Inaccessible Boot Device error in Windows 10

No Need to reset windows on the machine the machine. Yes System Reset will allow your drive to boot again, but you are left without your programs and configurations.

It is possible to do a complete recovery of the build of windows that fails to boot. (Data, Programs, Settings, Everything)!

You do not need restore points. (Although if you had them you wouldn't be here)

A Registry backup will not help!(drivers and patches are causing the issue)

Norton Anti-Virus is probably not at fault.(I have seen some issues like this due to Norton, but the problem is due to bad programming in the recent Spectre and Meltdown Patches.

What you do need are as follows:

A bootable Windows 10 DVD or flash drive of the same version and number of bits as is on the unbootable system.

Another working system with imaging would be desired, but not absolutely necessary.

Here's what I have found.

You can get at least one single normal boot by following the following procedure:

1. Boot from a USB or DVD recovery disk from the same version of windows 10
2. Select repair my PC
3. Select troubleshooting select command prompt.
4. Determine which drive your windows is on. (It probably won't be C: in the recovery environment)

You can type DIR D: or DIR E: until you see the files on your hard drive.

5. Type the following command: (where X is the drive letter where windows is installed.)

dism /image:X:\ /get-packages

make note of the most recent updated package.(anything dated January 2018)

using DISM remove the most recent updates.(You can try the most recent update only and if it fails remove some earlier ones.)

Type the following:(replacing X with the drive where windows is installed, and don't worry if the directory exists.)

md X:\temp

md X:\temp\packages

dism /image:X:\ /remove-package /packagename:PACKAGE TO REMOVE scratchdir:X:\temp\packages

[example: dism /image:e:\ /remove-package /packagename:package_for_kb4056887~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~10.0.1.0 /scratchdir:e:\temp\packages

]

reboot(you may have to do another startup repair, but the system should boot. If not you may have to remove more packages.)

The system should boot here

Once booted, remember you may not be able to boot again! (at least I wasn't and trying the procedure again did not produce a bootable machine. The patches that caused this condition are only half way installed. The remainder of the patch that caused this condition gets installed just before entering windows. So you might only be able to boot this machine once!!!)

My next step is to try doing a repair install (same version upgrade) from within windows.

Once windows boots for the first time, make sure you check your system restore settings. On both machines that had this symptom, system restore was turned off. This may be by design of the update that addresses Meltown and Spectre, but I can't be sure.

While you are booted, insert the your Windows 10 install DVD or Flash drive. If have only recovery media and not the full install DVD or flash drive, you will need to download it now. If you have bootable install media, skip the next paragraph.

Google "download windows 10 iso" and follow the link to the Microsoft site with the media creation tool.

**Do not select update now (**Although this may work)

You will need to download and run the media creation tool. If you don't have an 8Gb Flash drive or a dual layer (9GB not 4.5Gb) blank DVD, simply download the ISO image to a place that you can find again on your hard drive.

Once it is downloaded, you can mount the DVD by right clicking the ISO image and click open with and select windows explorer.

(Yes you can just click on the image and mount it usually, but some DVD suites don't work that way. Right click-Open with works)

Insert your Windows 10 media or open the mounted ISO image you just downloaded. Browse to that media.

**Run the Setup program. (**this will start the windows 10 install)

Select Install Windows, Select upgrade, Do not get the latest updates (You can get them after the install and after Restore points have been made.)

The upgrade (repair) install will preserve all your programs and files. I may take between 1.5 and 2.5 hours to complete. During the install, it replaces the files that cause the blue screen and also clears all the pending updates.

After you complete the update, check system protection settings. Right click start and click on search (near the bottom) and type in "system protection" (without the quotes) This will take you to the system protection (restore) settings.

Make sure that system restore is turned on for your windows drive (usually C:). If this is an imaged drive, you will have to configure System Restore to protect Your C: drive and not a phantom C: drive)

Once system restore is turned on for your drive, make at least two system restore points.

When Microsoft finally re-releases a fixed version of the patch that caused this, you can breath a sigh of relief.

There may be another way to resolve this by identifying the exact cause of the blue screen and taking other steps, but for now (if your error was caused by the recent updates,) this always works.

Hi Showster, 

When I follow your steps, I get stuck after - 

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

Dism /Image:D:\ /Get-Packages

I type - D:>Dism /Image:D:/Get-Packages

I get - Error 1639

Could use your assistance.

Thanks,

PH

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options

If you can't open Settings, you can get to reset by restarting your PC from the sign-in screen. Press the Windows logo key Windows logo key  +L to get to the sign-in screen, then hold the Shift key down while you select Power  > Restart in the lower-right corner of the screen. After your PC restarts, select Troubleshoot > Reset this PC.

If you can't get to the sign-in screen, use a recovery drive or installation media to reset your PC.

Boot from the flash drive, go into troubleshooting. From there you can reset the PC.

Given that the inaccessible boot device means you have an unbootable device, there's no way to "roll back the impact" with a patch that merely is installing registry keys.

Let me go see if I can get any sort of unofficial official guidance here.  All we have right now is get a bootable ISO, boot from that, go into the troubleshooting section and do a refresh (does not remove applications, only refreshes the OS) as a "solution"

Susan, can you provide anything that describes the "refresh" how to, to avoid loosing apps? Every attempt I make, and every article I find, says I can only start that process if I am successfully booting into windows already. I have tried starting setup from the command prompt, and booting to a USB. Neither work.