Possible Boot Loader Corruption

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  1. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Home
       #1

    Possible Boot Loader Corruption


    I have a Dual Boot Windows 10 Desktop (or did have) with one hard drive.
    The primary partition is Windows 10 - 1 (C) and the scondary partiton is Windows 10 - 2 (E).

    I booted normally this morning and ran disk cleaning and defrag software which is normal.

    Earlier I wanted to do a restart and boot from my secondary partition. The Boot Menu had lost the Icons (Metro)
    and offered Windows 10 - 1 and Windows 7. I decided to attempt a boot from the Windows 7 only to find that it failed complaining about being unable to find an EFI boot file in System32.

    My primary partition stills boots. From that partition I can see Drive E (secondary partition) and files therein.

    Any help to get back to the staus quo would be appreciated.

    Norman
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 18,424
    Windows 11 Pro
       #2

    Open a Command Prompt with administrator privileges [Command Prompt (Admin) and run the following commands:

    bcdboot E:\Windows
    bcdboot C:\Windows
    exit
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Possible Boot Loader Corruption


    Hi NavyLCDR.

    It was a long night (morning). Being desperate I tried to proceed last night (overnight) and have more or less recovered. However, during the very last boot I noticed a number of options in the Boot Menu which included:

    a) Boot from DVD
    b) Boot from Network
    c) Another that I have forgotten

    There was of course the two Windows 10 options. I can see via BCDedit that there are some entries that no doubt account for this. I need to safely remove them.

    Norman
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Possible Boot Loader Corruption


    Hi.

    With careful use of BCDedit commands such as /delete {id}, /set description "Name", /set bootmenupolicy standard, I have got to where I wanted to be.

    So, I have Metro Boot options of:

    Windows 10 First (C partition)
    Windows 10 Second (E partition)

    Norman
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 4,224
    Windows 10
       #5

    Please provide more information about the exact sequence of bcdedit commands you used to fix your problem. Then, if you mark this thread as solved, you'll be able to benefit other readers who may run into a similar problem in the future. TIA!
    --Ed--
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Possible Boot Loader Corruption


    Now in a very bad place. Booted from my primary partition and changed the CD/DVD drive letter to F.
    Cannot boot from either partition. Do not have Windows 10 media as it came pre-installed.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 41,412
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       #7

    1) Find a flash drive that you can format ( > or = 8 GB)
    2) Create a bootable windows 10 iso
    Download Windows 10
    3) Insert the windows 10 iso into any USB port
    4) Power on the computer and click the applicable keyboard key:
    List of PC brands with their corresponding hot-keys
    5) If it a custom computer then temporarily change the BIOS boot order so that the USB drive is on top
    6) Select external USB hard drive
    7) It may take 5 - 10 minutes for the iso to load while viewing the Microsoft Windows icon
    8) Select language, time, currency, and keyboard or click next
    9) Click troubleshoot
    10) Click system restore
    Start with the oldest restore point and keep repeating until you complete the newest restore point.
    If all restore points fail or if there are no restore points advance to the next step
    11) Click startup repair
    If startup repair fails advance to the next step

    For all of the command prompt steps please use a camera or smart phone camera to take pictures and post images into the thread. If there are any problems posting images please use one drive, drop box, or google share links.
    12) Click command prompt > Administrator X:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe > X:\Sources> type:
    13) c:
    14) dir
    15) d:
    16) dir
    17) e:
    18) dir
    19) f:
    20) dir
    21) bcdedit /enum
    22) bcdedit | find "osdevice"
    23) diskpart
    24) list disk
    25) list volume
    26) select disk 0
    27) list partition
    28) select partition 1
    29) detail partition
    30) select partition 2
    31) detail partition
    32) select partition 3
    33) detail partition
    34) select partition 4
    35) detail partition
    36) if there are any more partitions on disk 0 please continue in a similar fashion
    37) select disk 1
    38) list partition
    39) exit
    40) bootrec /fixmbr
    41) bootrec /fixboot
    42) bootrec /scanos
    43) bootrec /rebuildbcd
    44) chkdsk /r c:
    45) reboot
    The chkdsk command may take many hours and typically displays an ETA in the Windows RE

    Please use a camera or smart phone camera to take pictures and post images into the thread. There are additinal steps based on the results to the above commands.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Possible Boot Loader Corruption


    Hi zbook. Thanks for your reply. Sadly, if I had to follow your suggested route to fix the problem, I would have been in deep trouble. No Restore Points, Had Problems on the Mini Desktop with attempting to Boot from an ISO USB Drive. Believe it is something to do with Secure Boot.

    I decided that my salvation was to use my ailing (overheating) Laptop to create a Windows 10 ISO DVD. Having switch the Laptop on and left it unattended once I had logged in, it started a massive update. It has not been switched on for quite some time. Not sure when the update will finish but it is getting close.

    Ultimately, my salvation was to Boot a WinPE DVD that I created when I had a working Desktop. I got myself into a Command Prompt (X:) and persevered with Diskpart and BCDedit. Now back to a Windows 10 Dual Boot PC with Metro Boot Menu.

      My Computer


  9. Posts : 41,412
    windows 10 professional version 1607 build 14393.969 64 bit
       #9

    Using an optical drive was an option.
    In the BIOS is there a menu to temporarily turn off secure boot so that you could use a flash drive?
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 64
    Windows 10 Home
    Thread Starter
       #10

    zbook said:
    Using an optical drive was an option.
    In the BIOS is there a menu to temporarily turn off secure boot so that you could use a flash drive?
    Yes there is a BIOS option which allows you to turn off secure boot.
    I got involved with this last year as I was attempting to intall Windows 7 to dual boot with Windows 10.
    One of the requirements was to turn off secure boot.
    I got some superb help from NavyLCDR with the Windows 7 installation.

    Norman
      My Computer


 

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