I have a problem with my Windows 7,
hardware : Acer 3820TG
Operating Systems : Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04 dual

Case:
When I try to boot my windows 7 I see an error:
"Window failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:
1.Insert....
2. ....
...
status : 0xc000000f
info : The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible
....
"
I can't exactly remember what were my last actions on Windows. I already searched this error and applied the proposed solutions, I created a repair USB (because I don't have a CD-ROM nor a Windows 7 CD) such as;
-repair operating system :it says it cannot repair it
-checking disk (chkdsk D: /f /r) : it checks the disk without a problem or error and it takes pretty long (more than a hour). But when I restart, still the same error.

-I didn't create a restore point so I pass this option
-I don't have a system image
-I tried to run windows recovery (I have a recovery partition) but there are just two options:

1- Format the operating system but retain user data (copies the files under users to c\backup folder, but when I searched deeper I found that there are some people who already tried this option and couldn't find their user files under backup directory). Plus, I have unfortunately just one partition D (it is a fault I know) because I use always Ubuntu. So this is not applicable in my situation

2- Format entire system (Windows). I keep my valuable data in windows but not in user folder. I was reaching them from Windows.

-I tried to repair windows boot by:
bootrec /fixMBR
bootrec /fixBoot
bootrec /rebuildBCD

I lost all grub menu, and reinstalled it.

-> ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1014708&page=29

nothing changed, same error.
I created a thread in microsoft forums

-> http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/69517faf-850a-45fd- 8195-6d4ed831f805

but I couldn't find a solution.

Before I run chkdsk from usb repair disk I couldn't able to mount Windows (NTFS) partition from Ubuntu, I was getting "couldn't mount file system, error code 2". I tried to fix ntfs partition from ubuntu and got "segmentation fault". I also created a thread on ubuntuforums for this mount problem:

-> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1606427

So, after chkdsk, I could enable to mount windows partition but all I see in this partition is chkdsk logs, no any other data.

Now, I don't think I lost my data because I don't get any filesystem errors, just the boot section, but this log files under windows partition makes me afraid.

I see that Microsoft developers don't have a solution yet for this error. If you need any information to get more idea I can give, maybe I miss some points or it could be complicated.

Thanks in advance.

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migrated from stackoverflow.com Nov 6 '10 at 0:25

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2 Answers

Could be an issue with the Bios incorrectly setting the ide configuration. For example if you have installed in IDE mode an the moved to AHCi. Happen to me one time. Changed back to the correct setting, system booted fine.

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I had the same problem with my HP laptop. I found a solution for this problem, but it will erase your installation partition. I had two partitions C: and D: - my installation partition was C: when I got a message like you:

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

  1. Insert....
  2. .... ... status : 0xc000000f info : The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible ....

I used Active@ KillDisk to erase the C: partition and left the D: partition. After installing Windows 7 again on the C: partition, everything works fine.

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