Windows 8 won't boot, BCD error

Question

My Windows 8 laptop has a boot problem. When Windows tries to boot, I get this error message:

Boot configuration data is missing  
File: \BCD  
Error code: 0xc0000034  

So as suggested I booted to the console and tried:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd

After the last command I got:

Total identified win installations:1
[1] C:\Windows 
Add installation to boot list? 

I typed y so I want to add installation, but got a reply:

The requested system device cannot be found. 

As a solution I found a diskpart - select and activate OS partition, so I selected OS partition and typed:

active

I got a reply that:

The selected disk is not a fixed MBR disk. 
The active command can only be used on fixed MBR disks. 

How to fix this problem, to get Windows 8 boot properly? My laptop is a repair of a previously working PC.

Answer 1

This page helped me restore the BCD on my Intel RSTe Raid SSD Configuration for Windows 7, on UEFI ASRock X79 Extreme 9 after upgrading the Bios.

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0 #Select the desired disk
create partition efi size=100
list partition #Make sure that the 100mb partition is selected
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
assign letter=B
create partition msr size=128
list partition #Check for errors
list vol
select vol 3 #Use the number corresponding to your windows installation
assign letter=C
exit

Now copy the EFI files by typing:

mkdir B:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot
xcopy /s C:\Windows\Boot\EFI\*.* B:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot

Now we will set the boot configuration data by typing:

b:
cd EFI\Microsoft\Boot
bcdedit /createstore BCD
bcdedit /store BCD  /create {bootmgr} /d “Windows Boot Manager”
bcdedit /store BCD /create /d “Windows 7” /application osloader
#This will return a GUID, referred to later as {guid}
bcdedit /store BCD /set {bootmgr} default {guid}
bcdedit /store BCD /set {bootmgr} path \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\bootmgfw.efi
bcdedit /store BCD /set {bootmgr} displayorder {default}
#Now it's not {bootmgr} anymore but {default}!
bcdedit /store BCD /set {default} device partition=c:
bcdedit /store BCD /set {default} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit /store BCD /set {default} path \Windows\System32\winload.efi
bcdedit /store BCD /set {default} systemroot \Windows
exit

Credit to: http://www.hasper.info/repair-a-destroyed-windows-7-uefi-boot-sector/

Answer 2

This happened to me for the second time earlier today and I was getting the hardware can't be found error using just bootrec so I shall talk you through the steps I used.

Entering the following commands into the recovery terminal on the installation media disk. The first set fix the Master Boot Record (MBR) and the Bootsectors.

bootrec.exe /fixmbr
bootsect.exe /nt60 all /force

I then attempted to rebuild the Boot Config Data (BCD)

bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd

This solved it for me, however if you need further steps, then the information I have used (and more) can be found on this website.

Answer 3

I know I'm late to the party but if everything else fails you can run :

Bcdboot c:\windows /s c: /f UeFI /v

Use /f bios /v if it's a MBR disk

Answer 4

When I tried to refresh computer (after no solution found), I get error saying something like:

PC can't be refreshed, because your disk is locked.

So I tied to unlock HDD as this tutorial say but with Windows 8 installation disc.

I choose to install, after few seconds error:

Bad serial number ...

I submitted this window by clicking OK button. After submitting I choose

Turn off computer

in Windows installation menu. After turning off and powering up everything was working great, no other steps required

Answer 5

Try this:

1.Insert your Installation Disk

2.Go to repair Windows

3.Command Prompt

4.type in this:

"BootRec.exe /rebuildbcd" and press enter, then type in "BootRec.exe /fixmbr" and press enter, and finally type in "BootRec.exe /fixboot" and press enter. Now restart the PC and try it.