Windows 10: Weird Problem with UEFI USB System Recovery

Hello everyone, I'm not sure this is the right place to post this, as I'm new in the forums.
First of all, let me start by saying this problem came up when I accidentally turned off the PC while it was loading the OS. Next time I tried to start Windows, it came up with an error on the Windows Boot Configuration Data (BCD). After a quick search on google I found out it was possible to repair it with a flash drive and a windows 10 ISO. After downloading the ISO from microsoft's page, I used Windows 7 USB/DVD tool to pass the ISO into the USB. I managed to boot with the USB in legacy mode, and it turns out that it can't access the main drive (which is UEFI). Therefore, I used Rufus to create an USB UEFI compatible with the system. When I try to boot it, it's not able to use the USB even tough it's already in UEFI. (It does appear on the boot priority as UEFI, the USB is in FAT32, and secure boot deactivated) All kind of feedback is appreciated and thanks in advance

:)

 

Create bootable USB for Win 10 install

I also had trouble making a bootable usb, however, this weird method works. If you're running windows 8/8.1 (or any other operating system that can create recovery media) follow these steps.

Go to Start -----> Search for "Create a recovery drive" --------> Create the recovery drive.

Now comes the weird part:

Delete all the contents of the usb you created, but don't format it. Now, paste all the contents of the iso into the usb. No third-party software needed (unless your version of windows doesn't support native iso file viewing, in which case, download 7-zip).

I really don't know how this works (it worked for me). Maybe by creating recovery media, windows properly makes the disk bootable, then you can paste the files you want.

By the way, don't copy your pc's entire recovery partition to your usb, that will take way too long.

Hope this helps

 

Microsoft Account stuck in Sync (Unitstack Service Group)

When following your steps above I have the following options:

• System Restore
• System Image Recovery
• Startup Repair (fix problems that keep Windows from starting)
• Command Prompt
• UEFI Firmware Settings
• Go back to the previous build

No option for Automatic Repair. I used the Media Creation Tool to create a USB recovery drive.

 

Did you format the USB as FAT32? Rufus is completely unnecessary for making a UEFI bootable USB flash drive. All that is required is to format it as FAT32 and copy the files from the ISO file to it, like you would copy the files from a zip file.

 

I did, I'm going to try doing it manually and I'll tell you how it goes. Thanks for the help !

 

Okay, this is weird. After trying to do it manually I get the same results, it's not able to boot from the USB. I tried doing it in legacy mode (In the boot devices it appears as UEFI), and suddenly it's able to boot again. The problem now is, that while it's on legacy mode, it says that the drive is locked and that it can't repair it. Maybe I can use the command prompt in some way as to fix it, but I'm not sure

 

you can not access a gpt/uefi disk in legacy mode...

you will have to use the boot menu option F12 usually to select the uefi usb drive...

the media should boot if the usb is formatted fat32 and the media has a bootmgr.efi file and an EFI folder...

 

If I can't access an uefi disk in legacy mode then that means the actual disk is not in uefi, the usb is in fat32 and it has the bootmgr.efi file along with the EFI folder. I'm still wondering if I can do something from the command prompt to fix it, but it seems it can't fix the UEFI drive if it's on legacy mode, and I can't boot unless it's on legacy mode. Thanks for the help.

 

If I can't access an uefi disk in legacy mode then that means the actual disk is not in uefi format

 

Sorry for the wording, I meant that I could only access the usb disk in legacy mode, therefore is not in uefi format

 

This is what I do and has been proven to be the most reliable method of booting from USB, installing Windows 10, and fixing other computer problems. Download the newest Media Creation Tool:
Windows 10

Use the options in the Media Creation Tool to allow it to make the Windows 10 installation USB flash drive for you.

Then download Kyhi's recovery drive:
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums

Now go the sources folder on the Windows 10 installation USB flash drive created by Media Creation Tool. Rename the boot.wim file there to boot.bak. Copy the boot.wim file from Kyhi's recovery drive ISO to the sources folder on the Windows 10 installation USB flash drive.

Boot the computer from the USB flash drive. It will boot into Kyhi's recovery drive. Using MiniTool Partition Wizard free you can prepare your hard drive/SSD for a clean Windows 10 installation by deleting all the partitions from it. Then either initialize or convert the hard drive or SSD to GPT for UEFI install or MBR for legacy install. Leave the drive completely unallocated - no partitions on it. Go to file manager and run setup.exe from the Windows 10 installation USB flash drive.

NOTE: The Media Creation Tool creates a Windows 10 installation USB flash drive that is bootable both in legacy BIOS mode and UEFI.

 

Thanks ! I'm going to use Kyhi's recovery drive (Seems like an awesome tool) and I'll tell you how it goes.Also, forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't deleting all the partitions erase the data on the drive ?

 

Yes. I'm sorry, I misread your OP. I thought you stated you powered off the computer while installing Windows. However, that being said, booting from the Windows installation media will only let you do a clean install, it won't let you do an upgrade or a repair install. If you have a data partition separate from the OS (like a D: drive), you can delete all the partitions except for your data partition and do a clean install to the unallocated space. Any partition you delete will be erased, yes.

 

I went with the easy route and just deleted all partitions and reinstalled windows 10 with the media (I still couldn't get it too boot in UEFI mode. Also, the installation media does have a repair part). I didn't move any files, as I don't have anything important to save. Just for the record, it was possible to access the windows C: drive with a live version of Ubuntu in an usb, just had to mount the damn thing in the console ignoring normal parameters ( it doesn't let you mount it if it's an active session). Thanks for all the help !