Boot Error

[croy]

For about the last month or so, whenever my Windows 7HP SP1
machine has been powered off, I get the following,
black-screen message:

*****
Windows Boot Manager

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software
change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disk and restart your
computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then clidk "Next".
3. Click "Repair your computer."

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



Status: 0xc000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required
device is unnaccessible.




ENTER=Continue ESC=Exit
*****

If I hit ENTER, the machine goes thru the bios boot cycle
again, and then boots fine.

If I follow the instructions in the error message, nothing
improves.

Does anybody here have any experience with this message, and
its resolution?

 

[Dave-UK]

For about the last month or so, whenever my Windows 7HP SP1
machine has been powered off, I get the following,
black-screen message:

*****
Windows Boot Manager

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software
change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disk and restart your
computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then clidk "Next".
3. Click "Repair your computer."

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



Status: 0xc000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required
device is unnaccessible.




ENTER=Continue ESC=Exit
*****

If I hit ENTER, the machine goes thru the bios boot cycle
again, and then boots fine.

If I follow the instructions in the error message, nothing
improves.

Does anybody here have any experience with this message, and
its resolution?

Sometimes the Startup Repair option fails after the first go but will
work after 2 or 3 attempts.

 

[Jan Alter]

Sometimes the Startup Repair option fails after the first go but will
work after 2 or 3 attempts.

If you either have or have made a Win7 install disk then boot from it and
have it fix the OS so it starts up properly. It's worth a shot and may
change the registry so you don't get the message.

 

[croy]

If you either have or have made a Win7 install disk then boot from it and
have it fix the OS so it starts up properly. It's worth a shot and may
change the registry so you don't get the message.

Thanks for the reply, but I've done that more times than I
care to think about, with no improvement.

I've been trying to understand EasyBCD, but I'm not even
sure if it's a proper tool for this problem.

 

[charlie]

Thanks for the reply, but I've done that more times than I
care to think about, with no improvement.

I've been trying to understand EasyBCD, but I'm not even
sure if it's a proper tool for this problem.

I've run across this type of failure when the HD is starting to
fail,(slow spinup, or sticking) or the power supply has a problem. It's
also possible but somewhat unlikely that a poor power connection is to
blame.

 

[Paul]

For about the last month or so, whenever my Windows 7HP SP1
machine has been powered off, I get the following,
black-screen message:

*****
Windows Boot Manager

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software
change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disk and restart your
computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then clidk "Next".
3. Click "Repair your computer."

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



Status: 0xc000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required
device is unnaccessible.




ENTER=Continue ESC=Exit
*****

If I hit ENTER, the machine goes thru the bios boot cycle
again, and then boots fine.

If I follow the instructions in the error message, nothing
improves.

Does anybody here have any experience with this message, and
its resolution?

You should try a search on

Windows Boot Manager 0xc000000e

and see what pops up. There seems to be more than one possibility,
as to the source of the problem.

In this example, they blame it on a disk signature change.
(Two disks with the same signature.) Something that might happen,
depending on how many copies of the OS are visible during boot,
what you use for backups or cloning, that sort of thing.

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH169590

The details of the complexity of your setup would help, like if
you're always cloning things, changing BIOS boot mode, multibooting
etc.

The startup repair, seems to do different things, depending on
how many times in a row it's been run (I've had a case where it
failed all attempts, so I got to observe them). On the third try,
it might try a sector by sector run of CHKDSK, which can take a while.
The first try, is a more lightweight attempt at boot repair. Like
maybe altering the BCD, repairing the MBR or partition boot
sector or whatever.

I can also find the odd thread about that error
being related to SYSPREP, but I don't know how that
would relate to your situation.

Paul

 

[Philip Herlihy]

For about the last month or so, whenever my Windows 7HP SP1
machine has been powered off, I get the following,
black-screen message:

*****
Windows Boot Manager

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software
change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disk and restart your
computer. ....

If I hit ENTER, the machine goes thru the bios boot cycle
again, and then boots fine.

If I follow the instructions in the error message, nothing
improves.

Sounds like a failing disk to me. You can get an idea of the status of
your disk from the "Health" tab in Defraggler, which is a small free
download from piriform.com (and a great defragmenter). I like to run
the Acronis Drive Monitor, free from Acronis, which pops up warnings if
it detects disk issues. It's meant to complement their True Image
backup/cloning application, but you can disable those warnings in the
Options dialogue if you don't have True Image. Acronis Drive Monitor
has saved my customers endless grief from unexpected disk failure, as it
gives you plenty of warning.

Meanwhile, run a full disk check, and look for the results in the
Application log under "winlogon" (event 1001 if I remember correctly).

 

[croy]

You should try a search on

Windows Boot Manager 0xc000000e

and see what pops up. There seems to be more than one possibility,
as to the source of the problem.

I've done a number of searches, but not with those exact
terms--I'll try those--thanks.

In futzing around with EasyBCD, I see that Windows considers
my D: drive to be the boot drive, and C: to be the system
drive. Trying to remember back to when I installed this
system, it seems to me like it was the type of install that
didn't use the hidden partition.... but I definitely
remember something about installing Windows once, and
finding out that it was on the wrong drive, then isntalling
again, and having a lot of problems, one of them being this
exact kind of "double boot" problem. But eventually things
seemed to settle down, and then recently, after a couple of
years of trouble-free, the problem is back with a vengence.

I experimented this morning with disconnecting the two IDE
drives (one of them had my D: partition on it), and just
booting with the one, 2TB SATA drive. Windows booted in one
try, whether from a restart, or a powerup after a complete
powerdown!

When I plugged in the IDE drives again, I'm right back to
the double-boot problem.

A thought now, is that since the system boots fine without
the D: drive, maybe I should just boot to a Linux CD and go
to the D: drive and delete the [Boot] directory. If I get
the nerve up to do that, I'll make an image of D: first!
Thoughts on this?

In this example, they blame it on a disk signature change.
(Two disks with the same signature.) Something that might happen,
depending on how many copies of the OS are visible during boot,
what you use for backups or cloning, that sort of thing.

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH169590

The details of the complexity of your setup would help, like if
you're always cloning things, changing BIOS boot mode, multibooting
etc.

Not multi-booting, but the history above puts some fuzz on
the status.

The startup repair, seems to do different things, depending on
how many times in a row it's been run (I've had a case where it
failed all attempts, so I got to observe them). On the third try,
it might try a sector by sector run of CHKDSK, which can take a while.
The first try, is a more lightweight attempt at boot repair. Like
maybe altering the BCD, repairing the MBR or partition boot
sector or whatever.

Hmmm. When you say "several times in a row", do you mean
running the repair from the CD/DVD and letting it reboot
after each try? It seems like when the repair is done, I
only have the option of "finished", at which time an
automatic reboot kicks in.

I can also find the odd thread about that error
being related to SYSPREP, but I don't know how that
would relate to your situation.

Thanks for all your comments. I'll have to look up "disk
signature", as I'm not familiar with that. It sounds like
something MS put in to work with "activation".

 

[croy]

Sounds like a failing disk to me. You can get an idea of the status of
your disk from the "Health" tab in Defraggler, which is a small free
download from piriform.com (and a great defragmenter). I like to run
the Acronis Drive Monitor, free from Acronis, which pops up warnings if
it detects disk issues. It's meant to complement their True Image
backup/cloning application, but you can disable those warnings in the
Options dialogue if you don't have True Image. Acronis Drive Monitor
has saved my customers endless grief from unexpected disk failure, as it
gives you plenty of warning.

Meanwhile, run a full disk check, and look for the results in the
Application log under "winlogon" (event 1001 if I remember correctly).

Thanks for that. This morning, I ran SpinRite at level 2 on
every drive in the box, and came up with a clean bill of
health.

I'll look into Acronis Drive Monitor, and see what it
says--thanks.

 

[croy]

For about the last month or so, whenever my Windows 7HP SP1
machine has been powered off, I get the following,
black-screen message:

*****
Windows Boot Manager

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software
change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows installation disk and restart your
computer.
2. Choose your language settings, and then clidk "Next".
3. Click "Repair your computer."

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



Status: 0xc000000e

Info: The boot selection failed because a required
device is unnaccessible.




ENTER=Continue ESC=Exit
*****

If I hit ENTER, the machine goes thru the bios boot cycle
again, and then boots fine.

If I follow the instructions in the error message, nothing
improves.

Does anybody here have any experience with this message, and
its resolution?

I forgot to mention one other piece of info:

This *may* have started happening as a side effect of
installing a new graphics adapter card. I had been using
the onboard adapter, but was getting some wierd screen
artifacts. The new adapter works fine, and solved the
screen problem.

I just can't remember with certainty whether or not the
first instance of the "double-boot" problem happened before
or after the new graphics adapter was installed (I've got to
learn to make notes!).

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

In futzing around with EasyBCD, I see that Windows considers
my D: drive to be the boot drive, and C: to be the system
drive. Trying to remember back to when I installed this
system, it seems to me like it was the type of install that
didn't use the hidden partition.... but I definitely
remember something about installing Windows once, and
finding out that it was on the wrong drive, then isntalling
again, and having a lot of problems, one of them being this
exact kind of "double boot" problem. But eventually things
seemed to settle down, and then recently, after a couple of
years of trouble-free, the problem is back with a vengence.

After creating an empty partition for W8, I installed W8 as a double
boot on top of the W7 installation.

FWIW, when I booted into W7, its partition was C: and W8 was D:. When I
booted into W8, W8 was C: and W7 was D:

After a while I got rid of W7, since I was happy enough with 8, and
expanded the W8 partition to the whole disk.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I forgot to mention one other piece of info:

This *may* have started happening as a side effect of
installing a new graphics adapter card. I had been using
the onboard adapter, but was getting some wierd screen
artifacts. The new adapter works fine, and solved the
screen problem.

I just can't remember with certainty whether or not the
first instance of the "double-boot" problem happened before
or after the new graphics adapter was installed (I've got to
learn to make notes!).

Or do what I do: make three or four changes at once and then try to
figure out which change created or fixed the problem

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Croy.

In futzing around with EasyBCD, I see that Windows considers my D: drive
to be the boot drive, and C: to be the system drive.

Are you sure? Just remember that, as Ed Bott said, "We BOOT from the SYSTEM
Partition and keep the operating SYSTEM files in the BOOT volume."

Those terms are quite COUNTERintuitive, and most of us get them backwards,
at least sometimes. ;>( But Windows always gets them right, which can
leave us users confused, especially in newsgroups where the terms are often
reversed, even by experienced users.

Until WinXP and Vista, we could read the explanation in KB 314470,
"Definitions for system volume and boot volume". I referred users to that
KB so often when I was an MVP that it was on my Favorites list. The latest
version of that KB says it "applies to a different version of Windows than
the one you are using", because Win7 introduced the hidden System
Partition - in SOME but not all Win7/Win8 installations. KB 314470 still
applies in spirit, if not in technical details, to Win7 and Win8, but I
haven't found an explanation as clear as that KB.
Even the current KB 314470, though, still says:

The system volume refers to the disk volume that contains the
hardware-specific files that are needed to start Windows, such as Ntldr,
Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com.

(Just remember that NTLDR, etc., have not been used since Vista; now the
file "bootmgr" and the BCD files in the hidden BOOT folder are in the System
Partition.)

And:

The boot volume refers to the disk volume that contains the Windows
operating system files and the supporting files. By default, the Windows
operating system files are in the WINDOWS folder, and the supporting files
are in the WINDOWS\System32 folder.

In most configurations, the Boot Folder will be C:\Windows and the System
Partition will be either Drive D: or the hidden, unlettered partition. See
if you have a Hidden/System folder called D:\Boot.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2012 (Build 16.4.3505.0912) in Win8 Pro


"croy" wrote in message
<SNIP>

In futzing around with EasyBCD, I see that Windows considers
my D: drive to be the boot drive, and C: to be the system
drive. Trying to remember back to when I installed this
system, it seems to me like it was the type of install that
didn't use the hidden partition.... but I definitely
remember something about installing Windows once, and
finding out that it was on the wrong drive, then isntalling
again, and having a lot of problems, one of them being this
exact kind of "double boot" problem. But eventually things
seemed to settle down, and then recently, after a couple of
years of trouble-free, the problem is back with a vengence.

I experimented this morning with disconnecting the two IDE
drives (one of them had my D: partition on it), and just
booting with the one, 2TB SATA drive. Windows booted in one
try, whether from a restart, or a powerup after a complete
powerdown!

When I plugged in the IDE drives again, I'm right back to
the double-boot problem.

A thought now, is that since the system boots fine without
the D: drive, maybe I should just boot to a Linux CD and go
to the D: drive and delete the [Boot] directory. If I get
the nerve up to do that, I'll make an image of D: first!
Thoughts on this?

<SNIP>

 

[croy]

Hi, Croy.


Are you sure? Just remember that, as Ed Bott said, "We BOOT from the SYSTEM
Partition and keep the operating SYSTEM files in the BOOT volume."

Those terms are quite COUNTERintuitive, and most of us get them backwards,
at least sometimes. ;>( But Windows always gets them right, which can
leave us users confused, especially in newsgroups where the terms are often
reversed, even by experienced users.

Well, here's a paste from EasyBCD:

*****
There is one entry in the Windows bootloader.

Default: Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)
Timeout: 10 seconds
Boot Drive: D:\

Entry #1
Name: Windows 7 Home Premium (recovered)
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

*****

.... which is about the extent of my abilities with this.

Something tells me that it would all be working fine if my
original Windows 7HP installation had been done correct the
first time. Having said that, I really would rather not do
a clean install, because of the days/weeks/months it always
takes me to get application and settings back to the way I
like them. I also suspect that this problem could be easily
corrected, if I just understood the Windows 7 boot mechanics
and understood the problem's underpinnings. If I unplug the
IDE drives (including the one that contains my D: [data]
drive, and has a [Boot] directory therein), and just leave
the SATA drive that holds my C: and E: partitions, the
machine boots normally. Then EasyBCD shows the boot drive
as C:, and the [?] drive as C:. Maybe EasyBCD uses
different terminology that the Windows 7 developers. I
can't keep it straight.

Until WinXP and Vista, we could read the explanation in KB 314470,
"Definitions for system volume and boot volume". I referred users to that
KB so often when I was an MVP that it was on my Favorites list. The latest
version of that KB says it "applies to a different version of Windows than
the one you are using", because Win7 introduced the hidden System
Partition - in SOME but not all Win7/Win8 installations. KB 314470 still
applies in spirit, if not in technical details, to Win7 and Win8, but I
haven't found an explanation as clear as that KB.
Even the current KB 314470, though, still says:

(Just remember that NTLDR, etc., have not been used since Vista; now the
file "bootmgr" and the BCD files in the hidden BOOT folder are in the System
Partition.)

And:


In most configurations, the Boot Folder will be C:\Windows and the System
Partition will be either Drive D: or the hidden, unlettered partition. See
if you have a Hidden/System folder called D:\Boot.

Yes, D:\Boot is there. There is also a C:\Boot directory.

I'm thinking of the old saying, "Never store firearms near a
computer!"

 

[darkomano]

;3546133']

Yes, D:\Boot is there. There is also a C:\Boot directory.

I'm thinking of the old saying, "Never store firearms near a
computer!"

The boot sequence is pretty simple:

First disk MBR code, then active partition PBR code, then "bootmgr" fro
active partition.
The bootmgr reads BCD (again from active) and displays boot menu or jus
loads the OS if only one loader entry.

You can view the complete contents of BCD using Visual BCD Edito
(http://www.boyans.net)

If the drive in {bootmgr} object is different from active partition th
\boot\BCD from the specified drive is used on second boot attempt
maybe this explains observed behavior

 

[croy]

The boot sequence is pretty simple:

First disk MBR code, then active partition PBR code, then "bootmgr" from
active partition.

Those first two words trip me up ("First disk")! <g> The
first disk by the way that Windows Disk Management numbers
them, or something else....

My large SATA drive is plugged into the mainboard on SATA 0,
but in the BIOS setup, it comes up as IDE #2 Master. The
drive that houses my "D:" drive is actually an IDE drive,
and it shows in the BIOS setup as IDE #1 Master.

The bootmgr reads BCD (again from active) and displays boot menu or just
loads the OS if only one loader entry.

You can view the complete contents of BCD using Visual BCD Editor
(http://www.boyans.net)

Very nice. Of course it would be a lot nicer if I
understood what it's showing me. With {bootmgr} selected in
the left pane, I see the first line in the right-hand pane
has a value of "\Device\HarddiskVolume 1 (D. If I click
on "Edit", I get a window that has different fields than the
right-hand pane is showing me. I'm tempted to change the
"Drive" to "C:" in the Edit window, but I'm too chicken.
Both the C: and D: drives have [Boot] directories and
bootmgr files.

If the drive in {bootmgr} object is different from active partition the
\boot\BCD from the specified drive is used on second boot attempt -
maybe this explains observed behavior.

That sure sounds plausible.

Since the sytem *does* eventually boot, I'll try to keep my
finger off the trigger until I have more confidence. Thanks
for your thoughts.