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
    2018-02-13T19:01:38+00:00

    Thank you! And just so I'm clear (since I've read so much in this thread it's hard to keep it all straight), what is the "in-place install" I want to run now?

    Download installation media from Microsoft and run Windows install from it. You need to have current install media.  Be sure keep the option to keep all apps and settings on. It will effectively reinstall Windows, not touching your files. So far, it is the only way to repair the broken windows image.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-13T18:45:34+00:00

    Thank you! And just so I'm clear (since I've read so much in this thread it's hard to keep it all straight), what is the "in-place install" I want to run now?

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-02-13T16:41:17+00:00

    I ran into this issue last night. I did the dism fix to remove the most recent "amd64" package and got my PC up and running again. Yay!

    Unfortunately, I left it running, and it re-installed the same bad patch and rebooted automatically and now, as others have noted, the same fix won't work a second time (I tried removing some additional packages via dism, too - made no difference). 

    I don't think I have a Restore Point. Is my only option now to Reset?

    I was able to recover in this case by running this command:

    DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources\Install.esd /LimitAccess

    For more info, check this page

    https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

    section "Using DISM with an install.ESD file"In my case the repair is not successfull, but the machine would reboot. When it is back on, run the in-place install.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-02-13T16:41:08+00:00

    Hi,

    First, thanks to all those who have struggled through this mess and posted their details; especially to "The Wizard..." who took the time to provide a detailed step-by-step procedure.  I manage a number of machines and have repaired a number with the "inaccessible boot device".   My experiences were early on and before a lot of the "bad patch" detail became evident.  For me, system restore brought back a few, some that again failed and some that continue running.  For the ones that failed again, I needed to reinstall with Windows 10.  I have a few questions at this point (to The Wizard) regarding your detailed process:

    1. The first part of your process is to get the non-bootable system to boot into Windows.  The second part is to immediately do an In-Place Upgrade.  My question is "Does it matter how you bring the system to a bootable state before doing the In-Place Upgrade?"  What I mean is this---you provide a process of using repair tools to remove the bad package and then achieving that precious one-time boot.  Then we do the in-place upgrade using the latest downloaded media.  IF a system restore  HAPPENS to work and achieves a successful boot, is it OK to skip the package removal steps and proceed directly to the in-place upgrade by running "setup" on the downloaded media?  I think that's OK since it should wipe out any stored bad updates, but would appreciate your comments.
    2. For most systems I come in contact with now, I record the version of Windows that is running.  I'm surprised (and somewhat concerned) that I have found a number of seemingly normal systems (they never failed with the inaccessible boot device issue) sitting at version 16299.192 which is noted as one of the the "danger points".  But these systems have been rebooted multiple times without issue while at this level.  Windows update settings are "normal", yet no further updates are pending.  The update status shows to be current and no restarts are pending.  Why are they not bringing in KB4058258 which would bring them to version 16299.214?  Do you recommend just leaving them on their own, or manually installing KB4058258 to bring them to version .214, or manually doing an in-place upgrade to the latest version that is downloadable?
    3. Lastly, when using the media creation tool, is there any way to tell (before creating the bootable media) what version of Windows 10 is going to be downloaded?  Similarly, is there a file on the bootable media that identifies what version of Windows 10 the media will create when executed?  I haven't been able to identify anything that gives this information.

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