How to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error in Windows 10  

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
    How to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error in Windows 10

    How to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error in Windows 10

    Published by Category: BSOD
    11 Oct 2019
    Designer Media Ltd

    If you’re facing a blue screen of death (BSOD) with the message that “Windows\system32\winload.efi is missing or corrupt” then this tutorial will show you how to fix this issue.

    The error is caused by corrupt BCD information, corrupt boot records, incorrect boot order etc.

    How to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error in Windows 10-ty4aqx4.jpg



    Rebuild the BCD Store

    1 Boot your computer with Windows Setup Media and from Windows Recovery Environment start the Command Prompt.
    2 Please type below commands into Command Prompt and press Enter key.

    Following commands will repair Master Boot Record (MBR), Boot Sector and BCD Store.


    Code:
    Bootrec /FixMbr

Bootrec  /FixBoot

Bootrec  /RebuildBcd
    How to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error in Windows 10-n6mddj7.png

    3 If the Bootrec /RebuildBcd command fails then enter the following commands in Command Prompt:

    Code:
    bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
c:
cd boot
attrib bcd -s -h -r
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd
    How to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error in Windows 10-h1w0qov.png

    4 Finally, exit the Command Prompt and restart your Windows.

    This method seems to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error but if it doesn’t work for you then continue.



    Run SFC and CHKDSK

    1 Boot your computer with Windows Setup Media and from Windows Recovery Environment start the Command Prompt.

    2 Please type below command into Command Prompt and press Enter key.

    The following command scans integrity of all protected Windows system files and repairs files with problems when possible.

    Code:
    Sfc  /Scannow   /OFFBOOTDIR=D:\   /OFFWINDIR=D:\Windows

chkdsk D: /f

    Please replace partition letter D: with Windows installed partition letter. When computer boots into Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) environment the drive letter assign to Windows partition may not be C: drive letter because Windows 7, 8 , 8.1 and 10 creates a separate system partition when it's installed from scratch. The system partition contains boot files WinRE assigns the system partition the C: drive letter and the Windows installed partition will be assign any other drive letter usually D: drive letter is assign to Windows installed partition. The Bcdedit /enum | find "osdevice" command can be use to find out the drive letter of the Windows installed partition the output of the Bcdedit command is similar to this osdevice partition=D:. The drive letter after partition= is the drive letter of the Windows partition.

    3 Exit the Command Prompt, and restart your PC.


    That’s it you have successfully Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error.



  1. Anibor
    Posts : 526
    Windows 10
       New #1

    Winload.efi seems to be related to UEFI and GPT disks. So why is it necessary to fix the MBR?
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  3. FreeBooter
    Posts : 5,330
    Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       New #2

    Anibor said:
    Winload.efi seems to be related to UEFI and GPT disks. So why is it necessary to fix the MBR?
    GPT drives tend to include a “protective MBR.” This type of MBR says that the GPT drive has a single partition that extends across the entire drive. This protective MBR ensures the old tools won’t mistake the GPT drive for an unpartitioned drive and overwrite its GPT data with a new MBR. In other words, the protective MBR protects the GPT data from being overwritten.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  4. dalchina
    Posts : 42,992
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       New #3

    Poster tried the above and stumbled across a problem but found a fix:
    SSD Booting Issue - Windows 10

    Windows 10 Installation Media:
    Insert the Media (DVD/USB) in your PC and restart.
    Boot from the media.
    Select Repair Your Computer.
    Select Troubleshoot.
    Choose Command Prompt from the menu:
    Type in the command: Diskpart

    Type in the command:
    List disk (Note which disk is your Boot drive number mine is 0)

    Type in the command:
    Sel disk 0

    Type in the command:
    List vol (Note which volume is the EFI partition mine is 4)
    Type in the command:
    Sel vol 4

    Type in the command:
    assign letter=V:
    Type in the command:
    Exit
    Type in the command:
    V:
    After you have assigned a drive letter Using Diskpart You can format the EFI partition:
    Example: if you assigned a letter V to the partition the command would be:
    format V: /FS:FAT32

    After the format you need to recreate the EFI directory structure with the command:
    MD \EFI\Microsoft\Boot

    Then change to the Boot directory with:
    cd /d V:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\
    Then run:
    bootrec /FixBoot
    Finally run:
    bcdboot c:\Windows /l en-us /s V: /f All
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  5. FreeBooter
    Posts : 5,330
    Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    @dalchina Thanks for letting us know how OP resolved the problem.
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  6. Randysea
    Posts : 108
    windows 10 Pro
       New #5

    I've tried to use this thread to fix my laptop that cannot boot. I can't get a Windows 10 Setup USB stick to boot, either. I can boot from a Macrium Rescue Media USB stick that uses WinPE. But I can't do much with it so far, although it does seem to have many command prompt functions.

    When I run Dispart and then List Disk, I get:
    Vol 0 D [no label] 300gb healthy
    Vol 1 C Data 616gb healthy
    Vol 2 E Recovery 14 gb healthy hidden
    Vol 3 F System 300 gb healthy hidden

    I don't know how to interpret this or what to do with it. Normally, my C: drive has Windows and programs and is 300 gb. My D: drive is my Data drive and has 616 gb.

    If I look at the drives straight from the Cmd prompt, indeed C: DIR shows what I'd expect on the C: drive. Ditto for the D: drive, showing all my data files. But in Diskpart, the drive letters don't sync.

    There is that tempting Recovery partition but I cannot see any way to use it. There's nothing in the Bios to restore to factory conditions by using the Recovery partition.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  7. FreeBooter
    Posts : 5,330
    Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       New #6

    Randysea said:
    I've tried to use this thread to fix my laptop that cannot boot. I can't get a Windows 10 Setup USB stick to boot, either. I can boot from a Macrium Rescue Media USB stick that uses WinPE. But I can't do much with it so far, although it does seem to have many command prompt functions.

    When I run Dispart and then List Disk, I get:
    Vol 0 D [no label] 300gb healthy
    Vol 1 C Data 616gb healthy
    Vol 2 E Recovery 14 gb healthy hidden
    Vol 3 F System 300 gb healthy hidden

    I don't know how to interpret this or what to do with it. Normally, my C: drive has Windows and programs and is 300 gb. My D: drive is my Data drive and has 616 gb.

    If I look at the drives straight from the Cmd prompt, indeed C: DIR shows what I'd expect on the C: drive. Ditto for the D: drive, showing all my data files. But in Diskpart, the drive letters don't sync.

    There is that tempting Recovery partition but I cannot see any way to use it. There's nothing in the Bios to restore to factory conditions by using the Recovery partition.
    Have you configured BIOS boot order to boot from Windows Setup USB flash drive?
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  8. Randysea
    Posts : 108
    windows 10 Pro
       New #7

    FreeBooter said:
    Have you configured BIOS boot order to boot from Windows Setup USB flash drive?
    Yep. The USB drive comes first and all other boot possibilities are disabled. If I even put the hard drive in as second, then I'll just get an error screen
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

  9. FreeBooter
    Posts : 5,330
    Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
    Thread Starter
       New #8

    Randysea said:
    Yep. The USB drive comes first and all other boot possibilities are disabled. If I even put the hard drive in as second, then I'll just get an error screen
    What does the error message say?
      My Computer
    Quote Quote

  11. Randysea
    Posts : 108
    windows 10 Pro
       New #9

    FreeBooter said:
    What does the error message say?
    It’s been “corrupt/missing file” or just a generic error. It says hit F8 or restart, but restarting just gets the same error.
      My Computers
    Quote Quote

 

Tutorial Categories

How to Fix winload.efi missing or corrupt error in Windows 10 Tutorial Index Network & Sharing Instalation and Upgrade Browsers and Email General Tips Gaming Customization Apps and Features Virtualization BSOD System Security User Accounts Hardware and Drivers Updates and Activation Backup and Restore Performance and Maintenance Mixed Reality Phone


  Related Discussions
So about 20 days ago, while i was playing with a couple of friends, my pc bsod with the code "unexpected_store_exception" and once the system rebooted, i got a screen saying that winload.exe couldnt be loaded and that the pc need repair. No mater...
i was trying to install windows 10 64+32bit from a usb stick, but after i choose the 64bit version and wait for the files to load it says windows.efi is missing. is there any way i can fix this problem?
For reasons you'll see I am completely unable to do any of the log stuff so please excuse me, but I'm doing all I can at the moment. Anyway, this is really complicated so I would very much appreciate it if you read the whole thing, you kinda...
I upgraded my Toshiba laptop automatically from 8.1 to 10 when the software came out (months ago) - have had no issues with it. Then I was using my laptop it flashed blue and turned off. It now comes up with with recovery - your pc/device needs to...
I upgraded ok with the update and successfully activated windows 10. I downloaded both 32bit and 64bit to usb using media creation tool as I wanted to clean install Windows 10 64bit on my 64bit compatible machine although am currently running 32bit...
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

 © Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:12.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums