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
    2018-02-17T03:45:20+00:00

    I have been working on the process of elimination to figure out exactly what happened to this particular machine (have it encapsulated in a VM in Hyper-V, with a checkpoint created at the original, broken, state so I can make a change and revert it easily), and found that this particular computer was getting the Inaccessible Boot Device stop error because there was some missing data in the Services portion of the ControlSet. Here's the data I had to import into the registry to get it working again.

    Note, in this, the SYSTEM hive is loaded as "system-fresh"

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system-fresh\ControlSet001\Services\ACPI]

    "ImagePath"=hex(2):53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,\

      72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,00,41,00,43,00,50,00,49,00,2e,00,73,\

      00,79,00,73,00,00,00

    "Type"=dword:00000001

    "Start"=dword:00000000

    "ErrorControl"=dword:00000003

    "DisplayName"="@acpi.inf,%ACPI.SvcDesc%;Microsoft ACPI Driver"

    "Owners"=hex(7):61,00,63,00,70,00,69,00,2e,00,69,00,6e,00,66,00,00,00,00,00

    "Tag"=dword:00000002

    "Group"="Core"

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system-fresh\ControlSet001\Services\ACPI\Parameters]

    "WHEAOSCImplemented"=hex:00,00,00,00

    "APEIOSCGranted"=hex:00,00,00,00

    "CPPCRevisionGranted"=hex:00,00,00,00

    "WppRecorder_TraceGuid"="{03906a40-cce8-447f-83f4-e2346215db84}"

    I'm sure this isn't the only reason this error pops up, but it's the reason this computer got the error. Immediately after importing this into the registry, rebooted and the OS booted without issues.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-17T02:59:38+00:00

    My best guess is that system restore natively ignores portions of the registry, and I'm not replacing the SYSTEM hive, I'm importing known good settings into the existing hive, not affecting any keys that didn't exist in the fresh install.

    Most of my customers don't know where their software installers are, so although there may be some issues with Windows, it is a far better solution for them than doing a fresh install.

    On one of the systems, I verified that Vipre antivirus, MS Office 16, and Quickbooks 16 worked after doing this - Office needed to be reactivated though.

    I'm not saying this is the best solution, by far. I'm just saying it's an option for people who can't deal with losing their programs (there are quite a few people like that).

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-02-17T02:42:22+00:00

    Handstand,

    If taking a copy of a pre-January registry won't work, I am not sure why yours would, 

    HOWEVER, 

    There are a lot of services and other registry keys contained in the SYSTEM registry that you are 

    ignoring, and doing an in place upgrade (repair) WILL NOT INSTALL THEM!!

    You would be better off doing a System Reset and then re-installing your programs.

    You don't need any tools to implement and it is a straightforward fix.

    I strongly recommend that people do not use your method of repair.  It opens a real can of worms that you may never be able to recover from.

    wiz

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-02-17T02:35:15+00:00

    Susan:

    Let's be careful about terminology here.

    The correct term is either repair install or in-place upgrade.

    If all else fails and you cannot get at least a one time boot, you can then do a windows RESET.  

    I believe that refresh was only offered on (1507). 

    After a reset you need only reinstall the programs that you were using.

    You would never have to start from scratch.

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