File \Windows\System32\winload.efi is either corrupted or missing (2023)

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  (Video) Fix winload.efi Is Missing or Corrupt Error in Windows 10 - Fix [Tutorial]

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  Hello,

  Could you please boot your computer from Windows 8 setup media, start command prompt from there by pressing SHIFT+F10after WinPE Setup wizard starts and try accessing your boot partition (this is where your efi boot file is located).

  If am not mistaken, it's too late in Russia and my mind doesn't serve me well at this time, this error indicates that your boot code on your system partition is OK and BIOS successfully runs it, but after that, when it tries to access EFI file from your boot partition to start Windows, it fails to do so because it cannot access the volume that is pointed by boot code (the volume where EFI file is located). For example, it may happen if your boot code is located on a NTFS system partition and your data partition is formatted into ReFS file system. In this case, your system will be able to access the boot code, but the boot firmware will fail to access winload EFI file located on a non-supported file system.

  In short, it looks like you have specified in BIOS to use 16-bit old BIOS (non-UEFI) firmware, but Windows Loader points to EFI file due to a record in the Boot Configuration Database (BCD) that points to winload.efi EFI firmware.Could it be that you were installing Windows 8 on a UEFI-enabled PC and then changed BIOS setting and disabled UEFI in BIOS?

  Could you please certify that you have enabled UEFI in your BIOS and you are starting Windows using old int13 (13 hex interrupt) access method? Do you see Windows Loader option in your BIOS boot screen?

  Please check this thread for information about how you could recover missing winload.efi/winload.exe boot manager:Winload.exe is missing or corrupt - Recover CD does not boot - Problem SOLVED!

  You would need to recover winload.efi (if this file is missing from the pointed partition , Iguess this should be c:\Windows\system32\winload.efi) or recover the boot record by recovering Boot Configuration Database.

  Please see this thread to find out who you could recover the BCD using bcdboot tool:[VHD][BOOT][UEFI] Boot Windows 8 From a VHD Drive On a GPT Disk Using UEFI BIOS. Proper Partition Layout To Optimize Disk Usage

  Thank you.

  Well this is the world we live in And these are the hands we're given...

  • Edited by Exotic Hadron Friday, November 9, 2012 12:51 AM
  • Marked as answer by Niki Han Tuesday, November 13, 2012 1:59 AM

  Friday, November 9, 2012 12:34 AM

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  What you still not tried, was another harddisk.

  From your description I would assume, that the system disk is faulty.

  Did you alreadytry to run chkdsk /r from the repair environment cmd prompt agains the volume containing the system?

  (To get the proper drive letter you could open notepad and use it's Open dialog as explorer replacement to optically view the drives.)

  Best greetings from Germany
  Olaf

  Thursday, November 8, 2012 8:05 PM

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  Just ran chkdsk on my system drive. No errors. It says changes were made to the filesystem however I still end up with the same error at boot.
  Thanks for the notepad tip!

  Thursday, November 8, 2012 8:44 PM

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  (Video) How to Fix Winload.Efi Is Missing or Corrupt Error in Windows 10 - Fix [Solution]

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  Just ran chkdsk on my system drive. No errors. It says changes were made to the filesystem however I still end up with the same error at boot.

  Hm, well. Changes to the file system could mean, that the file system was indeed corrupt - which can also happen due toa crash during write access. So if a file was damaged in this process, it can be unrecoverable. But on the other side it could be, that now the other repair processes work again, since a damaged file system will obviously have caused troubles.

  Wish you good luck
  Olaf

  Thursday, November 8, 2012 11:16 PM

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  Hello,

  Could you please boot your computer from Windows 8 setup media, start command prompt from there by pressing SHIFT+F10after WinPE Setup wizard starts and try accessing your boot partition (this is where your efi boot file is located).

  If am not mistaken, it's too late in Russia and my mind doesn't serve me well at this time, this error indicates that your boot code on your system partition is OK and BIOS successfully runs it, but after that, when it tries to access EFI file from your boot partition to start Windows, it fails to do so because it cannot access the volume that is pointed by boot code (the volume where EFI file is located). For example, it may happen if your boot code is located on a NTFS system partition and your data partition is formatted into ReFS file system. In this case, your system will be able to access the boot code, but the boot firmware will fail to access winload EFI file located on a non-supported file system.

  In short, it looks like you have specified in BIOS to use 16-bit old BIOS (non-UEFI) firmware, but Windows Loader points to EFI file due to a record in the Boot Configuration Database (BCD) that points to winload.efi EFI firmware.Could it be that you were installing Windows 8 on a UEFI-enabled PC and then changed BIOS setting and disabled UEFI in BIOS?

  Could you please certify that you have enabled UEFI in your BIOS and you are starting Windows using old int13 (13 hex interrupt) access method? Do you see Windows Loader option in your BIOS boot screen?

  Please check this thread for information about how you could recover missing winload.efi/winload.exe boot manager:Winload.exe is missing or corrupt - Recover CD does not boot - Problem SOLVED!

  You would need to recover winload.efi (if this file is missing from the pointed partition , Iguess this should be c:\Windows\system32\winload.efi) or recover the boot record by recovering Boot Configuration Database.

  Please see this thread to find out who you could recover the BCD using bcdboot tool:[VHD][BOOT][UEFI] Boot Windows 8 From a VHD Drive On a GPT Disk Using UEFI BIOS. Proper Partition Layout To Optimize Disk Usage

  Thank you.

  Well this is the world we live in And these are the hands we're given...

  • Edited by Exotic Hadron Friday, November 9, 2012 12:51 AM
  • Marked as answer by Niki Han Tuesday, November 13, 2012 1:59 AM

  Friday, November 9, 2012 12:34 AM

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  Hi, i have a windows 8 Toshiba Satellite C850. It worked fine for about a month and then got stuck in an auto repair loop.I was able to reset it and it worked fine for a week, but now has bsod \window\system32\winload.efi error. The code seems to variate sometimes. 3 examples would be; 0xc0000185 , 0xc0000001 , 0xc0000225.I have downloaded a windows 8 .iso and had to disable the secure boot in order for it towork andit appears to be working, but after about 10 minsi get another blue screen saying your pc has encountered an error and must reset.

  Is there some way to erase all dataand clean install with a bsod blocking my way?

  Friday, February 15, 2013 3:43 AM

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  I had a smilar problem few days ago. I have a Samsung ATIV Tab Pro with Windows 8. It updated it self to 8.1 and after configuration i tried to restart but it didn't open! Gave me 0xc0000001 windows.efi error. I could reach BIOS, help screen with F8 and Recovery screen. But non of them was solved problem. Until I found this solution from a hard to discover subject >

  Press F8. This will open a screen tagged like "Start-up Configurations" with 9 options. Press8) Disable early launch anti-malware protection.

  After this, my Tab PC opened like nothing happened! I guess problem was caused by Norton during update which had came on PC. I deleted Norton and installed Avast. Now it works fine!

  My point is, if you have a similar situation likes this, try this solution before recovery, USB, bla bla..

  (Video) Winload.efi Fix Windows 10/11 - QUICK FIX

  Friday, February 7, 2014 8:28 AM

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  Hello,

  Sorry to hear that! I do not think your Norton product has caused it.

  Was there a power failure during Windows 8.1 update? This error indicates that one of your OS files was corrupted. Also, do you remember the version of your Norton product?

  Thanks!

  Vineeth

  Norton Support

  Friday, February 7, 2014 5:49 PM

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  Hello,

  Sorry to hear that! I do not think your Norton product has caused it.

  Was there a power failure during Windows 8.1 update? This error indicates that one of your OS files was corrupted. Also, do you remember the version of your Norton product?

  Thanks!

  Vineeth

  Norton Support

  I have to agree totally, without the dump file we are assuming that Norton is the cause, I've been running Norton for few days now. I have not had issues yet. I'd like to remind people a security system needs to be planned out well. If installing any major software you must disable all parts of the security software, this is why Norton gave the option how long to disable. Remember to make sure the file is scanned before you setup.

  Friday, February 7, 2014 9:19 PM

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  Hi, I have the same problem like you guys. Windows 8.1 cuad core x64 8GB RAM. I shoted down the pc from power sources and then started directly with Recovery Windows etc and notify me that winload.efi is dammaged or missing. I have tried all the methods listed above but none solution. Then i have started PC with comand line(CMD) and pointed to C: my surprise was to see that in this partition the folders Windows Program filles and Users wheren't there so this is the reason my laptop doesn't start because he cant find the windows directory. Anyone have more ideeas, excepting restore my laptop from fabric defaults and formatt all drives?? Regards

  Sunday, February 23, 2014 9:04 AM

  (Video) Winload.efi Fix Windows 10 [Solution]

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  Hi there,

  I noticed your mention of Windows Update 8.1. My computer is having the same problem. However, I created a repair disk on a usb. Next, I started using uefi in the advanced options to enter the bios(which I couldn't do by enter key / f2 /f12 etc...). When I restored to a new disk from the usb I got the same error.

  This is bad! This means that something is wrong with the computer not the drive. However, this something wrong with the computer has been caused by windows update 8.1.

  How could this be? It also seems to be unrelated to power failure during installation if it happened to a successfully restored drive (It only stopped working after the shutting down post recovery).

  Any ideas about what to do next?

  jwize

  Saturday, July 5, 2014 1:09 AM

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  I had an odd issue.

  I was trying to boot and it was giving me the the 0xc0e error with c:\windows\system32\winload.exe error.

  Your information on it trying to boot with the old bios was spot on. I had to change the bios setting so it would boot uefi first. It was trying to boot the old bios setting first even though I had it set to boot from either legacy or uefi.

  My setup is as follows.

  -128 gb SSD samsung evo and 120gb kingston SSD in raid 0

  -Windows 8.1

  Thank you very much for the info!

  Wednesday, November 26, 2014 5:59 AM

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  Same error on a brand new PC, run BootRec with the all the options above and the system has booted into Windows 10 Pro.

  Don't skip that step if you are having a similar issue.

  Tuesday, July 4, 2017 10:23 AM