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WinLoad.efi missing or contains errors, even after recovery attempts.

Anonymous
2023-03-13T01:03:23+00:00

Hello. I have a problem.

Earlier today, my Windows 11 computer ran into an error while I was asleep at my keyboard (I have sleeping troubles), and rebooted without giving me the chance to see what the error was. When I woke up, I found myself looking at a screen saying that \Windows\System32\winload.efi was missing or contained errors. I have spent the past two hours following multiple guides on the Internet, including other forum posts on this very website, to no avail.

I have tried the following solutions:

  1. sfc /scannow from the recovery environment, using the existing Windows 11 installation as the offline source. This reported no(!) errors.
  2. chkdsk from the recovery environment, targeting the existing Windows 11 drive. This reported no(!) errors.
  3. Using System Restore to restore the device to a previous state. This did not work.
  4. Unprotecting and deleting the boot configuration data file, and then using bootrec/bcdboot to rebuild the boot configuration. This did not work.
  5. Manually copying the winload.efi file from the recovery environment to the Windows 11 installation. This did not work.
  6. Manually copying the winload.efi file from another Windows 11 installation to mine. This did not work.

I am at a loss on what to do. I do not want to reinstall Windows 11 from installation media, as this will wipe my applications. There is no option to keep applications unless you are executing the installer from an existing Windows installation, not from an external device. I do not have access to some of the installers for these applications any longer, and so do not want to lose them.

I do not believe that the Windows Bootloader is searching on the correct drive. I am able to access the drive successfully from the recovery environment, which suggests that it is not corrupt. The boot configuration created by bcdboot says that it is using device partition E: as the Windows volume, and partition Z: as the boot manager volume, which matches the output from diskpart below.

When I am in the recovery environment, this is my disk list as reported by DiskPart. The line in italics is my boot drive:

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
Disk 0 Online 232 GB 1024 KB Y
Disk 1 Online 3726 GB 1024 KB Y
Disk 2 Online 953 GB 2048 KB Y
Disk 3 Online 28 GB 0 B Y
Disk 4 Online 3725 GB 0 B Y

This is my volume list as reported by DiskPart:

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
Volume 0 C Games NTFS Partition 232 GB Healthy
Volume 1 D Data NTFS Partition 3726 GB Healthy
Volume 2 E Windows NTFS Partition 952 GB Healthy
Volume 3 NTFS Partition 545 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 4 Z SYSTEM FAT32 Partition 100 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 5 NTFS Partition 747 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 6 F WIN11 NTFS Removable 28 GB Healthy WinRE
Volume 7 G UEFI_NTFS NTFS Removable 1024 KB Healthy WinRE
Volume 8 H {REDACTED} NTFS Partition 3725 GB Healthy External HDD

After deleting the existing boot configuration and using bcdboot to rebuild the boot configuration using volume E as my Windows volume, and volume Z as my EFI volume, my boot configuration is as follows:

Windows Boot Manager
identifier {bootmgr}
device partition=Z:
path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
description Windows Boot Manager
locale en-gb
inherit {globalsettings}
default {default}
resumeobject {64e2f296-c137-11ed-b138-aff6e03d4286}
displayorder {default}
toolsdisplayorder {memdiag}
timeout 30
Windows Boot Loader
identifier {default}
device partition=E:
path \Windows\system32\winload.efi
description Windows 11
locale en-gb
inherit {bootloadersettings}
isolatedcontext Yes
allowedinmemorysettings 0x15000075
osdevice partition=E:
systemroot \Windows
resumeobject {64e2f296-c137-11ed-b138-aff6e03d4286}
nx OptIn
bootmenupolicy Standard

I hope this is enough for someone to assist me.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-03-14T04:30:34+00:00

    You can try deleting the old corrupted EFI System partition before doing the rescue install so it creates a new one.

    If the Windows installer will not delete old EFI System outright during install then use EISA command from the Command Prompt at boot accessed on second installer screen > Repair Your Computer > Advanced Troubleshoot Options > Command Prompt:

    https://techjourney.net/delete-and-remove-prote...

    It will NOT user the old EFI System space during install but create a new one at the left end of the new isntall space you shrink. So you may want to shrink C from the left to create it so the new EFI system doesn't end up between old C and new C and block resizing later (although I can help you move it later if necessary).

    Keep me posted on your progress as I will be here to help until the case is resolved.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-03-14T10:02:30+00:00

    The question is which Recovery partition is the active one now for C. Since it created a new EFI System it is probably the new Recovery, but you can save both to be sure by deleting the rescue partition which I'm assuming is F, then using free Partition Wizard Extend feature from C to Extend into all of the Unallocated Space resulting from F. This should move the first recovery partition over next to the new EFI System and in between the two Recovery's will then be C.
    How to extend partition easily with Partition Wizard - video help

    If that doesn't work you can delete the first Recovery partition, Extend or Resize C to the left into Unallocated Space from F. If the remaining Recovery will not trigger WinRE as shown here: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/boot-to-advanced-... then repair or replace Recovery following:

    https://katystech.blog/2021/07/fixing-a-broken-...

    https://www.ubackup.com/windows-11/create-recov...

    To remove any remaining Dual Boot menu go into msconfig > Boot to see if it's obvious which one to delete. If not rather than take a risk, install EasyBCD to Edit Boot menu to remove the old install's listing:

    http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/EBCD/EasyBCD+B...

    https://neosmart.net/Download/Register (no email or registration required)

    Let me know if you have any questions or I can help performing any of the above steps. If you'll post back detailed results on each step in each tutorial, it will help me determine what else needs to be tried.

    ____________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-03-15T07:43:37+00:00

    Yes, you can do that based on the Reagent analysis.

    There's some small risk you'd have to rebuild or repair EFI System if you move it over into the 1st Recovery partition space. Since it's only 545mb and not in the way, you might want to leave it; later if you get flagged for too small EFI System during Version Upgrade you could delete and add it to that.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-03-14T20:39:03+00:00

    I'm glad to hear your recovered Windows install is able to have some corruption repaired, and hope that will suffice. If not you may need to run a Repair Install, generally rule of thumb if SFC cannot repair broken System files after three separate attempts, but also therapeutic in it's own right as well as the most stable method to change to new versions.

    Here is a good article on how to detect the old unused Recovery partitions:

    https://www.ghacks.net/2020/07/13/microsoft-app...

    When you recovered the rescue partition, did it move the new Recovery partition over to left next to EFI System? Does it still trigger WinRE repair mode?

    ____________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-03-13T01:58:16+00:00

    Hello, I'm Greg, here to help you with this.

    1. My compliments on your thoroughness, you've done almost everything for fixing missing Winload.efi in Windows 11, which is also covered here:

    Winload.efi error on Windows 11: How to fix it - Android Gram

    Winload.efi Error on Windows 11: How to Fix it if it's Missing

    Fix Winload.efi file missing error on Windows 11/10

    Winload.efi error on Windows 10/11 | DiskInternals

    1. Try rebuilding the BCD as explained here:
      https://www.thewindowsclub.com/rebuild-bcd-wind...
      (Avoid ad links which intrude into editorial copy, especially DO NOT INSTALL Restoro, PC Repair Tool and Reimage ads)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmttpjBSUTE

    1. If this doesn't not work you can rebuild BCD from scratch:
      https://www.onmsft.com/how-to/how-to-rebuild-wi...
    2. If nothing else works you can also try this Rescue Install to recreate EFI System or System Reserved partition that sometimes works:

    Use a bootable Partition manager to shrink C by around 50gb following https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager-guide/... (Please post a picture of the partition drive map and listings as I might be able to spot problems from this picture)

    Install Windows 10 from bootable media to the shrink space, ignoring warning that the partitions are out of order: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki...

    This will create a new EFI System which will configure a Dual Boot Menu with your old install that may start if it is not too corrupted. If so you can from the old install delete the rescue install partition and Extend C back over it and it's fixed. Remove the second boot listing from msconfig > Boot or using free EasyBCD.

    If not gradually move into the new install, copy your files over from the old one, when ready I'll help you remove the old one and recover it's disk space into the new C. Any software maker who doesn't make reinstalling their free or purchased software easy will not stay in business long.

    Let me know if you have any questions or I can help performing any of the above steps. Based on the results you post back I will have other steps to try if necessary.

    ____________________________________________

    Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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