In this article we will learn how to repair Windows 10 / 8.1 /8 bootloader on a computer with UEFI. The corruption of the Windows bootloader can occur after the installation of the second OS (in Dual Boot configurations), be caused by the erroneous actions while failure recovering, removal of some data on hidden partitions, malicious software (virus, ransomware, etc.) and for some other reasons.
In this article, we will show how to repair a damaged or deleted bootloader on Windows 10 / Windows 8.1 / 8 systems with EFI. This guide should help in case when the system does not boot due to missing or damaged boot configuration in EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD.
The boot configuration data for your PC is missing: EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
If the bootloader in Windows on UEFI system is corrupted – it’s impossible to start the system or user facing a blue screen with the following error:
File :\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
Error code: 0xc000000f
All this can imply corruption or even total removal of Windows 10 / 8 bootloader configuration – Boot Configuration Data (BCD). You won’t be able to recover the BCD loader using bcdedit. When running this command, the following error appears:
The requested system device cannot be found
The matter is that the BCD loader configuration in Windows 8 installed in UEFI mode is stored on a separate hidden EFI volume (100 MB in size on FAT32 file system). Bcdedit can’t see it and, therefore, manage the bootloader configuration on it.
Automatic Windows Bootloader Recovery
The procedure for automatic recovery of the bootloader, which is used in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRe), is usually powerless in such cases. But it’s worth trying all the same:
- Try to boot system from the recovery disc or installation Windows 10 media
- On the installation screen, click the Restore System
- Then select Troubleshoot -> Startup Repair and select the OS whose bootloader you want to try to recover
- But most likely the result will be negative: Automatic Repair Couldn’t Repair Your PC
Manually restoring the Windows 10/ 8 bootloader using the installation media
Let’s proceed to the procedure of manual recovery of the EFI boot loader on Windows 10 / 8.1.
So to recover the loader (BCD) configuration, you have to boot from the original installation Windows 10 media (or a recovery disk or a special EFI bootable flash drive) and open the command line choosing System Restore – > Troubleshoot-> Command Prompt or pressing Shift+F10).
Start diskpart:
1 | diskpart |
Display the list of disks in the system:
1 | list disk |
Select the disk with Windows installed (if there is one disk in the system, it will have zero index):
1 | sel disk 0 |
Display the list of volumes in the system:
1 | list vol |
In this example, you can see that the EFI volume (it can easily be recognized by its size of 100 MB and FAT32 file system) has the index volume 1, and the boot partition with Windows installed is volume 3.
Assign any disk letter to the EFI volume:
1 | select volume 1 |
1 | assign letter K: |
A line that indicates the successful assignment of the drive letter to the EFI partition should appear:
DiskPart is successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.
Close diskpart:
1 | exit |
Go to the bootloader directory in the hidden volume
1 | cd /d k:\efi\microsoft\boot\ |
In this case, K: is the drive letter assigned to the EFI partition just above. If the \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\ directory does not exist (error The system cannot find the path specified), try the following commands:
cd /d K:\Boot\
or
cd /d K:\ESD\Windows\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\
Recreate the boot sector on the boot partition
1 | bootrec /fixboot |
Delete the current BCD configuration file by renaming it (save the older configuration as a backup):
1 | ren BCD BCD.bak |
With bcdboot.exe, create BCD store again by copying the boot files from the system directory:
1 | bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s k: /f ALL |
where C:\Windows – is the path to the directory with Windows 8 installed.
/f ALL – means that the boot files have to be copied including those for UEFI and BIOS computers (potential ability to boot in EFI and BIOS systems)
/l en-us – is a type of the system locale. By default, en-us – English (USA) is used.
bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-uk /s K: /f ALLVersion for Netherlands:
bcdboot c:\Windows /l nl-NL /s K: /f ALLPossible errors:
- BFSVC Error: Can not open the BCD template store. status – [c000000f] – check if the entered command is correct and whether you have localized Windows (in such case you need specify the local language code in a correct way);
- BFSVC Error: Error copying boot files from Last Error = 0x570 – try to check drive with the help of command: CHKDSK K: /F
Execute the commands:
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Now you have to restart your computer. Then the Windows Boot Manager appears in the list of bootable devices, where you can choose desired operating system to start.
BCD bootloader configuration has been successfully restored!
86 comments
[…] I followed the instructions in here: http://woshub.com/how-to-repair-uefi-bootloader-in-windows-8/ I see that my C: is not reachable, and the info of my volume is Hidden So I have to do […]
Thanks. It helped me well!
Hello, I get everything ok, respecting all spaces and / \ positions, and get stuck here: ( I assigned letter “i” instead of “k”)
i:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot>ren BCD BCD.bak
The system can not find the file specified
ren BCD BCD.bak need to back up current BCD config.
In your case probably BCD has already been deleted. Follow the next step – where it is recreated.
Thank you for the quick reply! On the next step, skipping the previous, I get this message:
“Failure when attempting to copy boot files”
I’m doing this using the built in recovery tools inside a HP All in one 20-b323w, and using the recovery inside a usb uefi drive with Windows 8 64 bit in it.
Here’s a picture: http://i.imgur.com/2rmM2CT.jpg
Thank you for your help!!!
I got that error too at first. Try the next FAT32 drive. Assign it a different letter and trust me it will work.
I`m trying to replace a linux i guess this won`t work for me !
You have an error in the syntax of windir path
Try specify path c:\windows instead c:windows
I followed the steps but in the last step i get this message:
BFSVC Error: Could not open the BCD template store. Status = [c000000f]
Any ideas?
Please disregard my previus comment. The issue was solved by replacing / with \ on the last command!!!
At first i wrote bcdboot c:/windows /l en-us /s /k: /f ALL instead of bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us /s /k: /f ALL
Even a wrong backslash counts!!!
Thank you Chris. Same problem here. /\
For a moment I thought I would never be able to bring my laptop back to life again, but this page helped me to fix the problem. Just needed to change the language in the syntax to nl-NL and find the right volume and file (was 300MB in my case, but also a FAT32, also slighly different name of the BCD-file). Thanks a lot!
Hey guy.. Thanks a lot.. It’ve worked for me.
Hello, I followed your guide and seems like it would work great but I have a slight issue. I have tried to dual boot my computer which worked until Windows 8 had to update and I updated it while I was sleeping and now it will not boot up. When I list the volumes I get the following
“DVD rom – UDF
System Reset – NTFS
Windows 8 – NTFS
Windows 7 – NTFS
Random Item (other harddrive for storage ) – NTFS”
I get nothing else I do not have the bootstrap or FAT32 any suggestions? I no longer need the windows 7 So if I could get rid of it that would be great.
Repair bootloader this way and then delete Windows 7 boot entry with msconfig utility (fron win 8)
How would I rebair the boot without the FAT32?
How would i repair the boot without having the FAT32 reserve file on any of my harddrives?
I skipped the steps with the FAT 32 and got all the way until renaming BCD I fixed it and was successful but when I went to rename it access got denied. When I attempted to copy the boot files they also failed. Any other ideas?
First, check that your PC is support UEFI (this article is not applicable for BIOS systems).
Next, check you hard disk partition table style (list disk command in diskpart). It can be GPT (not MBR).
How to manually create partition for UEFI:https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825686.aspx
Hi Max,
All went well until I got to: ren BCD BCD.bak
where I got the response: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error.
Any Suggestions?
Viki
You BCD can be broken. Skip this step and move to the next, where you recreate BCD config.
hi, i have nearly the same problem, buti dont have that fat32 with 100 mb partition, it looks like this:
Vol 0 F Windows 8 UDF DVD-ROM 3623MB healthy (no info)
Vol 1 C Windows8_OS NTFS Partition 417GB healthy (no info)
Vol 2 D Lenovo NTFS Partition 25 GB healthy (no info)
Vol 3 WINRE_DRV NTFS Partition 1000MB healthy hidden
Vol 4 SYSTEM_DRV FAT32 Partition 260 MB healthy hidden
Vol 5 NTFS Partition 450MB healthy hidden
Vol 6 PBR_DRV NTFS Partition 20 GB healthy hidden
Vol 7 E USB DISK FAT32 Removable 7279MB healthy (no info)
Vol 8 LRS_ESP FAT32 Partition 1000MB healthy hidden
My english is not the best, in from germany, sorry, but i hope you can help me. i tried with vol 4 instead of your vol 1 and replaced the language to instead of en-us to de-de. i did anything u wrote and it seemed to do what it should. but when restarted my laptop, the same message with that ” 🙁 ” – Smiley came, i cant start windows and then it restarts again, same blue screen with the unhappy smiley, collecting information again , restarting… and this repeats infinitly. hope you can help me, thanks
Thank you very much. Works perfect. Made my day
Thanks for the detailed guide. I am getting the same error only difference being I am using Win 7. In my case the windows Installation media is not seeing my windows partition. (On clicking repair conputer the box is blank wheras ideally it should be showing the current installation path of Windows) What should I do ? In Linux I am able to access the win partition. Could this be due to wrong setting of boot flag? I had actually installed Linux first and then Win 7 . Both of them are in 2 different hard disks. When I installed Win 7 , I think the EFI folder used by linux was shared by windows and a separate partition was not created. So in this case , what should I do? – Reset the bootflag to Linux partition where EFI part resides and then make the changes you suggested here?
Hi I’m having problems as above – everything works up to bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s k: /f ALL
“Then I get Failure when attempting to copy boot files.”
If I try it without the switches and only bcdboot c:\windows – then I get……
BFSVC Error: BcdOpenSystemStore failed with unexpected error code, Status = [c000015c]
Any other suggestions please?
Check the path to the drive K:\ and folder C:\Windows. They must exist
So what do I do if I’m getting this error and can’t boot from the original (win8.1 x64 OEI)installation cd? I’ve already set the dvd drive as 1st boot priority and restarted. Got the usual “verifying DMI pool data” message then:
Boot From CD/DVD:
Boot From CD/DVD:
then it goes right back to the same error screen. It does this continuously and I’m all out of ideas.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
Works perfect
Thanks you very much!
i got success all the way, the final step bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us /s /k: /f ALL, gives me error message “failure when initializing library system volume” what those that mean? what can i do?
OMG!! Thank you sooo much. I thought I had to do a full restore! Everytime I booted Win 8, it didn’t show a login screen (no password text field, only a blue screen with shutdown options…). You totally saved my ass. By the way, this happened after a Linux install with dual boot (Kali Linux)
Thank you very much for your help! I managed to recover my laptop stopped to four months. A big hug from Brazil.
Hi, in the final step “c:\windows /l en-us /s /k: /f ALL” do I have to change “en-us” to my language? and, I have to receive a succes message after that?
Likely EN-US should be used for any system language
I am gettint an erorr when running the last command:
Could not open the BCD template store. Status = [c000000f]
Any advice?
This is great!!!! I’ve spend hours trying to migrate a Win8 installation to another SSD, but I was stuck at this stupid error. Now I´m back at the login prompt.
Thank you! After an hour of reading other solutions that did not help, this excellent post was able to assist me in repairing the Windows 10 bootloader.
I did the steps until this line, cd /d k:\efi\microsoft\boot\, it says “Access is denied”. How do I overrride this?
My Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro runs in Windows 10 Student OS to be specific.
Muchas gracias, maestro, me salvaste la vida.
Thankyou very much!!
Tx dude. This worked perfectly
Thanks! Worked fine for me (windows 8.1).
Stupid btw, that the windows tooling does not work on the hidden partition…..
Thanks working fine useful information
Thanks a lot !!! Very useful information. Worked perfect for my OS (Win8.1, German language).
Thanks a lot.
Worked for me too on Windows 10. I read many forums and you were the only one to provide the correct instructions for creating the BCD store again:
bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s k: /f ALL
In my case I actually had to run the free Boot-Repair tool afterwards but I got the job done.
is it same with error code:
0xc000014cv?
Mine went fine until I got to the bcdboot command. When I ran that it returned the syntax as if I had issued a /?. Dell says my OP is corrupted and wants me to Reset to factory state. I’m trying to avoid that at all costs!!!! I’ve upgraded it from Win 8.1 to Win 10, installed a whole bunch of APPs, and run various tweaks on it over a year-and-a-half.
I don’t normally comment on sites, but I just had to come back here and say THANK YOU! I converted a Physical Windows Server 2012 R2 with Disk2VHD to hyper-V and it wouldn’t boot. Using this exact proceedure helped me fire up the Hyper-v instance as a direct imported Gen 2 VHD.
I had accidentally removed the windows EFI partition during a fedora install, so when trying to “cd /d k:\efi\microsoft\boot\” the directory wan’t there (there was only an efi\fedora directory). I simply created the correct directory structure using mkdir, followed the rest of the instructions, and was able to boot from windows upon system restart.
Thanks for the help!
hi, i have nearly the same problem, buti dont have that fat32 with 100 mb partition, it looks like this:Vol 0 F Windows 8 UDF DVD-ROM 3623MB healthy (no info)Vol 1 C Windows8_OS NTFS Partition 417GB healthy (no info)Vol 2 D Lenovo NTFS Partition 25 GB healthy (no info)Vol 3 WINRE_DRV NTFS Partition 1000MB healthy hidden Vol 4 SYSTEM_DRV FAT32 Partition 260 MB healthy hiddenVol 5 NTFS Partition 450MB healthy hiddenVol 6 PBR_DRV NTFS Partition 20 GB healthy hidden Vol 7 E USB DISK FAT32 Removable 7279MB healthy (no info)Vol 8 LRS_ESP FAT32 Partition 1000MB healthy hiddenMy english is not the best, in from germany, sorry, but i hope you can help me. i tried with vol 4 instead of your vol 1 and replaced the language to instead of en-us to de-de. i did anything u wrote and it seemed to do what it should. but when restarted my laptop, the same message with that “ ” – Smiley came, i cant start windows and then it restarts again, same blue screen with the unhappy smiley, collecting information again , restarting… and this repeats infinitly. hope you can help me, thanks
help me with this type of disk volumes
kindly explain me in detail about the solution to hidden files.
Hi Max, doe.s this solution works with windows 10 as well? I am having a similar problem.
Thanks, AL
I have read many similar articles on how to fix Windows boot problem in order to get mine working again. This is the ONLY article that actually works. You have helped me a lot. Thank you so very much!!!
I Just have to say i Googled the inital error and tried virtually ALL the other fixes [I’m sure you’re all aware of the ones i’m talking about], and it wasn’t until i got here that my issue was resolved. Thank YOU! for posting this – i’m saving this article for future use!
A big thanks to you .. :):)
This as well as everyother “fix” for the Windows Bootloader does not work. First I can’t even see the “hidden partition”, then if trying to do the other steps I get “Failure when attempting to copy boot files” when doing bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s g: /f ALL
Thanks mate!! it did work!
Thanks! Nothing worked and your solution did work, even for Windows 10!
Thanks for the helpful article.
I just have a problem, DISKPART shows my FAT32 partiotions (including the EFI partiotion) as raw in the Fs column. Whereas in a live Ubuntu CD and GParted app, those are shown as FAT32 partiotions.
I’ve successfully assigned the letter (k:) to the EFI volume but couldn’t go the bootloader directory of the hidden EFI volume. The error I encountered is:
How to deal with that?
Thanks
It seems that your FAT32 partitions are damaged. Try to re-create the EFI and MSR partitions using guide for Windows 7: http://woshub.com/how-to-repair-deleted-efi-partition-in-windows-7/
Thanks, I’ll try that
Thanksss. the tutrorila solved my problem:
http://woshub.com/how-to-repair-deleted-efi-partition-in-windows-7/
Althogh I whish I could understand what’s going on the procedure exactly 😀
I cant see BOOTSTRAP with FAT 32. i see just 4 drives listed which are in MY computer.. plz reply what i do now.
Actually i deleted this partition(of 100 MB fat 32) mistakenly.. now how to do ?
This works! Thank you i appreciate it. For all who get the failure when initializing library system volume eroor. Just try the next FAT32 volume. I got that error at first. I tried the next FAT32 drive and it worked. Trust me. I was frustrated too, until i found the blog. Thank again.
hi for me I have the same problem :
the boot configuration data for your pc is missing or contain errors
file: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
Error code:0xc000000f
But with windows 10 and I tried both solution create a backup and create new one it doesn’t work
plz help help!!!!
Same problem. Please someone save me exams are coming up and I’m broke.
“the boot configuration data for your pc is missing or contain errors
file: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCDError code:0xc000000f”
Great, you save my day! Thanks
Thanks a lot!! Weeks of work saved from reinstall!!!
Dio canaglia!
Used this solution after removing Ubuntu. The only solution that worked. Papa bless.
Thanks a lot! You really made my day! Advice worked well with my Windows 10.
I cant see BOOTSTRAP with FAT 32. i see just 4 drives listed which are in MY computer.. plz reply what i do now.
Thanks a lot!
All my good-wishes to you.
For those who get error messaage in last step BFSVC Error : Can not open the BCD template store. status – [c000000f]
Please try with ” bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-uk /s v: /f ALL ” command. Please note that you have to try with both forward and backward slash before Windows and your own local language code instead of en-US.
For me the following last command worked
bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-uk /s v: /f ALL
Thank You again. Thanks a lot!!
still cant get past c000000f
Thanks for your help. I was getting no where with trying to fix the boot issues with this server. The boot info was corrupted or just not readable. No matter what i did nothing worked until i tried your steps. yours worked on the first try.
Thanks a lot for the excellent description – it worked fine on my Windows 10.
Excelente solución. También funciona para Windows 10. Muchas gracias.
did everything, now I boot into another error. fie/efi/microsoft/boot/bcd error 0xc000000f and I can only boot into bios. I tried to boot from windows boot manager but it doesnt work
Just follow the steps and BOOM everything work well in my Windows 8.1…Thanks a lot.
Great Article
Helped me
Thanks
Great article!!!
I was doing a Recovery when my laptop shut down, I forgot to plug the charger back in.
Now I am getting:
The BCD for my pc is missing or contains errors.
File: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
Error code: 0xc000000f
Windows 8.1 was pre installed on my HP Envey, so I don’t have a Installation disk, plus I never got around to making a Recovery Image.
I’ve successfully assigned the letter (k:) to the system partition, I have tried entering
cd /d K:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\
cd /d K:\Boot\
cd /d K:\ESD\Windows\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\
Every time I get “The system cannot find the path specified”
How can I fix this?
Thanks
Show me the contents of your system partition using the command:
dir k:\
ASUS Q400 Laptop
Windows Version 8.1
What happened.. 2 days ago I was switching my antivirus protection, and was asked for reboot in order to complete process, and that’s when the BSOD came in, for the past 2 days I have scoured the interwebs for help on this. I have made a iso DVD boot disk and a USB boot disk as well.
When I boot my computer normally it says—- Recovery Your PC needs to be repaired File:\WINDOWS\system32\\drivers\ACPI.sys Error Code 0xc000000f
When I boot from the usb iso file and attempt to Refresh your PC it stated that —The drive where windows is installed is locked. Unlock and try again
I have ran chkdsk from the command prompt and there seems to be no errors.
Please any help world be appreciated, trying to get my computer back up and going without having to wipe all my personal data..
**no restore point were ever created on this computer.
Thanks
Update**
Diskpart
List vol
Volume 0 D ESD-ISO UDF DVD-Rom 3368 MB Healthy
Volume 1 C OS NTFS Partition 677 GB Healthy
Volume 2 SYSTEM Fat32 Partition 300 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 3 Recovery NTFS Partition 600 MB Healthy Hidden
Volume 4 Restore NTFS Partition 20 GB Healthy Hidden
Update***
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Successfully Scanned windows Installations.
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to Boot List? Yes/No/ALL:Y
The requested system device cannot be found.
x:\Sources>
Update *** NEW ERROR** Set the correct Partition… Tried and failed apperently
did the following
diskpart
sel disk 0
list vol
sel vol 2
assign letter f:
cd /d f:\EFI|Microsoft\Boot
bootrec /fixboot
ren BCD BCD.Backup
bcdboot c:\windows /1 en-us /s f: /f ALL
Restarted Computed wo boot disk and now Error shows
file\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD
error code 0xc000000f
****Update
Attempting to repair boot problem
Deleted BCD.old,BCD.temp,BCD.tmp off of c:\windows\boot (previous attempts)
did
x:sources>bootrec.exe /fixmbr
operation completed sucsessful
x:sources>d:\boot\bootsect.exe nt60/all /force ***(d is my cd/dvd drive with my boot iso)
Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR compatible bootcode
c: bcdedit /createstore c:\boot\bcd.tmp
the operation completed successfully
x:sources>bcdedit.exe /store c:\boot\bcd.tmp /create {bootmgr} /d “windows Boot Manager”
The Entry {bootmgr} was successfully created.
x:sources>bcdedit.exe /import c:\boot\bcd.tmp
The store import operation has failed.
The Requested system device cannot be found. *********This is where I am… any help thanks
Im on day 4 right now I just bought a 2tb HD to xcopy all my data from my c: drive incase I screw my computer up further. Im a complete novice to CMD.exe and understand maybe a fifth of what im doing.. I have no idea if my system is uefi or what.. I know there is a boot option on my bios screen that shows my dvd drive as uefi and when I boot from it, it takes me right back to my bios screen and I have to choose to boot from my other option witch is my dvd drive again without the uefi part on the listing. and that one allows the recovery disk to open and im in the windows repair my computer part.. At this point I have posted this on 5 different forums and zero replys to the posting ugh… I have watched countless youtube videos on this and im just not understanding what is missing … kinda in the dark at the moment. I need to solve this already I don’t not want to give up and do a fresh install I have already invested 4 days and its a matter of pride lol… this will not beat me…
Thank you very much, this save my life …
Thank you very much.
I spent three entire days trying to restore BCD on a windows 10 UEFI system after I accidentally formatted the boot partition. Then I found this site – problem fixed. I also had the “Failure when attempting to copy boot files”. This was because I had the wrong drive letter for the Windows dive. If you have several hard disks ensure that the Windows drive is set to c:
When in Diskpart
Diskpart: list vol
identify the windows partition (not the FAT32 Sytem Partition) and select –
Diskpart: sel vol x (x is the Windows partition)
Now bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-uk /s K: /f ALL should work – it did for me.
Now assign c: to the Windows partition
Diskpart: assign letter=c