I get “Your PC needs to be repaired” and “Error code: 0xc0000225” in Windows 8.

Anonymous
2012-11-01T06:42:41+00:00

When I boot my Windows 8 laptop (see details below), it displays this message:

Recovery

Your PC needs to be repaired

A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed.

Error code: 0xc0000225

[ A text saying I should use recovery tools on my installation media to fix the issue. ]

Press Enter to try again

Press F8 for Start-up Settings

Press Esc for UEFI Firmware Settings

If I press Enter or F8, the central part of the message changes to:

The application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.

File: \Windows\system32\winload.efi

Error code: 0xc0000225

My specific situation:

I have an ASUS UX32VD (R4002H) bought just days ago with Windows 8 preinstalled. I was going to swap the internal HDD for an SSD and was messing with the partitions to make them fit into the smaller SSD before cloning. I am not sure exactly what operation I did prior to the crash, but I probably tried to move a partition (which probably was unnecessary anyway).

I have not made recovery disks (yeah, I know).

When I started SystemRescueCD on the laptop and ran testdisk (for the first time in my life), the partitions seemed OK (to my eye), except for something called Backup Boot(sector|loader|?) that was marked as Bad on one of the partitions. I fixed that, to no avail.

I have no physical representation of a serial number (is that a thing of the past?) and I don't know anything about it being somewhere on the disk. I have no installation media, I didn't get anything like that with the computer.

I have contacted ASUS support, but the answer wasn't very technical.

My obvious question:

How can I get out of this mess? I would prefer if I could repair the partition table or whatever is wrong and get back into the installed OS, but if that is not possible, how can I reinstall Windows 8?

If I need to run a system repair distro from a USB stick and run command line programs, that's no problem.

Thanks!

Original title : I get “Your PC needs to be repaired” and “Error code: 0xc0000225” in Windows 8: how can I fix it?  

Update:

I have resolved this issue. What I did was a combination of the advice on this page:

http://qliktips.blogspot.se/2012/11/fix-windows-8-boot-issue.html

and setting the correct attributes and properties on the various partitions and volumes using FDISK. I had a strange partition that I removed and one or more volumes was of the wrong type (GUID).

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Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-11-07T05:44:31+00:00

Boot from a Windows 8 Recovery Media...

    Trouble Shoot -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt

            CMD> bootrec /scanos

            CMD> bootrec /rebuildbcd

            CMD> bootrec /fixmbr

            CMD> bootrec /fixboot

     Reboot.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-05-01T18:14:30+00:00

    Hello,

    I am in the same pickle as you are but with an Acer. However I beleive since th problem is the same, the solutoin you used to fix your problem would work as well for me. As a fellow windows user, I was wondering if you could be so kind as to email me with the steps you took to specifically fix your problem. I tried to do a full reset on my windows 8 laptop but got the same error code. Also i currently have a SSD instead of the HDD which was originally on my laptop. My email is ******@dukes.jmu.edu

    THanks!

    Jay

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-12-19T21:00:41+00:00

    Hello,

    I am having the same problem : I just bought a new laptop (SAMSUNG Series  5 550P5C) which had 1 TB of HardDisk. In the package: NO INSTALLATION CD/DVD/ NO product key..NOTHING...No serial code...It was weird as I didn't know why Windows doesn't send the installation CD with the new PC...:((

    I tried to partition the HardDisk intro 3 parts : 300 GB, 300 GB and 200 GB for the local C:

    The problem was when the diskmanagement.msc didn't want to shrink my local C less than 500 GB....

    It was very weird: how come Windows 8 DOESN"T allow me to shrink C: less than 500 GB? It was absurd to use 500 GB  ONLY for the Operating system...as if something goes wrong...you loose 500 GB of data...

    Soo I tried using the partition tool: EaseUSE partition..which actually allowed me to shrink my local C: down to 200 GB....and asked for restart afterwards....

    After the restart I got this message:

    error code 0xc0000225 \windows\system32\winload.efi

    Soo...Windows 8 didn't want me to have a local C drive less than 500 GB :(

    How can I fix this??

    I don't have a recovery CD....nor DVD... nor any key (the PC came already installed)

    HELP PLS>>>>!!!

    :(

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-12-17T19:14:32+00:00

    None of the above resolutions worked for me, I also tried Testdisk and Ubuntu to no avail.  I managed to restore some of my partitions through a windows partition manager, but now I have:

    C: Windows Recovery

    D: Samsung_Recovery2

    E: Samsung_Recovery

    G: System (NTFS)

    H: EFI (FAT32)

    I assumed that G was initially the C drive and H was D - but the logical layout I know Windows RE was the first partition, so now I'm confused??? I used a previous install of Win 8 to attempt a repair, restore, but nothing works - I get all the same errors as the first person did. On the rebuildbcd command line, I still get the requested system device cannot be found.

    I have to keep assigning the volume letters to the last 2 volumes and I'm on a GPT system too.  Samsung's recovery system does not activate - I only get a black screen. If I press enter now on the blue error screen, it also just goes to a black screen.

    Searching for solutions, but I'm going around and around in circles here.... it appears the Win 8 Pro does not seem to be the solution, my Win 8 is locked.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-12-01T21:36:16+00:00

    I have a similar problem.  I have got a laptop - Samsung 350V series, and also did a partition.  I did however do a 'copy' of windows on an external hard drive via USB 2 through the windows 8 backup system which basically seemed to do a full copy backup copying the restore partitions etc on the hard drive. And arrived with the exact same error and problem.

    I attempted hard reboots, and pulled out any peripherals.  I could only access the UEFI Firmware section where I attempted to change the boot priority to point to only the USB and have tried the USB 2 and 3 ports, left it for 20 - 40 minutes on each port.  I now only get a blank screen on reboot.

    I cannot read this external hard drive off another PC as I was hoping to make an ISO usb as you have suggested.  There was also no Windows media CD with this PC, Windows 8 came pre installed on the machine, and one had to just fill in your details as your normal registration process.  There was no buying of Windows 8 or downloading of the product as this was part and parcel of the system that it came with when bought.

    Is there anyway I can use my external USB as I was of the understanding that I could use this as a backup tool when something went wrong?

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