BSOD Error Code 0xc0000034 on Windows 10

Alicat · 05 Jan 2017

The other night, my Dell Latitude 2120 netbook froze, so I forced it to shut down. When I started it up again, I got the BSOD. I upgraded it many months ago from Windows 7 to Windows 10. The BSOD says:

Your PC/Device needs to be repaired

The boot configuration data file is missing some required information.

File:/Boot/BCD
Error code: 0xc0000034

You'll need to use recovery tools. If you don't have any installation media (like a disc or USB device), contact your PC administrator or PC/Device manufacturer.

I read on other forums that I am supposed to use a Windows 10 recovery disk or USB, but I don't have one. I used a tool to make my USB bootable with a Windows 10 ISO file downloaded from Access Denied .

I got my netbook to boot from the USB. I clicked "Repair your computer." Then I just saw a blue screen with a mouse. No option to actually do anything.

So I tried to reinstall Windows 10. I chose the upgrade option, which it says you can use if you already have Windows 10 on your computer and you don't want to lose all your files. I got this message:

The computer started using Windows installation media. Remove the installation media and restart your computer so that Windows starts normally. The, insert the installation media and restart the upgrade. (Do not select |custom[advanced]| to perform an upgrade. |custom[advanced]| installs a new copy of Windows and deletes your programs and settings.)

Obviously, I can't do that since I can't start my computer without the USB drive. Does this mean I have to completely reinstall it using the custom option? But then, can I actually do that? I upgraded when it was free and you didn't need a product code, but now they are charging for it so I don't know if I could install it even if I wanted to (I'm not going to buy it).

I also got this error when running diagnostics:
I'm running diagnostics and I got this error:

Error Code 0142
Msg: Error Code 2000-0142
Msg: Hard Drive 0 - self test unsuccessful. Status: 75

SoFine409 · 05 Jan 2017

Hi Alicat and welcome to the forum.
You're going to need the Win10 Installation Media on a USB drive to repair the boot files. Here are instructions for downloading the Media Creation Tool from MS and using it to create the Installation Media
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...-download.html.
Be sure to use Option 2 in the tutorial. You'll need an empty 3 GB or larger USB2 Drive. I'm not sure if the Media Creation Tool will work on the Vista laptop. If it doesn't work you'll need a friend who has a Win10 PC and can download the Media Creation Tool from the MS site and create the USB installation tool?

When you get the Win10 Installation Media created then we can walk you through the process of getting your laptop to boot from the USB Drive and getting to the repair section. From that point the repair should only take a few minutes. It involves navigating through a few screens, getting to the Command Prompt window, and entering 4 commands. Just post back when your ready.

I should tell you that there is always the chance that your hard disk has gone bad. Can you hear it spinning when you try to boot? Has the laptop shown any other signs of distress?

Alicat · 05 Jan 2017

Why doesn't option 1 work? That's what I tried originally. I managed to download it onto the USB but nothing changed when I plugged it into my netbook. I think I hear the hard disk spinning...I did drop the netbook not long before it froze and subsequently gave me the BSOD on reboot. I can't use the media creation tool on my old Vista laptop.

Alicat · 05 Jan 2017

How can I boot from a USB if I have the blue screen of death and can't use my computer at all?
How do you know if your USB is bootable?

SoFine409 · 05 Jan 2017

Alicat said:

How can I boot from a USB if I have the blue screen of death and can't use my computer at all?
How do you know if your USB is bootable?

Hi Alicat. Good to hear the you were able to copy the ISO to the USB stick. What happens when you turn on the laptop is the BIOS looks for devices that have operating systems. It does that in an order that we can change. Right now the HDD is the first device but it looks like the boot files have been damaged so you see that error message. By turning on the power and holding down the F2 key we can access the BIOS setup menu and there we can change the first device that the BIOS tries to boot from. We will change it to the USB stick and if you successfully created the Win10 installation media we'll be on our way to fixing the boot problems.

If we can boot from the USB stick the install program will run and we can use that to get to a command prompt and repair the boot files. It's late here and I need to get some sleep. I'll post more instructions in the morning.

One last thing. Can you tell me if you have you ever made any changes in a BIOS before? That way I'll know how detailed to make the instructions. We definitely don't want to mess up the BIOS by giving you incomplete instructions. Knowing that the laptop was dropped does concern me. If the HDD was damaged then we are dead in the water. We'll know when we try to repair the boot files.
Bob

Alicat · 05 Jan 2017

I (hopefully) made my usb bootable using method 1 here 5 Ways to Make a USB Bootable - wikiHow
On startup, I pressed F12 and told it to boot from USB. I got this error: Bootmgr is missing. I went to BIOS and moved the USB to the top in boot sequence. Still got Bootmgr is missing error. Now I'm running diagnostics and I got this error:

Error Code 0142
Msg: Error Code 2000-0142
Msg: Hard Drive 0 - self test unsuccessful. Status: 75

SoFine409 · 05 Jan 2017

Alicat said:

I (hopefully) made my usb bootable using method 1 here 5 Ways to Make a USB Bootable - wikiHow
On startup, I pressed F12 and told it to boot from USB. I got this error: Bootmgr is missing. I went to BIOS and moved the USB to the top in boot sequence. Still got Bootmgr is missing error. Now I'm running diagnostics and I got this error:

Error Code 0142
Msg: Error Code 2000-0142
Msg: Hard Drive 0 - self test unsuccessful. Status: 75

I hope the message is referencing the USB stick and not the HDD. I think the USB may not be bootable. Go to the MS site and use the media creation tool to make the USB installation stick. See the tutorial referenced in my previous post. That is the best approach to ensure the stick is bootable.

Alicat · 06 Jan 2017

Thanks for your help so far. Please see my original post as I have updated it with my progress. Still have a crashed computer.

SoFine409 · 06 Jan 2017

Alicat said:

Thanks for your help so far. Please see my original post as I have updated it with my progress. Still have a crashed computer.

Now that we know you can boot from the USB stick and the install program runs we can fix the boot files. I'll write a guide for you to use later this morning and it should let you recover your PC. You will not have to reinstall the OS and all your data will be OK as long as the HDD isn't damaged.
Bob

SoFine409 · 06 Jan 2017

Hi Alicat. Please take the following steps. Read through these sets and either have them available on your backup laptop or print them out.

1. Boot to the USB stick and get to the Advanced Repair Options using the following instructions for Option 5, Boot to Advanced Startup Options from Windows 10 Installation USB or DVD https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/...dows-10-a.html

2. Click the “Repair your Computer” link at the bottom left corner.

3. On the next screen select “Troubleshoot”

4. On the next screen select “Advanced options”

5. On the next screen select “Startup Repair”

6. After this repair runs, it shouldn’t take long, restart your laptop and hold down F2 and change the boot device back to the internal HDD. Save the changes (F10, probably), remove the USB and let the laptop reboot. If this doesn’t work continue on.

7. Restart, go back to the BIOS and get to the Advanced Repair menu where we just tried “Startup Repair” but this time select “Command Prompt.”

8. In the window enter the following commands one at a time hitting RETURN key after each on. Be sure you have a space between bootrec and “/”
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fix boot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuild

9. Note any error message that you might get then type exit. Reboot the laptop, enter the BIOS with F2 and change the first boot device back to the internal HDD, save changes and reboot.

If the HDD is OK you should be back in business. I need to run an errand now but Ill check back in to see how thing went.

BSOD Error Code 0xc0000034 on Windows 10

BSOD Error Code 0xc0000034 and compatibility issue with USB boot