Boot\BCD 0 xc0000225 Error after Factory Restore

[berk581]

So i recently did a system restore back to factory settings after the OS was pretty much hosed on my mother's PC.  I'm not sure what someone had done to it the last time they "Fixed" it, but kept getting tons of errors and failing to load system processes under admin profiles.

The FIRST facotry restory went "OK" it reinstalled the OS, but unfortunately, many of the errors that were there before, were still there this time... I thought that was weird.. so i did another factory image restore...

That's when things went downhill even faster. Now it doesn't even boot into windows and I get the Boot\BCD 0 xc0000225 errors right on turning on the machine after BIOS loads....

I booted back into the recovery partition and pulled up command prompt and did some chkdsk, which came back fine... googled the error and attempted bootrec /rebuildbcd - it found the OS, i keyed a <Y> and hit enter, rebooted with fingers crossed and got the same error..  Tried to do the bootrec /scanos after that, just to see if it took, and it didn't find the OS...

I googled some more and it was leading me to set active partitions and all that stuff.. which makes me nervous in doing that... In reviewing the partitions both the C: & 😧 partions are set as "primary" which i'm thinking might be an issue? But not sure.. and scared to unset 😧 partition as a primary in case i need to boot in the recovery drive again...

I did another repair back to factory settings (maybe i should stop doing those?).. and it's still giving me the erorr and the bootrec /scanos does find the windows installtion on the C: drive. did another /rebuildbcd and restarted... same boot errors.. did another /scanos after that.. again said no identified windows installations.


So any thoughts? Should i do another restore then work with the partitions?

[DavidPK]

Hi,

From the command prompt, enter the following:

diskpart

list disk

select disk x       ( where x is the number of disk the partition is on – most likely 0 ( Zero ) )

list partition

Post back with details of the partitions listed.

Regards,

DP-K

[berk581]

Hi David and thank you for repsonding quickly

I get the following

Partition # - Type -----Size----Offset

------------------------------------------

Partition 1 - Primary  - 76 GB - 200MB

Partition 2 - Primary - 19 GB - 274GB

[DavidPK]

Hi,

You're welcome

It appears that the installation hasn't completed - can you let me know the following.

1.  Are you carrying out the recovery from the HDD partition or Recovery Discs?  If from Recovery Discs, are they the ones you create yourself or a replacement set sent by HP?

2.  Just to be sure, have you run the HDD diagnostics ( either from the  f2 Diagnostic Menu or bios f10 menu, depending on your Model )?

3.  What version of Windows are you trying to reinstall - ie Home Premium, Professional etc and whether it's 32bit or 64bit?

Regards,

DP-K

[berk581]

Thank you!

Recovering from the recovery portion of the HDD.
I did run the HDD diagnostics. No issues found.
Installing windows7 64bit.

[DavidPK]

Hi,

It may be worth considering the creation of a 'retail' installation disc and use this to reinstall the OS if you're happy to do so.

Can you confirm you can still read ( don't post it ) the entire 25 character key on your COA Label?

Just so that I'm sure, is the full version of your OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit?

Regards,

DP-K

[berk581]

I did order discs from HP in case the recovery section somehow became corrupt like the OS did since I didn't know what the last dude did.

Yes I can still read the full product key, it is home premium 64bit.

[DavidPK · Accepted solution]

Hi,

You can create Windows 7 installation disc ( or USB Flash Drive installer if your notebook supports booting from USB ) yourself using another PC.  Download the Image file on the link below and save it to your Downloads folder - the Windows 7 image source is Digital River ).

Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit.

To create an installation disc, use an application such as ImgBurn ( Note: You may want to de-select the additional software offerings during the installation of ImgBurn ) to burn the ISO correctly to a blank DVD - a guide on using ImgBurn to write an ISO to a disc is Here.

Or you can use an application such as Rufus to create a Windows 7 bootable USB flash drive installer - minimum size for the flash drive is 4Gb.

When created, tap away at the esc key as you start the notebook to enter the Start-up Menu.  Insert the Windows 7 installation disc ( or flash drive ).  Select the Boot Options menu ( f9 ).  Use the arrow keys to highlight the optical drive ( or USB flash drive ) and hit enter.

During the installation, enter the Windows activation key found on the COA Label when requested and when the installation has completed, use the 'Phone Method' detailed in the link below to activate the OS - this method supported by Microsoft and is popular with people who just want a clean installation of Windows 7 without the additional software load normally bundled with OEM installations.

http://www.kodyaz.com/articles/how-to-activate-windows-7-by-phone.aspx

Additional drivers and software you may need can be found by entering either the full Model No. or Product No. of your notebook Here.

Best regards,

DP-K