Fix "Start PXE over IPv4" / "Checking Media Presence" Boot Loop

The fast answer. "Checking Media Presence… Media Present… Start PXE over IPv4" means the firmware exhausted every local boot option and fell through to network boot. The machine is trying to load an OS from a PXE server on your LAN — which doesn't exist in a normal setup. Enter BIOS/UEFI setup and move the internal drive (or Windows Boot Manager) to position one in the boot priority list, then disable PXE / network boot. If the internal drive doesn't appear in BIOS at all, power off and reseat its SATA or M.2 connection.

Why this happens

Boot order misconfigured — network/PXE boot is ranked above the internal drive. This is the most common cause, especially after a BIOS update, CMOS reset, or new drive installation.
Internal drive not detected — a loose SATA data or power cable, an unseated M.2 module, a disabled controller port, or a physically failing drive. If BIOS can't see the drive, it skips straight to PXE.
Corrupted boot records — damaged BCD, MBR, or EFI boot files. The drive is visible in BIOS but contains no valid bootloader, so the firmware falls through to PXE.
UEFI/Legacy mode mismatch — a GPT disk is invisible in Legacy/CSM mode and an MBR disk is invisible in pure UEFI mode. A BIOS reset or update can flip the mode silently.
Dead CMOS battery — the battery (usually CR2032) that keeps BIOS settings alive has died, so the boot order, date, and mode revert to factory defaults on every power cycle — and those defaults often include network boot.

Step-by-step fix

Step 1 — Enter BIOS/UEFI and correct the boot order

Power on and press the BIOS setup key immediately — F2 on most Dell, Acer, and ASUS machines; Del on many desktops; F10 on HP; F1 on Lenovo ThinkPads, F2 or Fn+F2 on Lenovo IdeaPad/Legion. Navigate to the Boot tab (or Boot Priority / Boot Sequence) and move your internal drive or Windows Boot Manager to position one. Push any Network Boot, PXE, or IPv4/IPv6 Network entries to the bottom. Save with F10 and reboot.

Step 2 — Disable PXE / network boot

While still in BIOS setup, look for a setting labeled Network Boot, PXE Boot, UEFI Network Stack, or Boot from LAN (the exact name varies by vendor). Disable it. On Dell systems this is often under System Configuration → Integrated NIC — set it to Enabled (without PXE) rather than Enabled w/PXE. Also disable Wake-on-LAN if you don't use it — it can re-enable network boot on some firmware. Save and reboot.

Step 3 — Confirm the drive is detected in BIOS

In BIOS setup, open the Storage, Main, or System Information screen and check whether the internal drive appears. If it's missing: power off, unplug from the wall, and reseat the SATA data and power cables (or press the M.2 module firmly into its slot and retighten the screw). Check that the SATA port isn't disabled in BIOS. If the drive still doesn't appear after reseating, the hardware has likely failed — run the manufacturer's built-in diagnostics (often F12 on Dell, Esc on HP) and plan on data recovery before replacing the drive. None of the commands below can repair a drive the firmware cannot see.

Step 4 — Match the BIOS mode to the disk's partition style

If the drive is detected but the firmware still can't find a bootloader, the BIOS mode may not match the disk layout. Boot a Windows 10/11 install USB and press Shift+F10 at the first setup screen to open Command Prompt:

diskpart
list disk
exit

An asterisk (*) in the Gpt column means the disk is GPT — the firmware must be set to UEFI mode (Legacy/CSM off). No asterisk means MBR, which needs Legacy/CSM mode. Change the setting in BIOS setup, save, and reboot. Don't rebuild boot records until the mode matches the disk.

Step 5 — Rebuild the boot records from WinRE

If the drive is detected and the mode is correct but Windows still won't boot, the boot files themselves are damaged. From the Windows install USB, choose Repair your computer → Troubleshoot → Command Prompt and run:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

When bootrec /rebuildbcd finds a Windows installation, type Y to add it. Reboot and test.

UEFI/GPT note: On UEFI systems bootrec /fixboot often returns "Access is denied". Rebuild the EFI boot files with bcdboot instead. First assign a drive letter to the EFI System Partition (a small FAT32 volume, typically 100–500 MB). Confirm all volume letters in WinRE — the Windows drive is often not C: inside the recovery environment:

diskpart
list vol
sel vol <EFI-FAT32-vol#>
assign letter=S
exit
bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

You should see "Boot files successfully created." Reboot and test.

Step 6 — Check disk health

If the error persists or keeps returning, the drive may have file-system damage or failing sectors. In WinRE Command Prompt (replace C: with the Windows drive letter shown in the recovery environment):

chkdsk C: /f /r

A growing count of bad sectors or a drive that intermittently vanishes from BIOS means the hardware is failing. Back up immediately and replace the drive — no software repair holds on dying hardware.

Data safety: Steps 1–4 change only BIOS settings and don't touch data. Steps 5–6 write boot metadata and scan the file system. If the drive is physically failing or you have no backup, image the drive to a known-good external disk before running any repairs. Never run format, clean, or a reinstall to "get past" a PXE boot loop — those destroy data.

GRAM tip: The BIOS and boot-record fixes above run before Windows starts — no extra tools needed. Once the machine boots again, plug in GRAM — a free portable repair toolkit that runs from a USB inside Windows — to check the drive's SMART health, read the event log for prior hardware warnings, and let its AI agent confirm whether the root cause was boot order, a dying CMOS battery, or a failing disk so the error doesn't come back.

Download GRAM free See AI pricing →

FAQ

Can I fix this without a second working computer?

Usually yes. The most common cause — a wrong boot order — is fixed entirely inside BIOS/UEFI setup with no media at all. If the boot records are damaged and you need bootrec or bcdboot, you'll need a Windows 10/11 install USB to reach Command Prompt. Any existing install USB works; creating a new one requires a second working PC. (GRAM runs inside Windows rather than from boot media — use it once the machine boots to verify disk health and confirm the root cause.)

What do "Checking Media Presence" and "Media Present" mean?

"Checking Media Presence" means the UEFI firmware is probing a network adapter to see if it's connected. "Media Present" means an Ethernet cable is plugged in and the adapter detects link. The firmware then attempts PXE boot over IPv4 (and often IPv6 afterward). If no PXE server responds, you'll see a timeout like PXE-E18: Server response timeout. The whole sequence is normal network-boot behavior — the problem is that the firmware is trying it at all, which means it couldn't find a bootable local drive first.

Will any of these steps erase my files?

No. Changing the boot order and disabling PXE are BIOS settings that don't touch the drive. bootrec and bcdboot write only boot-sector and BCD metadata. chkdsk /f /r repairs the file system and may relocate damaged fragments to FOUND.000 folders, but it doesn't wipe data. If the data is irreplaceable and the drive is suspect, image it before running repairs.

Why does this keep coming back every time I reboot?

A boot-order fix that doesn't survive a reboot almost always means a dead CMOS battery. The coin-cell battery (CR2032 on most desktops and many laptops) that keeps BIOS settings alive has failed, so every power cycle reverts to factory defaults — which often enable network boot. Replace the battery (a few dollars at any electronics store), re-apply your BIOS settings, and save. If the settings then stick, the battery was the cause.