what do I do if when I factory reset my computer it delete the file /Windows/system32/winload.efi

Question

what do I do if when I factory reset my computer it delete the file /Windows/system32/winload.efi

Answer 1

If the file /Windows/system32/winload.efi is deleted during a factory reset, your system may fail to boot properly. Here are steps you can take to resolve the issue:

1. Use Windows Recovery Environment: Boot your computer using a Windows installation media (USB or DVD). Select the option to repair your computer.
2. Command Prompt: Once in the recovery environment, navigate to the Command Prompt option. You can try to restore the missing file using the following commands:
   • bootrec /fixmbr
   • bootrec /fixboot
   • bootrec /scanos
   • bootrec /rebuildbcd
3. Restore from Backup: If you have a backup of your system, consider restoring it to recover the missing file.
4. Reinstall Windows: If the above steps do not work, you may need to perform a clean installation of Windows, which will replace the missing files.

Always ensure to back up your important files before performing any recovery or installation processes to avoid data loss.

Answer 2

Hi,

If you’re running into the winload.efi error and you can still get to Command Prompt through the Windows Recovery Environment with a bootable USB, there are a few things you can try.

Pop open Command Prompt from your USB stick. Start with diskpart to figure out which drive letter Windows is actually using, sometimes it’s not what you expect. Once you’ve got that, run SFC with the correct offline paths to check for missing or corrupt files. Next, try CHKDSK to hunt down and fix any disk errors.

Still stuck? Reboot and head into your BIOS or UEFI settings. Turn off Secure Boot temporarily, it’s helped people get past this error before.

If nothing’s working, you can copy a good winload.efi file from another PC running the same version of Windows. You’ll need to use diskpart again to assign a drive letter to your EFI partition, then copy the file into the EFI\Microsoft\Boot folder.

If you have question you can leave a comment. Hope this helps.

Thank you.