boot issues

Hi, I'm Bernard. I'm happy to help!

Since the BCD fails to repair the system, that means there is a missing or corrupted system file that is unable to be retrieved. In this case, I recommend using Windows installation media on a USB to repair the issue. To do that, kindly follow the steps below:

Note: We need another PC and a USB drive of at least 8GB, and make sure there are no files inside, as it will reformat the USB. Once you have that, kindly follow the steps:

Step 1: Create Windows 11 installation Media

Go to this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11

Scroll down and under "Create Windows 11 Installation Media" click "Download Now" then run the Media Creation Tool (the downloaded file)

If you agree to the license terms, select Accept.

On What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

Select the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 11.

This table will help you decide which edition of Windows 11 you’ll choose:

On Select which media, you want to use click USB and save it to your USB drive.

Once done, do the repair kindly follow the steps below:

Insert the USB into the affected PC

Start the PC, and if you see “Press any key to boot from DVD,” do so. If you don’t see the message, you might need to change the boot order in your computer's BIOS settings so that it first starts from the DVD or USB.

When you see the Install Windows page, tap or click Repair your computer to start the Windows Recovery Environment.

In the Windows Recovery Environment, on the Choose an option screen, tap or click Troubleshoot.

Tap or click on advanced options and then click on Startup repair.

Use Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) and Bootrec/BCDEdit to repair the BCD so it points to the correct system drive and winload.exe.

1. Boot into WinRE and open Command Prompt
   1. Start the PC from Windows installation media (USB/DVD) that matches the installed Windows version.
   2. On the Install Windows screen, select Next > Repair your computer.
   3. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
2. Repair MBR and boot sector (optional but recommended) In Command Prompt, run:

      bootrec /fixmbr
      bootrec /fixboot
   

   This rewrites the master boot record and boot sector, which can help if boot code is corrupted.
3. Scan for installed Windows systems

      bootrec /scanos
   

   This scans all disks for Windows installations that are not currently in the BCD store. Confirm that the correct Windows installation is detected.
4. Rebuild the BCD store First try a direct rebuild:

      bootrec /rebuildbcd
   

   When prompted, choose Y to add the found Windows installation(s) to the boot list, then restart and test.
5. If the error persists, fully recreate the BCD If the BCD is badly corrupted or still references a non‑existent device, export and replace it, then rebuild:

      bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
      c:
      cd \boot
      attrib bcd -s -h -r
      ren C:\boot\bcd bcd.old
      bootrec /rebuildbcd
   

   When prompted, choose Y to add the detected Windows installation. Restart the PC. These steps force creation of a fresh BCD store, removing references to missing or incorrect devices that cause 0xc000000e on winload.exe.
6. If Startup Repair is available, run it once more From Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair, run Startup Repair again after rebuilding BCD. It can finalize remaining boot‑loader configuration issues.

If the system still fails to boot after these steps, repeat WinRE boot, re‑open Command Prompt, and verify that the system partition and Windows folder (usually C:\Windows) are accessible and correctly detected; then rerun the BCD rebuild sequence.

References:

• Advanced troubleshooting for Windows startup issues
• Use Bootrec.exe in the Windows RE to troubleshoot startup issues
• "Bootmgr is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" error when you start Windows