Windows 10 Boot Repair Fail and Problem

[DeAndre2350]

Okay... so I kind of messed up, not gonna lie.  I was using my windows 10 PC because I wanted to download a couple free games off of steam, all of a sudden it freezes on me except for the start menu.  So I think, "Okay, it's fine.  It is like 10 years old and refurbished, I'll just restart it."  Only I come back an HOUR LATER AND IT'S STILL TRYING TO SHUT DOWN.  I start to worry that it might be broken, so what do I do?  ...  I held the power button until it turned off.  Not a good idea, after that I turned it back on. "No operating devices were detected. Please disconnect all drives not containing an operating system and try again." (Or something like that.)  Anyway, I did what it said and tried again.  Still the same thing, now I start to panic a little. "Okay, calm down. What to do? ... ... ... Oh, right."  I then realize I have a USB Drive, so I can reinstall windows like that, right? Apparently not, that didn't work and now my problem is worse.  Now I have the Windows Boot Manager giving me an error message. I'll skip around the message a little because I don't have an installation disk, that was at the top of the error message. I'll type in what concerns me the most........

"If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

File: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD

Status:  0xc000000f

Info: The Boot Configuration Data for your PC is missing or contains errors."

That's what it says, I'm looking at it right now. (I should never turned it off, it would have gone through the process eventually, right?) I'm sorry this is so long and thank you for taking the time to read this. (Is this even fixable?)

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@DeAndre2350 

You only made matters worse trying to force a reinstallation of Windows when all you had to do was come here, tell us about the BCD error, and I could have provided you a link to free software you could install on another PC to then make a USB stick you could have used to rebuild the boot files on YOUR PC.

So, in the hopes that will STILL work, despite what you did, read the information below, create the USB stick, boot your PC from it and see if rebuilding the BCD is enough to get it working again:

Windows PCs use two different sets of files to get you to a working desktop.

In terms of the first, Windows boot files, you need to follow the instructions below to create boot media from Macrium Reflect (MR) that can be used to rewrite/repair the boot media on your PC:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from this link on a working PC: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
2) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

That will create MR bootable media. Then, you can boot your PC into WinPE using that media.

Have patience, as that can take a while to start and bring up the screen.

Once the screen is there, select the option to Fix Windows boot problems. It will then search for the OSs installed and list them, Select the one you want to repair and click Next.

It will now do the repairs, listing the things it has done.

When finished, select the option to Restart the PC.

If this worked, the boot repair succeeded and you will have your PC back.

But if it did not, the Windows system files are most likely corrupted and you would have to reinstall Windows from scratch to fix that.

[DeAndre2350]

Okay so, I've done that... apparently I have 4 drives that are primany partartions of my Windows PC. The system, the OS, The recovery and a... No name drive. Guessing the no name is the USB, but I'm nit doing anything until I know what... anything is. I'm usually a tech savvy person, believe it or not. I just... messed up this time. ... Anyway, I'm attaching a screenshot of my PC screen to this repost. If you don't know what to do, I think I saved the user guide to my phone somewhere. I usually try to keep things in my phone in case my computer... does something like it is now. *sigh* I'm sorry, you must think I'm an idiot for turning off the computer when it's the ONE thing it says not to do.

[DeAndre2350]

Well, I can't take a screenshot because I have no way to import it somewhere... Yay... ... I'll look at the guide. Sorry for taking up your time.

[DeAndre2350]

It worked... It actually worked. Thank you so much! I'm sorry... Hope I didn't take up too much of your time with my stupidity... Have a good week! This means so much to me! Thank you!

[itsmyname]

@DeAndre2350  -- while the "compose" window is active, you should see:

If you position the cursor where you want the image to be inserted, then click that "camera" icon.

Then, you can select any GIF / JPG / PNG image to be inserted.

Note that this forum's "moderator" will need to "approve" the image, to be sure that it is "Suitable For Work", before any other contributor on this forum will be able to see your image.

> all of a sudden it freezes on me except for the start menu.  So I think, "Okay, it's fine.  It is like 10 years old and refurbished, I'll just restart it."  Only I come back an HOUR LATER AND IT'S STILL TRYING TO SHUT DOWN. 

If Windows is "frozen", then it will not shut down.

If the disk-drive has stopped responding, all the input/output that Windows usually does when you click "Shutdown" never happens.  Windows keeps waiting, in vain, for the disk-drive to respond.

> I start to worry that it might be broken, so what do I do?  ...  I held the power button until it turned off. 

> Not a good idea,

You only had two choices:

1. for a desktop computer, disconnect the power-cord from the computer. For a notebook computer, remove the battery, and disconnect the power "brick";
2. hold-down the ON/OFF button, as you did.

to force a "power-off".

> after that I turned it back on. "No operating devices were detected. Please disconnect all drives not containing an operating system and try again."

This is a sure sign that the disk-drive has "suddenly" died.  Ouch!

You have three options:

1. if the HP Warranty is still valid, contact HP. HP will replace the disk-drive, and give you a copy of Windows, to let you reinstall Windows;
2. Purchase a brand-new computer, with Windows pre-installed;
3. Purchase  a new disk-drive, disconnect the old disk-drive, connect the new disk-drive, and reinstall Windows.

[Lots of details about the above alternatives has not been included.]

[DeAndre2350]

Thank you so much, I'm gonna make sure I take better care of my computer. I'll put this all in my phone's notes for future reference so that if it happens again (which it shouldn't), I'll know what to do. Again thank you so much, you've helped more than you can imagine. I needed this computer for school, and soon I'll need it for work. I'm sorry that I took up your time. Have a nice weekend!