How to Fix Boot Error 0xc000000f

We have written several solutions to fix errors on Windows OS. Windows gets a plenty of errors by the time it starts getting old. So, these errors need to be fixed accordingly. One of the most teasing errors which are present in old versions of Windows including Windows XP as well as in new builds including Windows 8, is the error 0xc000000f.

This error is associated with the Windows Boot Manager and whenever Windows tries to read Boot Configuration Data, it displays this error message insisting the users to repair their PCs through Windows Installation Media.

Restarting the PC after this error message doesn’t do the job and this thing irritates the users.

Reasons Behind This Error 0xc000000f:

The boot sector is important to load the Windows in memory for the purpose of execution. So, if the boot sector gets corrupted for some reason, this error will resist the Windows from loading. The other cause of this error might be the Hard Disk failure. If the hard disk has a bad sector or malware, then it would also do the same by preventing Windows from loading.

Solutions to fix Error 0xc000000f:

There are several solutions to fix this issue. These solutions will definitely let you roll back to your Windows without losing any important data.

Method 1: Repair Your Computer

There is a saying, “Do whatever your boss asks you to do”. The same applies here. With every error inside the Windows, Microsoft provides some initial tips to recover this.

To do this, you need to have a genuine Windows bootable DVD/USB. If you don’t have it, then follow these posts in order to create the bootable media.

Windows 7 / Windows 8 : https://appuals.com/create-windows-bootable-usb-or-dvd/
Windows 10 : https://appuals.com/create-windows-10-bootable-usb-with-rufus/

After creating the bootable DVD/USB, we will have to select the proper boot device, for that, go to your system’s BIOS by pressing F2 (varies from system to system) and select Boot Order. Bring your DVD/USB to the top as a First Boot Device.

How to Fix Boot Error 0xc000000f

Save changes to the settings and restart your PC again. Now, it would boot up using your bootable media and it will start repairing your Windows automatically.

Method 2: Using the bootrec.exe Tool

In order to fix this error message, you can use the bootrec.exe tool which in built-in inside Windows. This method also requires a bootable Windows Installation DVD/USB. The major purpose of using this tool is to rebuild the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) that controls how Windows is started.

So, to access the bootrec.exe tool, follow the instructions below.

1. Restart your computer and use bootable DVD/USB to boot it.

2. If prompted for the key, press any button on the keyboard.

3. Select the language, time, currency and keyboard and hit Next.

4. Select the OS you want to repair and click Next

5. Now, inside System Recovery Options, select the Command Prompt.

6. A black screen will popup will a blinking cursor. Type bootrec.exe inside command prompt and press Enter key on the keyboard. It will start rebuilding the BCD and your PC will be back to its normal state.

How to Fix Boot Error 0xc000000f

For some reason, if rebuilding the BCD doesn’t work, you should delete the previous BCD and rebuild it again in order to have a brand new Boot Configuration Data. For this purpose, you need to type the following commands inside the command prompt. Press Enter after each line of code.

bootrec /fixmbr
bcdedit /export C:\BCD_Backup
c:
cd boot
attrib bcd –s –h –r
ren c:\boot\bcd bcd.old
bootrec /RebuildBcd

Method 3: Repair BCD

In this solution, we will unhide the BCD file and its parent partition so that we can repair it or create a new BCD file from scratch.

First, you will need a Windows 8 or 10 installation media that is on a USB formatted with a FAT32 file system. A UEFI based system as yours will not recognize an NTFS formatted USB as a bootable device.
To create a Windows 8 installation media, you should have a minimum 4 GB USB drive, completely empty. Now Download the Windows 8 Media Creation Tool from this link.
Run the Downloaded file and Click Yes if the UAC warning message appears. Select any Edition, Language, and Architecture as you will not be actually installing Windows. Now Click Next.
Select your USB drive and click Next. Make sure your USB is connected with the Computer.
Wait for the process to complete and follow the on-screen instructions.
Once you have your installation media ready, Connect the USB to the faulty computer.
Now Power On that computer and start tapping the appropriate key to Boot from another device. The key may vary according to your computer manufacturer and model.
Still, if you cannot boot from the USB then make sure the CSM and Secure Boot features are Disabled in your BIOS settings.
When you are in the Boot device selection screen, Select your USB.
Once you are on the installation screen, Press and Hold the Shift key and press F10 to bring up a black window called Command Prompt.
In it, type
```
diskpart
```
press Enter.
Now type list disk and press Enter to list all storage disks attached to your computer.
Now type
```
sel disk 0
```
press Enter to select your disk with Windows 8 in it.
Type list vol and press Enter to list all volumes
Now you have to Recognize 2 volumes here, the EFI volume and the volume on which your Windows is installed.
Your EFI volume will have FAT32 written in the Fs column. Its size would be 100 MB and will have System written under Info. Also, it may have BOOTSTRAP written in the Label column. This is how you will recognize your EFI volume. Note its Volume number. If you cannot find your EFI volume, move on to the next solution.
Your Windows partition will probably have the C in the Ltr column and there will be Boot written in the Info column. Note its Ltr down.
Firstly we will assign a letter to the EFI volume. To do so, Type select Volume 1 and Press Enter (Assuming Volume 1 is your EFI volume).
Now type
```
assign letter P
```
Press Enter (Assuming that the letter K is not in use).
Type exit and press Enter.
Now type
```
cd /d P:\efi\microsoft\boot\
```
and Press Enter.
Type
```
bootrec /fixboot
```
Press Enter and a new boot sector will be created.
Now, Type ren BCD BCD.bak to render old BCD file useless as it maybe corrupt, now allowing us to create a new BCD file.
Now Type
```
bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-us /s k: /f ALL 
```
Press Enter (Assuming C is the drive Ltr for the volume on which your Windows is installed).

Now Close the black window and Restart your computer. It should boot fine now. If not, move on to the next solution.

Method 4: Create an EFI Partition

If for some reason your EFI partition is missing, you can create a new one easily. All you need is a Windows installation media and 200 MBs of free space on your disk.

To do so follow the method in the above solution to make a Windows installation media and boot from a USB and then reach the black Command Prompt window.

In the black window, Type Diskpart and press Enter.
Now type list disk and press Enter.
Type select disk 0 and press Enter to select the disk in which you want to create a new EFI partition.
Now Type list partition and press Enter to list all partitions.
Type Select Partition 1 and Press Enter assuming that the selected partition will have 200 MBs or more free space.
Now type
```
shrink desired=200 minimum=200 
```
press Enter.
Type
```
create partition efi
```
press Enter.
Again now, type
```
list partition
```
press Enter.
Type select partition 2 and Press Enter assuming that the newly created 200 MB partition is partition 2.
Now type
```
format fs=fat32
```
press Enter.
Type list vol and press Enter to list all volumes. Note down the volume of the newly created partition of 200 MB size.
Type Select vol 3 and Press Enter assuming that the volume number of the EFI partition you previously noted is 3.
Type assign and press Enter.
Again Type list vol and press Enter to see which Letter (ltr) is assigned to the 200 MB EFI partition. Note the drive letter down.
Also, you will have to recognize and note down the drive letter (ltr) of the volume that contains your Windows partition. You can recognize it by looking for Boot in the Info column. In most cases, it’s the drive letter C. Note it down.
Now type
```
bcdboot C:\Windows /l en-gb /s B: /f ALL
```
and press Enter. Assuming that your Windows drive letter is C and B is the drive letter that was assigned to your EFI partition.
Now restart your system. Your problem should be gone now.

Method 5: Changing Disk ID

In certain cases, the disk ID might be configured improperly due to which this issue is triggered and the user is prevented from being able to boot into their computer. Therefore, in this step, we will be changing this Disk ID and then check to see if the issue still persists. In order to do that:

Follow the above methods to create a bootable USB and set it as the first priority in the boot menu and then use it to boot into the command prompt window as indicated above.

In the command prompt, type in the following commands one by one and press “enter” after each one of them.

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
select disk 1
list partition
select part 0
select part 1
active
detail part 0
detail part 1

In the very last command, “Detail Part 1” you should see a very long ID number. It might be shown in the second last command in some cases, i.e, “Detail Part 0”.
Copy this ID number and there should be an alphabet at its end instead of a number. For example, “1231432523524b”.
We will be changing this last alphabet to 0 to make the ID number consist of numbers only.
To do that, type in the following command and replace the alphabet in the end with the number “0”.
set ID=(Hardware ID number after replacing it with “0” at the end)
For example, “Set ID=12314325235240” using the example given in the 4th step.
Check to see if the issue still persists.

So, in the end, you would have your PC back into your hands as all of your issues related to the error 0xc000000f will be resolved. If it still persists, try to use startup repair to fix your startup issues and see if it helps.