Your Windows is almost certainly still on the disk. This code means Windows lost the path to it during startup - most often because a BIOS setting changed the storage mode, not because anything was deleted. Fix the path, and Windows comes back untouched.
0x7B frightens people into reinstalling Windows they did not need to lose. Read it precisely: the boot got partway, then the storage driver handover failed. The fix order follows the triggers. First the BIOS - a settings reset, a BIOS update, or a toggled Intel VMD option changes the controller mode and strands a healthy Windows. Then the deliberate-change trick, for when the mode change was yours. Only after the disk is provably visible again do the recovery repairs - chkdsk, offline SFC, bcdboot - mean anything.
Halfway through starting, Windows switches from the BIOS's simple way of reading the disk to its own storage driver. This bug check means that at that handover, Windows lost access to the partition it is booting from. Nothing is wrong with your files in most cases - Windows simply cannot reach them. The classic triggers are few and specific: the storage controller mode was changed in BIOS (AHCI to RAID, or Intel VMD switched on or off - often by a BIOS update or a settings reset), the storage driver was replaced or damaged, or the drive itself is failing or has vanished. That is why this code so often appears the morning after a BIOS update, a BIOS reset, or a Windows update - something changed the path between Windows and its disk.
bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimalbcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot and restart. Windows now boots normally on the new modediskpart then list volume. If your Windows volume is listed, the drive and controller work - the fault is the driver or boot files. If it is not listed, go back to Fix 1 - no Windows repair can see an invisible diskchkdsk C: /r (confirm the letter with dir - recovery letters shift) and offline SFC: sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windowsbcdboot C:\Windows if the BCD store is damagedThe full BSOD master guide - every major stop error explained with its fix, shown live, step-by-step.
Watch Full VideoAlmost never. This code means Windows could not reach the boot partition during startup - the files are normally untouched on the disk. Fix the access path (BIOS storage mode, VMD setting, storage driver) and the same Windows boots with everything in place. That is why reinstalling is the wrong first response to this code.
BIOS updates and BIOS resets commonly return the storage controller to its default mode - for example switching SATA from AHCI to RAID, or enabling Intel VMD. Windows was installed expecting the old mode and its driver, so it loses the disk at boot. Enter BIOS, set the storage mode back to the original, and Windows should start normally.
It means the problem is below Windows: the controller mode is wrong for the drive, Intel VMD is on without its driver, or the drive has failed or disconnected. Check that the drive appears in BIOS setup, reseat it and its cables, and correct the storage mode. No Windows repair tool can fix a disk the machine itself cannot see.