Dell XPS Laptop won't boot, error 0xc000014c

I have a Dell XPS laptop that won't boot all of the sudden.

Upon turning on the laptop, it attempts an automatic repair but fails. The first error code it showed all the time was 0xc000014c. It has also shown error code 0xc00000e9.

I have tried the following with no luck.

Booting to a Win10 recovery disc I created from a working Win10 machine in order to access the command prompt. Issued the following commands.
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bcdedit /export c:\bcdbackup
attrib c:\boot\bcd -h -r -s
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Y

Attempted startup repair from the Troubleshooting > Advanced Options

Unable to run a System Restore because it says none were found

Tried running chkdsk /r from the Win10 recvoery disk and from khyi Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable PE Rescue Disk, it fails at step 1 with "failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50"

Cant start Macrium Reflect from khyi's boot disc, it just freezes after selecting a keyboard. Was going to try the automatic repair built in there.

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

Here is an explanation of the "failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50"
May help.

CHKDSK fails to transfer logged messages with status 50

fireberd said:

Here is an explanation of the "failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50"
May help.

CHKDSK fails to transfer logged messages with status 50

Thanks for the article, I will give the following command a try and see if it helps.

CHKDSK C: /R /F /V

If not, it looks like the drive will need reformat and install (if the drive isn't to the point of failure).

I don't know about your Dell, but many had Dell diagnostics that were accessed via F12 at power on. If you have that, run those to see if it shows the drive as failing. Also on older Dell's F8 accessed the Dell recovery (reinstall). I haven't kept up with later Dell's and this may not be applicable. I'm about to find out as I ordered a new Dell Inspiron 15 laptop.

1) if you attempt to get into windows recovery or advanced troubleshooting menu using hardware steps what happens?
power on > power off as soon as you see the windows icon
repeat 2 more times.
does it display "diagnosing your PC"
if you wait does it progress?

2) if you insert a bootable windows 10 iso into any of the USB ports are you able to click the applicable F key to boot to the external boot device? Can you reliably boot to the windows 10 iso?
If you can boot to the windows 10 iso have you attempted a registry repair?
If not that may be an additional troubleshooting step.

3) what information is available about the condition of the computer?
Were there any known drive problems?
Were there any known software problems?
Was there any malware problems?

4) are the files backed up?
is there a backup image on another drive?
if files are not backed up do you have a hard drive enclosure to back up the files?

5) if you needed to perform a clean install is that an option?

fireberd said:

If not, it looks like the drive will need reformat and install (if the drive isn't to the point of failure).

I don't know about your Dell, but many had Dell diagnostics that were accessed via F12 at power on. If you have that, run those to see if it shows the drive as failing. Also on older Dell's F8 accessed the Dell recovery (reinstall). I haven't kept up with later Dell's and this may not be applicable. I'm about to find out as I ordered a new Dell Inspiron 15 laptop.

Good tip, didnt know about that. F12 allowed me to run their built-in diagnostics and it failed the hard drive portion.

Received an Error Code 2000-0142 which according to the Dell Forums indicates hard drive failure or a cable/connector issue.

Based on that I am just going to replace the drive once I get all my data off of it with an Ubunut Live cd.

Thanks for the assistance everyone!

zbook said:

1) if you attempt to get into windows recovery or advanced troubleshooting menu using hardware steps what happens?
power on > power off as soon as you see the windows icon
repeat 2 more times.
does it display "diagnosing your PC"
if you wait does it progress?

2) if you insert a bootable windows 10 iso into any of the USB ports are you able to click the applicable F key to boot to the external boot device? Can you reliably boot to the windows 10 iso?
If you can boot to the windows 10 iso have you attempted a registry repair?
If not that may be an additional troubleshooting step.

3) what information is available about the condition of the computer?
Were there any known drive problems?
Were there any known software problems?
Was there any malware problems?

4) are the files backed up?
is there a backup image on another drive?
if files are not backed up do you have a hard drive enclosure to back up the files?

5) if you needed to perform a clean install is that an option?

1) I tried those steps and was unable to get a "diagnosing your PC" dialog. After the third attempt it loaded the usual Preparing Automatic Repaid.

2) I have been able to boot into a Win10 system recovery disc and khyi's Win10 PE boot disc without any problems. I am not sure what registry repair you are referring to.

3) A week or 2 before it couldn't boot my SO said it was acting funny. Things crashing, etc.

4) Files are not backed up but I have an external drive I am going to back them up to. Will use an Ubuntu Live Disc or khyi's Win10 PE boot disc.

5) Once I get the files backed up I will probably just replace this drive, based on the earlier results from the built in Dell diagnostics.

1) power on and boot into the windows 10 iso recovery
2) open command prompt
3) type sfc /scannow
4) chkdsk
report results into the thread

5) plan a registry repair
the steps will be posted into the thread pending the above results
The steps need to followed line by line without mistakes
It will either work or fail
each step will be tested with a dir command to find your location

zbook said:

1) power on and boot into the windows 10 iso recovery
2) open command prompt
3) type sfc /scannow
4) chkdsk
report results into the thread

5) plan a registry repair
the steps will be posted into the thread pending the above results
The steps need to followed line by line without mistakes
It will either work or fail
each step will be tested with a dir command to find your location

Hello -

sfc /scannow said the following after 100% verification started.
"Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested Operation"

Running CHKDSK results in a TON of
"File record segment XXX is unreadable"

Let's see if this is a possible fix.


1) boot to the Windows 10 iso
2) it may take 5 minutes displaying the windows icon
3) Use the default settings for language, time, currency, and keyboard
4) click next
5) In the left lower corner click Repair your computer
6) click troubleshooting
7) click startup repair (it is expected to fail)
8) click system restore (it is expected to fail)
9) click command prompt
You should see a pop up with title bar: Administrator: X:\windows\system32\cmd.exe
This is the registry backup method:
For each step you must see sizeable file sizes for this to work.
If you see zeros the method will fail.
The command: dir
will be used each step to make sure you are in the proper location and check the size of the files
10) type: C:
11) dir
12) type: D:
13) dir
Choose the C: or the D: drive to proceed. It should be the windows drive and not the USB drive.
14) type bcdedit | find "osdevice"
This should display the location of the partition and in most cases is the location of the affected drive.
For this post I will use C: however you should pick the drive letter that you found that has the windows files on your computer.
The proper drive will display: perflogs, program files, program files (x86), users, windows, etc
15) type or copy and paste: cd \windows\system32\config
It should display: C:\windows\system32\config>
16) type: dir
It should display: bbi, bcd-template, components, default, drivers, elam, sam, security, software, system, vsmidk, journal, regback, systemprofile txr, etc.
All of the file sizes should be sizeable. If it displays zeros then abort.
Make a new directory and name it backup or something similar.
17) type: MD backup
Copy all of the files into this new directory.
18) type or copy and paste: copy *.* backup
It should now display: bbi, bcd-template, components, default, drivers, elam, sam, security, software, system, vsmidk indicating the files were copied.
Change the directory to regback
19) type: cd regback
It should now display: c:\windows\system32\config\regback>
20)type: dir
It should display: default, sam, security, software, system etc
All of these files must be sizeable. If it displays zeros then abort.
21) type or copy and paste: copy *.* ..
It should now display:
DEFAULT
Overwrite ..\default? (yes/no/all):
22) type: a
It should now display: sam, security, software, system and that the files were copied.
23) type: exit
24) click turn off your PC
Remove the USB flash drive if you had changed your boot order. Otherwise you can leave it and power on your computer.