Need Some Help/Ideas

[Dipsy]

My Win 10 preview is installed by itself on a SSD. I was trying to get the side cover off my case and in the process pulled the front frame out in the upper right corner where the power button is. I pushed it back in and I guess in the process the PC was momentarily powered down and when power was restored it must have fubarred the OS. During the reboot I get an error message that says "Your PC/Device needs to be repaired" "The boot configuration data for your PC is missing or contains errors". File: \Boot\BCD. Error Code: 0xc000014c. The PC goes into a continuous reboot cycle.

Just this morning I installed a paid copy of EaseUS Todo backup program and created an emergency boot disk. I tried to boot from it but all I got was the above error message. I tried to boot from a build 9926 .iso disk that I used to install the latest build and again all I got was the error message. I even tried a Windows 8.1 disk and all I got was the error message. Looks like nothing is going to let me boot into a repair option.

I put my Win 8.1 SSD back in and the computer booted normally. I plugged in the Win 10 SSD and it shows in file explorer but I can't see any kind of repair option offered. In the Format menu there is an option to restore defaults but I don't know what that does. Formatting the disk and reinstalling Win 10 will not be an insurmountable problem and is the reason I put the preview on a drive by itself.

I'm just wondering if this is my only option at this point or if there is something I'm overlooking that will let me repair the BCD.

 

[Dipsy]

Looks like a format and reinstall is on tap. Just tried to boot from a boot disk made with a program called Ultimate Boot Disk and all I got was an error message. Unless there is a way to repair the boot manager from Win 8.1 there is no other option that I can think of since I cannot boot from any CD or DVD.

 

[davehc]

It's impossible to say what might have been damaged. My guess is that you shorted out the power and put a spark through the motherboard.
From your post, it doesn't seem that your motherboard has been damaged. Before formatting, I would get into the bios and reset it back to defaults. It could be that it is only there that the problem lies. Frankly, though, I reckon that is unlikely. Because it will not boot, does not necessarily narrow it down to the boot manager. Remember an SSD is just a chip, and possibly the whole thing has gone - permanently.

You could try the infamous Easybcd option in the "BCD Backup/Repair options. I have used that from time to time, sometimes successful, sometimes useless. Under the circumstances, it can't do any more harm. Problem is that it does need to see the problem SSD. Just make sure you are, in fact, repairing the correct Boot manager.

How did you install Eusus, if you computer wasn't working - on another computer?

 

[Dipsy]

Good morning Dave. EaseUS was installed earlier in the day before I fubarred the drive. After finding out I couldn't boot from the Win 10 drive I put my Win 8.1 drive back in and the computer is running normally. Appears I didn't screw up the UEFI or fry anything on the motherboard. My first thought too was that I probably toasted the Win 10 drive with a power surge but after hooking it up in Win 8.1 I can see the drive in File Explorer and all the files are intact and viewable. That makes me think I didn't fry the drive but only caused some file corruption somewhere in the boot sector. Problem is I can't find a way to get into it to repair it.

I checked out Easybcd and the Easy Recovery Essentials programs. I really don't want to pay 20 bucks for a program that may or may not work, especially since there is nothing important in my Win 10 install. I reckon I'll just format the drive and reinstall Win 10. It will give me something to do today.

 

[davehc]

Just to avoid misunderstanding, and save you some stress, it was EasyBcd I mentioned, which has the capability of restoring bent boot managers.

 

[Dipsy]

The web site indicates that EasyBCD can't fix a PC that won't boot and to download EasyRE. I'm going to take the easy way out and format the drive for a clean reinstall.

Just now was presented with another situation. When I first installed Win 10 preview I just removed my Windows 8.1 drive (a SSD) and it's been sitting next to the computer. There have been no hardware changes and when I put the Win 8.1 drive back in I downloaded and installed a whole bunch of updates and everything was running normally. Just now I got a big screen notice to activate Windows. Checked system and sure enough it says Windows is not activated. No idea at all why it "unactivated".

 

[davehc]

Easy way out - format the darn thing and cross your fingers. But, sorry to bore you, you can actually put your Windows 10 HD back into the equation and, with easybcd, rewrite it as a second boot option, with associated parameters.

 

[Dipsy]

I'm back up and running with a fresh install of build 9926. Everything is pretty easy to install and anything I needed to import such as email accounts and newsgroups was on a flash drive so setup was quick and easy. All is now well in Windows 10 land.

 

[davehc]

Good news!!!

 

[vernz33]

I installed Windows 10 and was working good but now im getting error0xc000014c and my computer wont boot