Inaccessible Boot Device error in Windows 10

Anonymous
2018-01-09T16:46:16+00:00

I manage multiple computers running Windows 10 Pro 64-bit with the latest Current Branch and recently had multiple computers randomly startup with this BSOD: Inaccessible Boot Device.

I have tried everything:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-fix-update-causing-inaccessible-boot-device-error-windows-10

Which recommends deleting registry keys and install packages, though no pending installs could be found

SFC /SCANNOW - No corruption found

CHKDSK /R - Some minor issues corrected

BOOTREC - Scan OS shows 0 windows installations

FIXBOOT - Successful, but this tool finally made the entire process fail without being able to get to the recovery environment, just boots to the legacy screen and shows options for safe mode, but those fail too.

I am at my wits end, because I find thousands of websites and desperate users and admins, but the only fix that works is to clean install. I can't clean install the whole company. This is insane, there has to be a better known cause / fix out there...

*Modified title for accuracy*

*Original title: Inaccessible Boot Device error - cause? fix?*

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2018-01-17T17:16:49+00:00

WIN 10 BSOD FIX - Inaccessible Boot Device - THIS WORKS!  I Just Repaired 2 computers that went down at the same time last night on 1/16/18

Good Afternoon Bobby,

Here is the fix I came across from another kind IT tech, please see below.  Credits go to them, I'm just forwarding so everyone can finally get their computers back up and running.

Boot Windows 10

Go to Repair

Go to Tools/Options to get a command prompt.

Confirm the drive letter for the Windows image. Usually D: –> dir d:

Run the following to view the installed packages which will also show a date of install.

Dism /Image:D:\ /Get-Packages

Find the package(s) that were just installed by date. Run the following command on the last installed package:

example: dism.exe /image:d:\ /remove-package /packagename:Package_for_KB4014329~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.1.0

Reboot.

The patch that caused my issue was from 1/6/18 or 1/10/18     Remove the latest windows update entry with Rollup Fix in it's name.  Once complete, close command prompt, turn off computer.  Power back up.  You should be back into WIN10.

If you still receive BSOD, rinse and repeat with the next latest update, try it again.  You'll eventually boot right back into WIN10.

I hope this helps.

Have a great day.

Showster

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-17T11:06:31+00:00

    Booting again with RE, starting "regedit" and doing a "load hive" of

    your PC's system registry (C:\Windows\System32\config\system), check

    (in the loaded hive, of course) for any 'suspicious' entries in ...

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\UpperFilters

    ... this (MULTI_SZ) entry (for class "DiskDrive") should contain (on some "fresh" installation) only "partmgr"

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{533c5b84-ec70-11d2-9505-00c04f79deaf}\UpperFilters

    ... this (MULTI_SZ) entry (for class "VolumeSnapshot") should (on some "fresh" installation) be empty

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{71a27cdd-812a-11d0-bec7-08002be2092f}\UpperFilters

    ... this (MULTI_SZ) entry (for class "Volume") should (on some "fresh" installation) contain only "volsnap"

    In case your current settings don't contain the above mentioned

    "default/fresh" values, write them down, and change them accordingly.

    Good luck !

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-14T22:33:54+00:00

    I had two Dell XPS computers come up with the same inaccessible boot drive report after a reboot on Jan 11.

    Both Dell are Intel computers. (The reports that all problems are related to AMD does not appear to be true)

    The older Dell had been a free upgrade from Windows 7.  It had a single internal drive

    The newer was a week old and had PRO installed. It had an SSD plus a hard drive. I rebooted that unit because explorer did not show both drives.

    Both had Norton Security Suite and were updated.

    It reports that the drive is locked and will not allow me to reset 

    I have run SFC /scannow but after 10 minutes, it reports that it can not perform the operation

    It was a royal pain to build this computer the last time and I don't want to just replace windows and wipe out all of the drivers.

    Does anyone have a solution to this Microsoft debacle?

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-14T17:21:36+00:00

    Two of the laptops that were recoverable with System Restore (both Toshiba laptops) had Norton Security and Teamviewer installed. The Acer laptop had neither (only Windows Defender) and had to be reset.

    What all 3 had in common was that they were seldom rebooted. One of the Toshiba laptops had system restores from 01/10/18 shortly after midnight, 01/09/18 and 01/06/18. Only the earliest restore point worked.

    All 3 laptops were originally Windows 7 Home Premium systems that were upgraded directly to Windows 10 Home. All 3 still had and used most of the original Windows 7 drivers, including the SATA and PCI drivers. I'm wondering if there was an earlier version of the 1709 January 2018 Cumulative Update that tinkered with system drivers making the SATA driver unworkable. I've seen a similar situation with older Intel video drivers not working (Error 43) on another system after installing the latest Insider Previews 17063 and 17074.

    Only one older Intel desktop system (DG35 chipset) at my workplace with Windows 10 Pro had an issue possibly related to the January Cumulative Update: On Wednesday of last week it spontaneously rebooted and entered the BIOS setup screen without any operator intervention. (Never saw that before!) Upon rebooting the onboard network adapter was not functioning, but this was probably due to Windows 10's quick hardware initialization scheme. A restart solved that issue. However, after rebooting, Windows Update again installed the January Cumulative Update that I personally saw installed on Monday of last week.

    I fear this is the situation you predicted years ago in your column when MS took back control of what gets updated in Windows 10. Only with these recent troubles did I discover that W10 Home has no explicit option to delay/defer updates under Advanced Options like the Pro version.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-01-14T05:21:29+00:00

    You located in Canada and have the Canadian keyboard installed?

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