Dell Media Direct won’t Boot Windows – Maybe Bitlocker – Solution
I’m not sure why Dell can’t actually tell people this. However, if you find yourself stuck booting Dell MediaDirect, and don’t know how to fix it. Try this:
- Turn off your computer
- Hit the button shaped like a home (the Dell MediaDirect button).
Seriously. When the power is off, the Dell MediaDirect button acts a toggle button to boot the other partition. Try to find that on Dell’s site, and well, I couldn’t find it with several good searches.Thanks to GigaMegaBlog.


about 2 years ago
wow… All I have to say is thanks man. I let my laptop be a brick for 2 weeks until I decided to work on it today and google what the hell dell media direct was and why it kept loading, failing, and when forcing safe mode only got blue screen of death upon start up.
about 2 years ago
Omg….thanx soooooooooool much….I was having a panic attack because I thought my parents were ganna kill me. ( I thought I broke the computer ) ……it was gud they didn’t find out though…lolz
about 2 years ago
Same here. Thank you so much for posting this. I thought I had a virus or something! You are awesome!!!!
about 2 years ago
just WOW !!
about 1 year ago
U DA BOMB, MAN!
about 1 year ago
Who Knew? Brilliant. You saved another one.
about 1 year ago
you are my hero! I was about to lose it with this d…. DellMediaDirect starting every time I boot. People like you make the internet what it is! I am sending loads of good karma in your direction and appreciate this post more than you can ever imagine
about 1 year ago
I remember my boss feeling exactly the same way about his dell when he brought it in. FYI – Your karma must of worked. I just beat out maybe 20 people for a nice house in California.
about 1 year ago
Thanks soooooooooo much – this saved my computer’s life!!!
about 1 year ago
Thank you so much. Yep 5 year old hit the ‘House’ button on my work laptop… thought I was going to have to dispose of both the child and laptop
Thanks to the wonders of technology I was able to google your solution from my phone, thanks for unruining my day
about 1 year ago
That’s pretty awesome. I was just wondering what I did before I had my phone when I went to help out a friend with a dead computer. I think I must have brought my own. Now we just bring the phone with internet.
–Ben
about 1 year ago
THANK YOU!!!!!!
about 1 year ago
You are the bomb indeed.
about 1 year ago
Thanks a ton…. really appreciate it
about 1 year ago
You are my hero!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!
about 1 year ago
Wow. Glad it helped. I like being a hero for a second or two!
about 1 year ago
This was just the ticket for me to cipher out a Dell that gave me a no OS load condition. Thank you for your information!!!
about 1 year ago
Good to hear. I’m glad its been useful to as many people as it has. I felt so dumb when I found out how to fix it. Its nice to have smart company!
about 1 year ago
Cheer!
Its unbelievable. A very easy solution to a harsh problem.
Loads of thanks.
about 1 year ago
You’re welcome. We’re in good company with the number of people that have and still visit this post.
about 1 year ago
That simple! Thank you very much!!
about 1 year ago
Thank you very much. My wife is happy and I did not have to pay for a repair..Thanks again.
about 1 year ago
Thank you very much. It was so easy, my wife is happy and I did not have to pay for a repair.
Dan
about 1 year ago
I know if my wife’s not happy, nobody’s happy. Glad you’re both happy.
–Ben
about 1 year ago
hi
thanks a lot for the solution. My power button doesnt work and i started using DMR now.do i need to change the power button?or can i continue to use the media direct button? your suggestion would be very much appreciated,
thanks
john
about 1 year ago
Not sure I got the question. But if your power button is toast, and you’ve got soldering skills, you can probably swap the DMD button for the Power button.
–Ben
about 1 year ago
Thank you so much for your help! I’ve just get stuck for hours today, trying to solve this problem. Really appreciated! Best regards!
about 1 year ago
You’re in good company. Look at the number of comments on this post. Glad to help!
–Ben
about 1 year ago
I tried your solution but now it says “loading PBR for descriptor 2….done” and it won’t do anything else! Any suggestions?
about 1 year ago
I haven’t encountered that one, yet. Sorry. Still sounds like its trying to boot Media Direct. You might try using a Linux Live CD to see if you windows partition is still there. Good Luck!
–Ben
about 1 year ago
Without a doubt you were my savior this morning. I was tracking down my reinstall cd, ready to murder those folks at Dell when I had this happen at 6am. I popped in another OS on a flash drive to grab files when I googled this problem one more time and found you.
Thank you so much for sharing this. Yours was the ONLY site that shared this super easy information. I can’t believe all that I was ready to do when all I needed to do was press that button. Crazy!
Again major thanks!
about 1 year ago
thank you! glad my computer works again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
about 1 year ago
When I pressed the Power button, the computer run with http://www.DELL.com showed and the screen was blue. A few second later, message was shown following (in red):
Welcome to
Dell MediaDirect
Building your Dell MediaDirect Files
The first time you initiate your Dell MediaDirect, it takes time to set up your Dell MediaDirect Files. After the initial use, Dell MediaDirect starts up much more quickly.
Another a fewer seconds later, The screen showed the following message:
Dell MediaDirect
Dell MediaDirect Express cannot access your hard drive. This may be because you had enabled Microsoft Bitlocker (Drive Encryption). Dell MediaDirect Express is not accessible because Microsoft Bitlocker is enabled.
And there is an Exit was shown at the right-bottom of the screen. I clicked on the Exit, then the laptop was shut down. Nevertheless, I restarted the computer , same problems were shown again so what I did was shut the computer and just pressed this little button shaped like a home/house LOVE IT! brought everything back to normal! thanks soooooo much!
about 1 year ago
Oh goody!
Thanks to you I didn’t have to pull all my hair out. Dell is getting more and more invasive with their bloatware. Shame on them.
about 1 year ago
thanks!!! THIS WORKS PERFECTLY!
about 1 year ago
Well this post has been here since 2009 and is still helping people I let my computer sit as a brick for 2 weeks. Did not know it was so easy. Thank you very much.
about 1 year ago
You’re not alone, and I think in good company.
–Ben
about 10 months ago
Hi
I tried the solution that u posted and did not work for me could u please help me with this
about 1 year ago
You are now my angel and hero, too!
Thanks, Ben.
Arlene
about 1 year ago
No problem. Glad it helped!
about 1 year ago
Wow!
Thanks. You saved me a lot of work.
about 1 year ago
Gracias!!!!
Excelente data!!!!
about 1 year ago
Thanks don’t know what I would have done without this info!!!!!!!!!
about 1 year ago
Adding my thanks for this info. You just about saved my 11 year old’s life. He’s got a bit of a rep as a laptop killer and when my husband couldn’t switch on his Dell he was in biiiiiiiig trouble. Cant believe it was such a simple solution – my husband had been trying all sorts of things for hours and getting crosser and crosser.
about 1 year ago
Thanks Ben – again can only reiterate the comments above. I’d upgraded my laptop to Windows 7 and it kept booting into dell media direct which then hung (I assume it’s not compatible with Windows 7). Tried booting from the BIOS – everything until I came across this thread. God only knows what Dell were thinking with this “feature”. It’s so unintuitive – pressing a button that works when the machine is off that basically kills Windows. If they insisted on having this to sell more Dell laptops (???) then it should have been a slider like the wireless on/off thingy. I’ve never been so glad to hear the familiar Windows greeting… all thanks to you…
about 1 year ago
Thank you so much!!!! I was trying to figure this out on my boss’s computer and even was on hold with Dell forever before I finally gave up and decided to research. You have saved my day!
about 1 year ago
Yup this post is still useful!!
Thanks for explaining this. I had one laptop that was blue screening. I noticed the MediaDirect logo just before the blue screen so I pushed the Media Direct button and rebooted back to Windows, but did not know what was going on. I had recently wiped all the Dell stuff of the hard drive and created one large partition with a new install of Windows. Now I know what was going on. Thanks,
about 1 year ago
I pressed the house button and it just kept going to the same window. So after several attemps I then used the regular start button and I was back in biz. So Thanks for your advice.
about 1 year ago
Cant thank you enough, stupid dell
about 1 year ago
I press the button and nothing same problem
about 1 year ago
thank u so much dude…
about 12 months ago
Three cheers for Ben. You made my week. I was near tears because this is my work computer and it contains a great deal of information. I called Dell and they said my warranty had already expired. Why doesn’t Dell have a quick fix for this on their forum? I guess I could have paid them, but they probably would have given me the same advice as the other websites—Re-install Dell Media Direct. I don’t even know what this is. Again, Thanks. This was so simple, I feel stupid!!!
about 11 months ago
Even Dell helpline couldn’t help us…thank you so much! You really are an angel!
about 10 months ago
Thanks so much. I was setting up to copy my files and reinstall. Now I’m back in business!
about 10 months ago
Wish this had worked for my computer – my 19 month old granddaughter somehow got the Dell Media Direct up that shows Microsoft BilLocker in enabled. Still cannot boot up.
about 10 months ago
Your solution worked perfectly–thanks so much! My dad ran into this problem, called Dell for assistance (don’t bother) and they wanted to charge him a technical fee. I found your site, the problem’s now fixed, and dad’s very happy!
about 10 months ago
WOW! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
about 10 months ago
When I hit the Button with the home on it, it turns on my computer, into dell media direct! It’s not working for me
about 10 months ago
OMG I feel so dumb. I almost wiped the thing and started over … Worked perfectly Thank you.
about 10 months ago
thanks, just saved me too.
about 10 months ago
If you were here, I would buy you a beer. If it isn’t already, good karma is coming your way. Thank-you very much.
about 9 months ago
Thanks Man….So obvious but nobody would think to do that!!!