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🥾 Boot Files Fix

Boot Files Broken Rebuild Them with Bcdboot from WinPE

Windows itself can be perfectly healthy and still never start, because the tiny set of boot files that hand control to it is damaged. Bcdboot rebuilds those files from scratch in under a minute - here is the exact WinPE procedure.

✍️ Technical Anshu🪟 Windows 10 / 11⏱️ 7 minute read
🎥 Full video - boot files rebuilt live with bcdboot inside the WinPE CMD Toolkit

Boot errors have their own fingerprints: a blue Recovery screen saying the Boot Configuration Data file is missing some required information, error 0xc000000f or 0xc000014c, or a firmware message like no bootable device right after a disk clone, a partition resize, or a dual-boot experiment. In all of them the Windows folder is usually untouched - only the small boot partition lost its files or its configuration. Older guides reach for bootrec /rebuildbcd, which often finds 0 Windows installations on modern UEFI machines. Bcdboot is the modern tool: it copies fresh boot files from the Windows folder itself and writes a clean boot entry.

Blue Recovery Screen - as the user sees it
Recovery
Your PC/Device needs to be repaired
The Boot Configuration Data file is missing some required information
File: \BCD   •   Error code: 0xc000000f
You will need to use recovery tools.
The classic BCD failure screen. Windows files are almost always intact behind this message - only the boot configuration is gone.
1

Find the Windows Letter and the EFI Partition

Bcdboot needs two letters: the Windows partition and the small FAT32 boot partition. Get both from diskpart:

  1. Run diskpart then list volume
  2. Identify the Windows partition by size and the dir test (dir D:\ shows Windows, Users, Program Files) - this guide uses D:
  3. Identify the EFI partition: FAT32, roughly 100 to 300 MB, often labelled System. It frequently has no letter inside WinPE - that is normal and fixed in the next step
2

Give the EFI Partition a Temporary Letter

Still inside diskpart, select the EFI volume by its number from your list and assign any free letter:

  1. select volume 3 - replace 3 with the EFI volume's number on your machine
  2. assign letter=Z
  3. exit to leave diskpart
  4. This assignment exists only inside this WinPE session. It changes nothing about how Windows will boot afterwards
3

Run Bcdboot with the Right Switches

One command now rebuilds everything - boot files copied fresh from the Windows folder, a new BCD store written to the EFI partition:

  1. UEFI machines (almost every PC from the last decade): bcdboot D:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI
  2. /s Z: names the boot partition, /f UEFI names the firmware type - both matter
  3. Legacy BIOS machines: bcdboot D:\Windows /s D: /f BIOS and make sure the Windows partition is marked active in diskpart
  4. Success reads exactly: "Boot files successfully created." Remove the USB and restart
4

If Bcdboot Reports Failure When Copying Boot Files

The message "Failure when attempting to copy boot files" has a short list of causes - work through them in this order:

  1. The letter in /s is not the EFI partition, or it is not FAT32 - re-check with list volume
  2. The EFI partition is full or its file system is damaged - run chkdsk Z: /f and retry
  3. The Windows letter is wrong - if D:\Windows does not exist, bcdboot has nothing to copy from. Redo the dir test
  4. The disk is GPT but you used /f BIOS, or the reverse - match the firmware type to the disk style shown in diskpart's list disk (a star in the Gpt column means GPT, so UEFI)
5

Where Bootrec Still Fits - and Where It Does Not

Old tutorials swear by bootrec /fixmbr, /fixboot and /rebuildbcd. Honest status in 2026:

  1. On UEFI systems bootrec /fixboot commonly answers Access is denied - that is expected, not a new fault. Bcdboot does the same job properly
  2. bootrec /rebuildbcd frequently reports Total identified Windows installations: 0 on GPT disks even when Windows is right there
  3. Bootrec remains useful on old Legacy BIOS machines. For anything UEFI, bcdboot is the tool that finishes the job, which is why the toolkit workflow in the video is built around it
  4. Dual boot note: run bcdboot once per Windows installation, each time pointing at that installation's Windows folder - both entries land in the same boot menu
🔴 Bcdboot never deletes your data. It writes only to the small boot partition and reads from the Windows folder. If a guide tells you to format the EFI partition first, that is a last-resort step for a destroyed partition - not part of the normal rebuild, and unnecessary in nearly every case.

🎥 Watch the Boot Rebuild in the Full Video

From the 0xc000000f error screen to Boot files successfully created - the complete bcdboot repair shown on a real machine.

▶️ Watch Full Video
❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Bcdboot succeeded but the PC still shows no bootable device - what now?

Check the firmware boot order: the first entry must be Windows Boot Manager, not the bare disk name. If Windows Boot Manager is missing from the list entirely, the EFI partition may be damaged at the file-system level - chkdsk it, then run bcdboot again.

Can I rebuild boot files for Windows on a second disk this way?

Yes. Point bcdboot at that disk's Windows folder and at the EFI partition the firmware actually boots from. Many dual-disk boot failures are simply boot files living on the wrong disk - this is also how you fix a PC that only boots while its old disk is still connected.

Is the EFI partition supposed to have a letter in normal Windows?

No. Windows deliberately keeps it letterless to protect it. The letter you assign inside WinPE disappears when you reboot, which is exactly how it should be.

This guide is based on the Technical Anshu video on fixing corrupted Windows with a custom WinPE CMD Toolkit • Stuck on a step - ask in the video comments and the community will help 🙏