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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.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Anonymous
    2023-03-14T09:21:23+00:00

    This has given me a working Windows installation. I was then able to add the details of my old Windows installation to the new bootloader and boot into Windows.

    I assume now that the final step is to remove the new installation and extend the old installation back over it?

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-03-14T05:02:07+00:00

    Yes, it will be recreated.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-03-14T04:59:43+00:00

    Should I delete the Microsoft Reserved Partition as well?

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-03-14T04:10:24+00:00

    Hello there, Greg. First, I'd like to apologise for the late response. I fell back asleep shortly before you posted, and I only recently saw it.

    Rebuilding the Boot Configuration Data has led to no results, whether via bootrec or via bcdboot. Unfortunately, I believe the bootloader itself is corrupt, but executing bootrec /FixBoot from the recovery environment just gives me an error message saying Access Is Denied. Following instructions online that purport to fix this access denied error, gives no results.

    I have attempted to perform another installation of Windows alongside my current one, as you have suggested. I took a photograph of my partition list prior to the creation of the new Windows installation, but I am unable to upload it to the Microsoft Community Forum due to an unknown reason. I have instead uploaded it to Imgur.com, where it can be accessed via this URL.

    The photograph is of a gentoo live USB, as attempting to launch gparted as a bootable program simply caused it to hang with no errors.

    The attempt failed. Even when trying to boot to the new Windows installation, I get the same error as above, saying that \Windows\System32\winboot.efi is missing or contains errors. It is due to this reason that I believe my bootloader is itself corrupt. Is there a way to reinstall the bootloader in full without having to reinstall Windows?

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