Windows Boot Manager adding extra entries causing Windows 11 to not boot.

Question

Windows Boot Manager adding extra entries causing Windows 11 to not boot.

Anonymous

It seems that the Windows Boot Manager is getting extra entries created which is causing the systems not to boot. We follow these steps to fix the laptop:

Once in the recovery menu:

Hit the Troubleshoot option
Click Advanced Options (you may need to put in the bitlocker key)
Click Command Prompt
Type "bcdedit" then hit enter
DO NOT MESS WITH THE WINDOWS BOOT MANAGER (or bootmgr)
Look under the Boot Loader sections
I believe the original should have a path that looks like " \WINDOWS\system32\winload.efi " and the system root should just say " \WINDOWS "
I believe any copy should say " NEWOS" in it's path. The system root may also include " NEWOS " or something else other than just " \WINDOWS "
To delete the copies, type in " bcdedit /delete {IDENTIFIER} " then hit enter (you can do CTRL C/V for the identifier portion)
Repeat the previous step as necessary
Check that all copies are deleted by doing "bcdedit" and hit enter
If there's no more copies, restart the computer and see if you get to the login screen
If you exit CMD and it says "Continue to Windows Rollback" then the Rollback loader is probably causing issues. Go back to CMD under Recovery/Troubleshooting, type bcdedit, hit enter, and then look for the Windows Setup section. If the path mentions "SafeOS" or "NewOS," delete it using "bcdedit /delete" with the proper identifier.
IF you do get to the login screen, restart again but go to the BIOS and enable Secure Boot

Here is what we see when running BCDedit:

This seems to fix the issue for the individual devices, but we cannot figure out what is causing it. Any assistance would be appreciated.

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3 answers

Answer 1

Ramesh 176.2K Volunteer Moderator

Hi there,

I think it's caused by a failed 24H2 setup attempt. The 24H2 setup may have rolled back but failed to cleanup the BCD entries.

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Answer 2

The issue started in November but really spiked in Feb. From what I can gather, it originally was happening after Windows updates were done, but recently, it is happening weeks after the last update. I cannot find anything that changed. No driver updates, no software installs, nothing that is common among all of the computers.

I can find hundreds of posts online abut this happening, just none talking about the root cause. With this happening as much as it is, there has to be an underlying issue.

Answer 3

Hi Bryan King2.

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

When your computer starts, Windows Boot Manager will appear and the computer cannot start. According to your question, it seems that you have solved the problem, and you are curious about why this problem occurs.

The way you solved the problem was to delete the boot configuration data (BCD). Then it can be determined that your problem is that the boot configuration data is abnormal. There are many possible causes of this problem, such as the system abnormally shutting down the computer when performing core functions, forcibly shutting down the computer during Windows updates, and manually configuring incorrect information for BCD. In addition to these, sometimes the irregular installation of dual systems can also cause similar problems.

The specific cause requires more information, such as whether you made any changes to the computer before the problem occurred? Downloaded any high-authority software? Or did the computer shut down abnormally? I hope the above information will inspire you. If you want to continue discussing this issue, please share the operations you performed before the failure occurred in your reply.

Best Regards,

Raylan-MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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Windows Boot Manager adding extra entries causing Windows 11 to not boot.

3 answers