, we list 4 main reasons for it.
1. The boot disk is corrupted.
This is the most common reason for the invalid system disk error. You will receive the error message in Windows 10/8/7 if the bootable disk gets corrupted somehow. So, it is recommended to check whether the boot disk is about to die if it has been used for a long time.
2. The boot order is false.
If you have several disks in your computer and the internal disk is not set as the first boot disk, then you tend to receive such errors. Therefore, you need to check whether you have set the right disk for the computer boot.
3. Your computer is attacked by viruses.
The virus can lead to a mass of troubles. If a virus attacks your computer successfully, it will change or destroy the process of the computer booting entirely, and then you will see the invalid system disk error message.
4. The boot record of the system drive is corrupted.
If the boot record of the system drive is corrupted, you are likely to receive an error message saying “invalid system disk”.
After knowing the common causes, you may want to know how to fix the invalid system disk.
Recover Data Before Fixing Invalid System Disk Error in Windows 10
It is recommended to recover lost data first of all if you have any important files stored on the PC’s hard drive to prevent data loss from happening while you are trying to troubleshoot the invalid system disk error.
Now, you might be wondering:
“How to recover data when the PC won’t boot?“
MiniTool Power Data Recovery, the best file recovery software, is the wisest choice for you.
This professional data restore tool offers wizard-like interfaces as well as easy operations to help you recover data without any difficulty. More importantly, it is a read-only tool. Thus, you can use it to recover lost data without affecting the original data.
Here, as you cannot boot the Windows due to the “invalid system disk replace the disk and press any key ” error message, you need to use a registered edition to carry out data recovery. Because only full editions can help build a bootable data recovery tool, and here we take MiniTool Power Data Recovery Personal Ultimate for example.
Step 1. On a working computer, get MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free installed. Then you are able to upgrade it to a Personal Ultimate edition which provides the ability to make a bootable data recovery disk.
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Step 2. Launch the registered MiniTool Power Data Recovery, and then click on the Bootable Media icon of the main interface to create a bootable CD, DVD, or USB flash drive.
Step 3. When finished, boot your Windows from the bootable drive and click MiniTool Power Data Recovery to launch it.
Step 4. Now, you’ve come to the main interface of MiniTool Power Data Recovery, and you can see 2 different data recovery modules:
- Logical Drives: This data recovery module shows all partitions on your computer, including partitions on the internal disks, external disks, and removable disks. Unallocated space and lost partitions are included as well.
- Devices: This module shows you all devices on your PC, including external hard drives, USB flash drives, and CDs/DVDs.
In this window, you need to select the target hard drive and click the Scan button to scan for desired data.
While scanning, you can preview the found files. Once you find the needed files, you can pause or stop the scanning process. However, to get the best recovery result, you had better wait until the full scan finishes.
Step 5. After scanning, this data restore tool will list all found data. At this time, you can select all needed files, and then click the Save button to store them.
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With data safely transferred, now you can start to fix the invalid system disk error.
How to Fix Invalid System Disk Error in Windows 10/8/7
As said before, it is a common problem that you cannot boot your computer because of the invalid system disk error. Here, this post offers several feasible ways to help you solve it in Windows 10/8/7.
Solution 1. Set the Bootable Disk as the First Boot Disk
If you set an unavailable disk as the first boot disk, you will receive the invalid system disk error message. Therefore, you need to set the correct bootable disk as the first boot device to fix the invalid disk system error in Windows 10/8/7.
If you want to boot from the internal hard disk with Windows installed, you can unplug any USB flash drives, external hard drives, CDs, or floppy disks from your computer. If you want to boot from a removable disk, you have to make sure it is bootable and is set as the first boot disk.
Now, you can try the following steps to change the boot order.
Step 1. Start the computer and go to BIOS setup.
Step 2. Use the arrow keys to select the BOOT tab.
Step 3. Move the boot disk to the first position in the list.
Step 4. Save the changes according to the prompts on your screen and exit BIOS.
Step 5. Start the computer with the new boot order.
Solution 2. Check and Repair Disk Errors
If you still receive the invalid system disk error in Windows 10 after changing the boot order, you can check and repair disk errors because disk corruptions can also result in this problem. However, how to do that?
MiniTool Partition Wizard, a professional and easy-to-use partition management tool, is recommended here. With this powerful tool, you can easily and quickly complete this task – check and fix disk errors without any difficulty.
Download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard on a functional computer. It is recommended to choose MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro because the bootable media builder is only embedded in MiniTool Partition Wizard paid editions.
MiniTool Partition Wizard DemoClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard, and then select the icon located in the upper right corner to create a bootable CD or flash drive.
Step 2. Connect the burned MiniTool bootable disk to your PC that reports the invalid system disk error, and then boot from it.
Step 3. Then, you will see the following interface where you can select “MiniTool Partition Wizard” to go to the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard.
Step 4. Select the target partition, and scroll down to choose “Check File System” from the left panel as shown below.
Step 5. You will see a new window with two options: Check only and Check & fix detected errors. If you only want to check for errors, you need to select Check only; if you want to repair errors during the checking process, select Check & fix detected errors. After that, click the “Start” button.
Tip: This operation will not be added to pending operations. Once you click "Start", MiniTool Partition Wizard will check/fix the file system immediately.
Solution 3. Repair Master Boot Record
Master Boot Record is a boot sector at the very beginning of the computer’s hard drive and records the information of all partitions. Corrupted MBR is a common reason for the appearance of the “invalid system disk” error. Now, try using MiniTool Partition Wizard to rebuild MBR to exclude this factor.
Step 1. Create a bootable disk and boot your Windows from it, and then get the main window of MiniTool Partition Wizard by referring to the steps in Solution 2.
Step 2. Select the system disk and scroll down to click on “Rebuild MBR” from the left panel.
Step 3. At last, click the “Apply” button on the lower left corner to apply all the changes.
After that, you can restart your PC. If you still get the “Invalid system disk. Replace the disk, and press any key” error, please refer to the following method.
Solution 4. Perform an Automatic Repair
Some users reported that performing the Automatic Repair or Startup Repair can remove the “Invalid system disk. Replace the disk, and press any key” error.
Here are the steps to make Startup Repair work.
- Create a Windows installation media and insert it into your computer, then boot from it.
- Select your language preferences, and click on the Next button.
- Click on Repair your computer.
- Click on Troubleshoot > Advanced options, and select Startup Repair.
Solution 5. Reinstall Operating System
According to the Internet, the invalid system disk error message may be caused by a damaged operating system. In this case, reinstalling the operating system may be the best choice for you to make your hard disk bootable again.
Solution 6. Replace the Hard Drive
If none of the methods above helps, you may encounter a hard drive failure issue, and you have to replace a hard drive and reinstall Windows to fix the invalid system disk error in Windows 10/8/7.
Bottom Line
At the end of the post, I want to stress again that you had better recover data from the PC with the invalid system disk error first to avoid data loss in the process of troubleshooting the problem.
Hope these solutions listed above are beneficial to you. If you solved the invalid system disk problem by using another method, welcome to share it with us in the following comment area, thanks.
If you have any questions about using MiniTool software, please feel free to contact us via [email protected]. We will solve it as soon as possible.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Shirley graduated from English major and is currently an editor of MiniTool Team. She likes browsing and writing IT-related articles, and is committed to becoming a professional IT problem solver. The topic of her articles are generally about data recovery, data backup, and computer disk management, as well as other IT issues. In spare time, she likes watching movies, hiking and fishing.