Windows Boot Manager Error 0xc0000225: "The boot configuration data for your pc is missing or contains errors."

Question

I cannot boot into Windows.

I have created USB media to repair my installation.

Startup Repair was unable to repair the drive.

SFC will not run

I've been following the steps here but some seem a little extreme/confusing to me.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/advanced-troubleshooting-boot-problems

I believe I've reached the point where I need to attempt bcdboot fixes or replace bootmgr but I feel like there's information lacking on some of these commands, particularly concerning how I should be specifying which drives/volumes I should be running these commands on...?

I also took notice the System volume appears to be in RAW format according to diskpart... Which doesn't make sense to me but I know that for UEFI boot configurations, there are some formats Windows doesn't really deal with.

This is on a Dell Inspiron laptop.

Currently running chkdsk.

Answer 1

Hello, how are you?

Welcome to the Microsoft Community!

My name is Paloma B., I'm an independent advisor, I'm here to help you in the best possible way.

This is an open community, whenever you need you can share the problem so that possible repairs are suggested.

Could you give more information about the problem, please?

I understand that you had problems with your Windows, I'm really sorry to hear about that.

Please let me know if chkdsk brought any different behavior?

I believe that our only option is to perform a clean installation of Windows, as it appears to be corrupted and the fix tools are not repairing.

In this case I suggest you check the thread below to perform a clean installation.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki...

I await news.

If these procedures helped you in any way, please click on "I solved my problem" and also mark as an answer, so you can help others users.

We will always be available for whatever you need!

Answer 2

The problem is as stated in the subject title, the boot process fails at the boot manager and does not load windows.

chkdsk repaired some corruption but the issue is not resolved.

bootrec, bcdedit and bcdboot solutions give me issues aswell, though I have not yet tried bootsect or the bcdbackup steps yet.

Messages I get while attempting fixes:

"Failure when attempting to copy boot files."

"The boot configuration data store could not be opened. The system cannot find the file specified."

"The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted."

"Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service."

/rebuildbcd returns 1 identified Windows instllation: C:\found.000/dir0001.chk

But when adding it to the boot list, it returns: "The requested system device cannot be found."

chkdsk returns that the SYSTEM volume is FAT32, but it cannot read the boot sector.

In Diskpart, it is displayed as RAW file system.

I will run a reset/refresh before doing a clean installation, but I'm not at that point yet.

First I need clarification on the bcd commands, as I'm almost positive I'm specifying the wrong volumes/partitions, given that I'm supposed to be copying functioning bcd profiles, yet none of the instructions I've come across seem to be asking me to copy BCD from the installation media drive, which should contain the necessary files.

Just going to throw this in here too, following: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_10-performance/troubleshooting-windows-10-failure-to-start/bcf8503c-1b39-4827-9734-a64fef725d0f

/fixboot returns Access is denied.

The very first step in the "Rebuild BCD" guide fails, returning C:\found.000\dir0001.chk as my Windows Installation, and if I try to add it to the boot list, it says the system cannot find the path specified.

I can only assume this is because something is wrong with the files necessary for it to execute properly, or it isn't properly recognizing the Windows Installation.

However, I have yet to find instructions detailing how one should run those commands from bootmedia.

Some steps outlined include a bcdboot command, which requires a source location to be specified, but I have yet to see anyone mention any source to use besides C:\Windows, which assumes that C:\Windows is not corrupt.

In my case, I believe it is corrupt.

This is a UEFI/GPT system, so marking a partition as active does nothing.

I may potentially need to reformat the System partition, as mentioned here:

https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/124175-c-boot-missing.html?s=4772a46a2e47f601389e37041c4e657b#post1542558

I'm also looking at the "Nuclear Holocaust" instructions outlined here:

https://neosmart.net/wiki/recovering-windows-bootloader/

And something similar here:

https://neosmart.net/forums/threads/boot-trouble.767/#post-5687

Originally all of this was due to bad sectors on the disk. My attempt to fix the boot record eventually lead me to testdisk, which revealed quite a mess of invalid partitions, which lead me to using gddrescue to clone the contents and backup them up onto a better disk. The original issue is of course not solved, because of file corrupt from those bad sectors, which were mostly RIGHT at the beginning of the disk, ruining all the boot sectors.

That struggle is outlined here: https://forum.cgsecurity.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=10823

Answer 3

I've realized now that my C:\Windows\ folder is empty.

Instead, everything is in C:\found.000\dir0001.chk\

I'm not sure how that happened or why, but in my experience such directories exist as a result of disk repairs and recoveries.

If I run SFC using that directory for the /offwindir= folder, it returns "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.", which is a new error for me.

While my issue is not solved, my current piece of advice for someone going through something like this in the future is to start by opening diskpart from command prompt. Use "list volume" to see your volumes. "Select volume #" to select any volume without a letter assigned to it. "Assign letter=?" to make sure all volumes have a letter assigned to them.

Then run chkdsk /r on all of them.

If any of them have errors that are repaired, restart your system and run chkdsk /r on it again. Do this until it finds no errors.

Make sure you have no RAW partitions.

Now run bcdedit

The {bootmgr} device partition should be the one specified by the "/offbootdir=" option of SFC, while the {default} PATH should be used for "/offwindir="

You need to specify the path up until system32. In my case, I entered "/offwindir=C:\found.000\dir0001.chk" because my {default} path was C:\found.000\dir0001.chk\system32\winload.efi

In case you run into other complications, refer to

https://web.archive.org/web/20210110145900/https:/www.winhelp.us/repair-your-computer-in-windows-8.html

This should walk you through any corrupt boot configuration data issues.

If you are having difficulty entering the recovery environment, try repeatedly shutting down the computer while it is trying to boot into Windows, after POST.

Or boot from installation media, some things work better there, others in the native recovery partition.

If you reach the end of that guide and still haven't solved your issue, move on to the advanced troubleshooting I linked at the beginning:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/advanced-troubleshooting-boot-problems

I am still stuck at a black screen, with a cursor, after the splash screen+circling dots finish and SFC and Startup Repair fail, I cannot boot into Safe Mode. Bootrec /fixboot returns "access is denied."

I've seen some suggestions to format the EFI System Partition (ESP) which would be the FAT32 partition  where {bootmgr} is situated, your boot partition, and then rebuilding it with bcdboot windir /s bootdir ALL

Answer 4

It's hard to say exactly what did it, but my issue is resolved.

After having realized that all my Windows files were in the C:\found000\dir0001.chk\ directory, I renamed the Windows folder to Windows.old, renamed the dir0001.chk folder to Windows, and moved it to the C: Root.

From there, I was able to boot into Windows, though it wasn't a totally normal boot.

But I was able to login, open the task manage with ctrl+shift+esc (explorer didn't load at all), open an elevated cmd and ran "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth" and then "sfc /scannow" until no issues were detected.

For this I have to particularly thank Margus Saluste of WinHelp for pulling me through this 'til the end, and Christophe Grenier & "recuperation" of cgsecurity/testdisk for walking me through the use of their software.

Other tools/assets used:

Smartmontools

GNU-ddrescue

Debian boot disc

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