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 Windows OS Hub / Windows 10 / Fixing “Winload.efi is Missing or Contains Errors” in Windows 10

February 5, 2021 Windows 10Windows Server 2016

Fixing “Winload.efi is Missing or Contains Errors” in Windows 10

Let’s consider one more common Windows 10 boot error that occurs due to the damaged or missing winload.efi file. The problem manifests itself in the following: Windows stops booting with a BSOD and the error message appears on the boot screen:

Recovery
Your PC needs to be repaired
The application or operating system couldn’t be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.
File: \Windows\system32\winload.efi
Error code: 0xc000000f
You’ll need to use the recovery tools on your installation media. If you don’t have any installation media (like a disc or USB device), contact your system administrator or PC manufacturer.
Press Enter to try again
Press F8 for Startup Settings
Press ESC for UEFI Firmware Settings

winload.efi error code 0xc0000225

Note. The error code can look like this: Error code: 0xc0000225 or 0xc0000001.

This error occurs when the system boot file \windows\system32\winload.efi is missing or its structure is corrupted. Typically, the problem comes up after performing an incorrect system update, if the disk or file system is damaged, when the disk is repartitioned using third-party tools, updating the antivirus, after cloning a Windows image to another drive, replacing the computer’s motherboard (or other significant hardware changes), etc.

The Winload.efi file is an executable file of the EFI environment with a bootloader that initializes the environment and starts the Windows boot. If this file is corrupted, missing or in the boot configuration there is a path to the non-existent volume with winload.efi file, Windows 10 will fail to boot.

The solution depends on whether you have used the UEFI or Legacy boot mode before the problem occurs. Next, consider the basic steps that will help you to fix this error and boot Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016 correctly.

Contents:
  • Enable Legacy Boot Mode (CSM) and Disable Secure Boot
  • Use Automatic Startup Repair to Fix Windows Bootloader
  • Disable Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection (ELAM) on Windows 10
  • Fix File System Errors and Run System Files Integrity Check
  • Repair BCD and Winload.efi File for UEFI Device
  • Rebuild the BCD and Master Boot Record using Bootrec and Bcdedit

Enable Legacy Boot Mode (CSM) and Disable Secure Boot

Most computers with UEFI support can boot from both GPT partition table disks and legacy MBR disks.

The key to enter the UEFI menu depends on the device vendor. As a rule, these keys are F2, F8, Del or Esc. Or press the ESC button directly on the error screen

dell setup F2

  1. Try to enable CSM Boot compatibility mode in UEFI settings (in some versions of UEFI firmware it is called Legacy Boot);
  2. Find and disable Secure Boot mode in the UEFI settings. The location of this setting also depends on the UEFI firmware. Usually, it can be found in the Security, Authentication, or Boot sections. On HP laptops the Secure Boot is located under the Security section. Change the Secure Boot mode to Disabled or Off;disable secure boot on HP laptop
    Tip. Earlier we already talked about what UEFI is and why you need the Secure Boot mode. Probably, the system boot error that is related to unavailability of the winload.efi file, will be fixed after disabling the Secure Boot mode in the UEFI settings.
  3. Make sure that your hard disk is selected as the first boot device; Check the boot device priority. Make sure your Windows hard drive is selected as the primary boot device in the UEFI settings;
  4. Save the changes and restart the computer;
  5. If the UEFI Boot menu is available when the computer boots, try manually selecting the entry OS Boot Manager (UEFI) – Windows Boot Manager.

windows 10 uefi menu - run windows boot manager

Use Automatic Startup Repair to Fix Windows Bootloader

Try to fix this error using Automatic System Repair tool. To do it:

  1. Boot from Windows 10 install media (or bootable UEFI USB flash drive);
  2. Click Repair your computer or press R;windows 10 repair your computer
  3. Go to Troubleshoot -> Advanced options -> Startup repair; run startup repair on windows 10 in recovery mode
  4. The Recovery Wizard will start. Then follow its instructions.

If you don’t have Windows installation disk, you must restart the computer three times in a row by pressing the Power button until the WinRE recovery console screen appears. Select See advanced repair options. Then follow the instructions above.

Select See advanced repair options

Disable Early Launch Anti-Malware Protection (ELAM) on Windows 10

If the previous methods did not fix the error with loading winload.efi, to disable ELAM (Early Launch Anti-Malware) Protection, which is enabled by default for the Windows bootloader.

Note. ELAM allows certified antivirus to start before all third-party software. The antivirus can perform early antivirus scanning and control the launch of drivers and other software.

To do it:

  1. Do steps 1 and 2 from the Solution 2;
  2. Go to Troubleshoot-> Advanced options -> Startup settings;
  3. Restart your computer with the Restart button;
  4. After the next boot the system will automatically open Startup Settings (by the way, from this step you can start Windows in the Safe Boot mode);
  5. Press F8 to select the item 8) Disable early launch anti-malware protection.

Disable early launch anti-malware protection

Fix File System Errors and Run System Files Integrity Check

Check your disks for errors, there may be disk or file system errors on the partition with the winload.efi file. To check all the disks for errors and fix them, run the command:

chkdsk /f /r

After this, it is also recommended to check the integrity of the system files using the sfc tool. To use the sfc utility in offline mode, you need to specify the path to the system drive and the path to Windows folder. You can determine the drive letter assigned to the Windows partition with the command:

Bcdedit /enum | find "osdevice"

Suppose, in your case this is a D: drive. The system file check integrity command looks like this:

sfc /scannow /offboot=d:\ /offwindir=d:\windows

sfc check windows integrity offline

You also need to perform an offline check of the Windows Component Store using DISM. You need to compare your image with the original wim installation file of your Windows 10 build (suppose the original wim image is on drive E:):

Dism /image:D:\ /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:E:\sources\install.wim

Tip. To understand what drive letters are assigned to volumes in the WinPe environment, run the commands:
Diskpart
List vol

By the labels and sizes of disks, you can determine the drive letter of the partition on which Windows is installed. .

Repair BCD and Winload.efi File for UEFI Device

If your Windows 10 was installed in native UEFI mode on a GPT disk, we recommend that you follow the instructions on how to recreate the Windows 10 EFI bootloader on UEFI devices. I recommend using the article on the link, everything is described there in detail. Here’s a short guide:

Boot your device from recovery/install media and open the command prompt:

  1. Execute the command: diskpart
  2. List the partitions on the disks: list volume
  3. Find a partition labeled ESP or EFI with a size of 100 MB. Remember it (the size and name of the partition may differ depending on the version of Windows, but the main thing is that its file system must always be FAT32). If the EFI partition was accidentally deleted, it can be restored as follows;
  4. Select this partition: select volume 2
  5. Assign a drive letter to the partition: assign letter=Z find esp and efi partition using diskpart
  6. Exit the diskpart: exit
  7. Now you need to re-create the bootloader configuration. Copy the boot files from the Windows directory: bcdboot c:\Windows /s Z: /f ALL (replace c:\ with the drive letter on which you have the Windows installed). If you did everything correctly, the message will appear:  Boot files successfully created;
  8. Reboot your device and check if the boot problem with winload.efi file is fixed.

Rebuild the BCD and Master Boot Record using Bootrec and Bcdedit

If you have Windows installed in legacy BIOS mode (not in UEFI mode), then you can rebuild the boot records and the MBR bootloader using the bootrec tool.

  1. Follow steps 1 and 2 from the Solution 2;
  2. Go to Troubleshoot > Command Prompt;
  3. In the command prompt , run the following commands one after another:
    • bootrec /FixMbr – writes the MBR to the system partition;
    • bootrec /FixBoot – overwrite a new boot sector on the system partition;
    • bootrec /ScanOs – scans the disk for the installed OSs;
    • bootrec /RebuildBcd – rebuild bootloader configuration.
  4. Close the command prompt with the command:  exit
  5. Restart your computer.bootrec repair mbr bootloader

If the previous method did not help, you must rebuild the boot configuration file (BCD) for the MBR in the Recovery Console command prompt:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device boot
bcdedit /set {default} device boot
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice boot
bcdedit /set {default} device partition=c:
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit /set {default} path \windows\system32\winload.efi

Restart the computer and check if the problem is fixed.

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