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When you try to turn on your computer, you may see Start PXE over IPv4 because your system is trying to boot from PXE. So, your computer is trying to boot over the IPv4 network, which is why you are seeing this error message. In this article, we’ll show you some easy ways to fix Start PXE over IPv4 in Windows 11/10.
PXE has its own benefits, but it can also be the cause of a common problem in which “Start PXE over IPv4” appears on the screen when the system won’t start. It’s not a big deal, and there are usually easy ways to fix it. Before we talk about the most common solutions, it’s important to understand what PXE, booting, and BIOS are. This will help us figure out how they all fit together and how they relate to the way a computer works.
Start PXE over IPv4 On PC
Check Your Boot Priority
- Restart your computer.
- Enter BIOS settings.
- Go to the Boot tab.
Here, you’ll see your devices listed in order of their boot priority. Your computer first chooses to start up using the first device on the list, that is, the one with the highest priority. - Move your disk drives (HDD, SSD, etc.) to the top of this list.
The appropriate key combination to do so is shown in a column to the right of the screen. - Press F10 to save your changes and exit the BIOS.
Disable Wake On LAN
- Restart your computer.
- Enter BIOS settings.
- Now, depending on your motherboard’s manufacturer, the Wake On LAN option can be accessed from various sections of the BIOS setup.
However, for most motherboards, it’s usually under Power or Advanced. - Once you reach the designated place, click on Wake On LAN or Boot to LAN and set it to be Disabled.
Disable the Secure Boot Option
- Restart your computer.
- Enter BIOS settings.
- Go to the Boot tab.
- Click on Secure Boot and set it as Disabled.
- While you’re here, Disable the CSM Support as well.
- Press F10 to save your changes and exit the BIOS.
Update BIOS
If all of the above steps don’t help, it’s likely that the BIOS is out of date. Some problems with compatibility and starting up can be caused by BIOS that is out of date. Also, any bugs or glitches that kept the previous build from working as well as it could can be fixed by an update.
How does PXE work?
PXE boot is usually started by the BIOS itself. Both the client and the server must meet a few requirements for PXE to work: The client’s UEFI interface or NIC firmware must support PXE. What does that even mean?
UEFI stands for “Unified Extensible Firmware Interface.” It is an alternative to the BIOS (basic input/output system). It is a way for the Operating System and the firmware on the platform to talk to each other.
UEFI does the same thing as BIOS, but it works better and has more improvements. Network Interface Card is what NIC stands for. This is a piece of hardware that your computer has, like a chip or a circuit board. NIC makes sure that each computer has its own internet connection, either through Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
FAQ
While starting up your system over a network, you may see this error message “Start PXE over IPv4” has appeared on the black screen, completely stalling the boot process. This issue is a simple case of boot misconfiguration. You just have to reconfigure it correctly and Windows shall start to boot up normally.
Test whether the device can start when it’s plugged into a switch on the same subnet as the PXE-enabled DP. If it can, the issue likely involves the router configuration. Make sure that the DHCP (67 and 68), TFTP (69), and BINL (4011) ports are open between the client computer, the DHCP server, and the PXE DP.
Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) errors occur when the system BIOS cannot boot to the system’s hard disk drive or a network boot environment. The following examples are some of the most common PXE error messages you might encounter: PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable.