What should be checked if boot issues occur?

When troubleshooting boot issues, one of the first things to check is the boot order in UEFI/BIOS. The boot order dictates the sequence in which the system looks for devices to boot from, such as hard drives, SSDs, or USB drives. If the boot order is not set correctly, the computer may attempt to boot from a device that does not have an operating system installed, leading to failure in starting the system.

For instance, if you recently installed a new hard drive or changed the bootable device (like switching from a hard drive to a USB stick), ensuring the boot order correctly prioritizes the device with the operating system is crucial. Misconfigured boot order settings can lead to “No boot device found” errors or boot loops.

Other areas, like operating system software, user account settings, or peripheral device connections, certainly can impact system performance or functionality, but they are typically secondary considerations when the primary concern is the initial boot process. If the system can't even begin the boot sequence, the boot order is a fundamental aspect that must be validated first.