FILE\BCD ERROR CODE: 0xc0000034

badchess

New Member
Messages
10
Location
San Antonio
OK, so I've been bad. I bought a new computer about 8 weeks ago and didn't get around to creating a recovery disk. Also I just moved, and didn't get around to shifting my online backup from my old computer to the new one yet.

But what could go wrong, right?


Error:

RECOVERY
YOUR PC NEEDS TO BE REPAIRED
THE BOOT CONFIGURATION DATA FILE IS MISSING SOME REQUIRED INFORMATION.

FILE\BCD

ERROR CODE: 0xc0000034

YOU'LL NEED TO USE THE RECOVERY TOOLS ON YOUR INSTALLATION MEDIA. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY INSTALLATION MEDIA (LIKE A DISK OR USB DEVICE) CONTACT YOUR SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR OR PC MANUFACTURER

PRESS ESC FOR UEFI FIRMWARE SETTINGS




So after hours on the phone to Costo and Dell they are sending me something so I can reformat/reinstall windows. Losing several thousand photographs (some I have orders for). That was their best suggustion.

No matter now many times I reboot (pounding F8, or Shift F8) all I get is the above screen.

I can get to a hardware test that runs with no errors found. And I can thumb my way through the bios, and make changes.

But there seems to be no way to get to a safe mode, or repair mode, or a Last Known Good Configuration mode.

I really don't want to write off several thousand pictures. Well, the hassle of reinstalling all the software and plugins sucks too, but I can survive that.

Serves me right for not being on the ball with disaster recovery plans...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
DO NOT format the drive. This is a boot configuration problem and you can probably fix it without a format.
Follow SIW2's advice to backup your data before doing anything else!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Thanks much I'll give it a whirl.

I guess I'll find out when I get home, but what should the boot thumb drive look like? (Just not sure if I did it right).

View attachment 23440

setup.exe
bootmgf.efi
bootmgr
autorun.inf


That the sort of thing that should be there?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
How to use ubunto to access hard drive?

So I've obtained a couple of thumbdrives.

Ubuntu 13.04 and windows 8.

Nothing on the windows 8 seems to be able to repair the problem.

And I can't seem to see any local hard drives with Ubuntu.

If I boot into ubuntu how would I go about viewing the local "C" drive?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
windows 8 recovery

So, a friend sent me a bootable win 8 thumb.

I click on Repair
I select Troublehoot

I try three options:

  1. Refresh: "The drive where windows is installed is locked. Unlock the drive and try again."
  2. Reset: Didn't try as it said it would wipe the system.
  3. Advanced: Four Options


  1. System Restore: "To use system restore you must specify which windows Installation to restore"
  2. System Image Recovery: "Windows cannot find a system image on this computer"​
  3. Automatic Repair: "Automatic Repair couldn't repair your PC"​
  4. Command Prompt: I could actually wander my hard drive and look longinly at the gigs of CR2 photos on my drive...​
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Thanks john

I've tried those, but no joy.

I go:

bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

And get a response:

"Successfully scanned windows installations.
Total identified Windows installations: 1
Add installation to boot list?
Yes<Y>/No<N>/All<A>:



No matter which choice I make I get:

The requested system device cannot be found.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
After you backup your stuff, post over in the General Forums for more assistance in repairing with the bootrec commands (I'm not an expert with them): General Support - Windows 8 Forums
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Data saved

Whew, due to the powers invested in me by old dos commands (good ol' XCOPY) I copied all my .cr2 files to a portable hard drive.

Now just need to get the computer booting again.

Thanks for the help!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
Run chdksk /r /f on all the hard drives (you'll have to reboot for it to work on the OS drive), then run hard drive diagnostics on all drives ( Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure )

Then start in on these fixes:
Interesting fixes listed here (read all the way through it): /RebuildBCD error

This post suggests that your OS partition may not longer be active, try the fixes there also: https://neosmart.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9134

Some good suggestions here (even though it's 7 it should also work in 8): windows 7 boot loader missing/corrupt - Page 2 - Windows 7 Help Forums

Another more detailed fix: Windows 7 Suddenly Won&rsquo;t Boot &ndash; Reboot and Select Proper Boot Device or Insert Boot Media in Selected Boot Device and Press Any Key – Repairing the Windows 7 Bootloader « Russ' Do It Yourself Home Workshop

It's your choice to either continue trying to fix this - or to wipe and reinstall. I'll continue to provide suggestions, but I'm way, way out of my depth when trying to fix the BCD. Good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Prophylaxis?

So, after a month I am finally up and running.


Thanks to Xcopy and the good ol' DOS prompt I recovered my data, and did a total system restore from a thumbdrive Dell sent me.


Now reinstalling software. Thankfully knowledge of past frailties led me to keep a spreadsheet of all my software serial numbers in multiple locations (work, thumbdrives, home PC [well, that one was lost in this incident], cloud, etc). At least I did one thing right.


Switched my carbonite backup to my new computer.


But...


No idea why this happened. It was really out of the blue (pun).



  • Should I be doing something like disabling Windows 8 fast startup in an effort to make future events more fixable?
  • Is there some other prophylactic item I can do to avoid this (other then the previously mentioned "get my online backup up and running?")

And finally, thanks for those who helped!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8
Over the last week or so I've seen a number of issues that are likely to be blamed on Fast Startup.
I suggest that the first troubleshooting step is to disable Fast Startup ( http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/6320-fast-startup-turn-off-windows-8-a.html ).
Then monitor to see if the problem recurs.

I'm starting to use the Windows 7 File Recovery tool (in the Win8 Control Panel) to backup my User Profile and the entire system to a separate hard drive. We'll see how that works out the next time I need it (it's too late now as my installation was pretty messed up before I started the backup). It backs up periodically on a schedule that you set - and keeps as many versions as it can on the device that you specify.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Hi badchess, I recently experienced the same problem as you and was hoping you can how you used the /xcopy command? I have the same errror on my surface pro and really would like to retrieve my data before wiping it.

Thanks in advance
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Memory
    6 GB
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 1024
    Hard Drives
    12 TB in 6 disks
    PSU
    TX650
    Keyboard
    G15
    Mouse
    Intellimouse 3.0
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbits
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Trend Micro
Hi badchess, I recently experienced the same problem as you and was hoping you can how you used the /xcopy command? I have the same errror on my surface pro and really would like to retrieve my data before wiping it.

Thanks in advance

Xcopy Command Details and Examples

Hi Wullail, my problems stems from a Surface Pro which has this blue screen. I can boot Ubuntu using a USB by choosing "test Ubuntu before install" option. However, when I attempt to access the Windows partition through Ubuntu it comes back as encrypted and can't be accessed.

I have quite a few important documents on there which I'd rather not lose, is there any hope of recovering those through the XCOPY commands that badchess did in his previous comments?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Xcopy is windows not Linux.

You can normally just copy and paste from booted ubuntu, but if your windows partition is encrypted, you are out of luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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