How to Fix Boot Error 0xc000000e on Windows?

The 0xc000000e error when trying to boot up windows means that you’re dealing with corrupted Boot Configuration Data. The Boot Configuration Data is a global store for all options and settings related to boot on newer Windows PCs.

You will get this error when trying to boot your device, and you will be presented with a black screen that gives you instructions on how to repair your computer using an installation disk or a recovery drive. Unfortunately, having that recovery drive is the only way you will solve this issue, so you should get your hands on one before starting. If you don’t have it, it’s fairly easy to create one using Rufus or Windows Media Creation tool from any other PC or a Laptop.

You will also need to boot into your BIOS to change the boot order and make your PC boot from the recovery drive instead of your hard drive. To do that, use the following steps:

1. Enter the BIOS or UEFI settings by pressing your motherboard manufacturer’s designated key before Windows boots. This key is usually Esc, Delete, F2, F8, F10, F12 or Backspace, depending on the manufacturer. You can do an online search on how to enter BIOS, followed by your computer model.
2. Once inside, navigate to the Boot Use the instructions found within the BIOS to change your boot order, and set either the CD-ROM or the USB port to be the first device, depending on whether your recovery drive is a CD or a flash drive.
3. Save your settings and exit.

Method 1: Rebuild the Boot Configuration Data

To do this, you will need to boot your computer from the recovery drive. If you’ve configured your BIOS with the steps above, you can do that by pressing any key once the prompt appears on your display. Once the computer is booted from the recovery drive, use the following steps to rebuild the BCD:

1. In the Windows Setup dialog box, set everything to the appropriate values, select your language and click
2. In the lower-left corner, click on Repair your computer, and choose to Troubleshoot from the Choose an option screen.
3. In the Troubleshoot screen, click Advanced Options, and click on Command Prompt.
4. When the Command Prompt opens, type the following commands, pressing Enter on your keyboard after each one of them:

bootrec /scanos
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /rebuildbcd

5. Reboot your computer, and it should boot up just fine, without facing the issue again.

Method 2: Repair your OS with the recovery drive

This method will also repair your OS with the command prompt of the recovery drive, and you should be able to boot into Windows without facing the issue again. Boot from the recovery drive, and follow the instructions below.

1. Use steps 1 through 3 from the previous method to get to the Command Prompt of the recovery drive.
2. Once inside the Command Prompt, type the commands below, followed by an Enter on your keyboard to execute them. The StartRep.exe utility corrects boot environment values and should fix the BCD error. Note that you might need to repeat this step multiple times in case it fails.

cd x:\sources\recovery
StartRep.exe

3. If the previous step of repairing Windows didn’t help, type bcdedit in the Command Prompt, to see the values for the Windows Boot Manager.
4. Note the values for Device. If they are unknown, type the following commands, each followed by an Enter to execute them. Note that you should replace C: with the partition where your operating system is installed, if necessary.

bcdedit /set {DEFAULT.EN_US} device partition=c:
bcdedit /set {DEFAULT.EN_US} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit /set {BOOTMGR.EN_US} device partition=c:

5. When the Command Prompt is done, close it, remove the recovery drive and reboot your system. It shouldn’t have any issues booting up now.

The only downside to these solutions is that they require a recovery drive, patience, and strong nerves. However, if you follow them as they’re described, you should fix the error you’ve been getting, and continue using your device like before.

Method 3: Enable Windows 10 WHQL Support In BIOS

The Windows 10 WHQL Support setting exists in some of the OEMs. It has two basic functions: checks for signed drivers during the boot process and allows you to enable UEFI support. If you are using Windows 10, you need to enable it and then your computer can boot normally. However, if it is not selected, your computer may boot into error 0xc000000e. So, you can access BIOS to see whether the Windows 10 WHQL Support setting is enabled. If not, enable it to have a try.

You should note that the Windows 10 WHQL Support setting is not supported in all computers. If your computer doesn’t have it, you can go to check whether the UEFI support is enabled on your computer. If not, you can enable it to see whether the error code 0xc000000e disappears. In order to enable it:

1. Shut down your computer completely and let it sit for at least a couple of minutes.
2. After making sure adequate time has passed, start the computer back up and you should notice the “Press this Button to boot into the Bios Mode” option.
3. Press the button to boot into the Bios mode.
4. After successfully booting inside the Bios mode, check to see if there is a Windows WHQL setting in the Bios.
5. If it is present, press “Enter” to select it after highlighting it using the arrow keys, and select the “Enabled” option to enable it on your computer.

   

6. Check to see if this solves the issue.

If Windows 10 boot error 0xc000000e still appears after enabling the Windows 10 WHQL Support setting or UEFI support, you may need to reset the BIOS/UEFI configuration on your computer.

Method 4: Rebuild BCD via Easy Recovery Essentials

Easy Recovery Essentials is a one-click automated system repair feature that incorporates full repair and reconstruction of the BCD to resolve the “0xc000000e” error, even in cases where Windows won’t boot as a result of the error.

The automated boot repair component of EasyRE will address all BCD-related issues, fixing the BCD, or recreating it from scratch using the correct encoding and path for the partition that is refusing to load properly. It will also mark the disk as online to ensure that it works correctly.

Easy Recovery Essentials is guaranteed to fix the “0xc000000e” error automatically using its built-in Automated Repair option. EasyRE is currently available for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and it can be downloaded and created on any PC.

1. Get ahold of another computer that you could use to create a USB that we will be using to boot the computer from.
2. Download Easy Recovery Essentials from here.

   

3. Burn the image.
4. Boot up your PC from the Easy Recovery Essentials CD or USB you created.
5. Once EasyRE is running, choose the “Automated Repair” option and click Continue.
6. After EasyRE scans your computer’s drives, identify and select the drive letter for your Windows installation from the list, and then click on the Automated Repair Option to begin.
7. Easy Recovery Essentials will start analyzing the selected drive for problems. EasyRE will test for and attempt to automatically correct errors with the disk, partition, bootsector, filesystem, bootloader, and registry. No intervention is required, as EasyRE’s repair is fully automated.
8. Once the process is complete, EasyRE will report its findings. Click on the Restart button to reboot your PC and test the changes.

Method 5: Reset BIOS/UEFI Configuration

Some users said that their error 0xc000000e issue is solved by resetting the BIOS/UEFI configuration. So, you can consider trying this method to see whether this issue can be solved.

Step 1. Open BIOS Menu

To reset BIOS to default settings, you need to access the BIOS menu and find the Default Settings option first.

Windows 10 users can access advanced startup options Windows 10 and get into the BIOS menu. You can click Start -> Power, press and hold the Shift key, and click Restart button to reboot Windows into Windows Recovery Environment. Then click Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> UEFI Firmware Settings, and click Restart to enter into the BIOS settings screen.

Alternatively, you can also restart your computer normally and press the required key in the startup screen to boot into the BIOS settings window. The hotkey is varied from different computer manufacturers, and it could be F12, Del, Esc, F8, F2, etc.

Step 2. Find the Setup Defaults Option

The name and location of the “Setup Defaults” option may be different from various computers. It generally calls like: Load Default, Load Setup Defaults, Load Default Settings, Load BIOS Defaults, Load Optimal Defaults, etc.

Use the arrow keys on the computer keyboard to find the BIOS setup default option in the BIOS settings screen. You may find it in one of the BIOS tabs.

Step 3. Reset BIOS

After you find the Load Setup Defaults option, you can select it and press the Enter button to start resetting the BIOS to factory default settings in Windows 10.

At last, you can press F10 to save and exit BIOS. Your computer will automatically reboot. If you need to change BIOS settings again in the future, you can follow the same instructions to access BIOS again to change it.

Method 6: Mark Boot Disk As Online

It is possible in some cases, that the disk that you have connected to the computer or the USB that you are trying to boot from has been marked as offline by the computer. Some computers tend to prevent extra applications, hardware, and other things from being able to run as soon as the computer starts because it allows for more convenient and fast startup experience. Therefore, in this step, we will be marking the Disk as online.

You still need to use a bootable USB medium to do this job. We will show you a step-by-step guide here:

1. After booting your computer from the bootable USB drive, you need to go to Next > Repair your computer. Then, you will enter WinRE.
2. Go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.

   

3. Make sure to properly enter your login credentials if you are asked by the computer.
4. Type in the following command inside the command prompt to successfully launch the disk part utility on your computer.

   diskpart

5. Type in either one of the following commands in the next window to list the currently connected disk drives to your computer.

   List Disk
   List Volume

6. Once the disks have been listed, you need to identify the disk that contains the Windows operating system and the one that you want to mark as active.
7. After identifying it, select the disk using the following command and replacing the alphabet with the driver letter of that disk.

   select disk A
   Select Volume A 
   (Replace A with the Drive Letter)

8. After you have successfully selected the disk, you must mark the disk as online in order to initiate the recognization process of the disk at startup. Use the following commands to do that.

   Online Disk
   Online Volume

9. Type in the following command to successfully get out of the command prompt and restart your computer after that.

   Exit

10. Check to see if marking the Disk as online has fixed your issue.

Method 7: Check your data cables, BIOS and drivers

Unplug all HDD data cables, and then plug them again. Revert to the previous drivers and BIOS settings if they were changed, or use “Restore factory settings” option in the BIOS. Make sure to write down all current BIOS settings that were previously selected, just in case it is required to switch back. If the error is caused by a change of the SATA disk controller’s mode in the BIOS or firmware, the fix can be as simple as entering the BIOS and toggling the SATA controller’s “mode” setting. The exact instructions differ from one manufacturer to the other, but the options will resemble what is shown in the screenshots below.

To check the boot order, follow these steps:

1. Restart the computer
2. Press the necessary key to open the BIOS menu. This key depends on the computer manufacturer and computer model. This is usually listed on the first screen that appears on the monitor. It can be any of the following: Esc, Del, F2, F8, F10 or F12.
3. If the screen shows multiple keys, find the key to open “BIOS”, “setup” or “BIOS menu”
4. Attempt to toggle between all three (or more) modes until a combination that results in Windows booting successfully once more is found.

Method 8: Boot Windows In Safe Mode

If above solutions didn’t fix the problem, then Start Windows into safe mode. This will start your PC with minimum system requirements, will not load startup programs, add-ons etc. And allow performing troubleshooting steps to fix Boot Error 0xc000000e:

Before you enter the safe mode, you need to enter the Windows Recovery Environment (winRE). To do this, you will repeatedly turn your device OFF, then ON:

1. Hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device.
2. Press the power button again to turn on your device.
3. On the first sign that Windows has started (for example, some devices show the manufacturer’s logo when restarting) hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device.
4. Press the power button again to turn on your device.
5. When Windows restarts, hold down the power button for 10 seconds to turn off your device.
6. Press the power button again to turn on your device.
7. Allow your device to fully restart and you should boot into the Windows Recovery Environment.

Now that you are in the Windows Recovery Environment, you will follow these steps to take you to safe mode:

1. On the Choose an option, screen, select “Troubleshoot” and then “Advanced options.”

   

2. Now click on “Startup Settings” and click on “Restart.”
3. After your device restarts, you’ll see a list of options. Select option “4” from the list or press “F4” to enter Safe Mode.

Note: If you need to exit safe mode, simply restart your device, or:

1. 1. Press the “Windows logo key  + R.”
   2. Type “msconfig” in the Run box and then select “OK”.

      

   3. Select the Boot tab and under Boot options, clear the Safe boot checkbox.

Method 9: Check your disk with CHKDSK utility

If the hard drive has its file integrity compromised, it is possible to use built-in Windows CHKDSK utility to scan the disk and fix the file system errors.

1. Connect a USB drive that has been made bootable or insert the Windows Installation Disk on your computer.
2. After connecting one of these, boot from that connected device.
3. After booting your computer from the device, click on “Next” and then on the “Repair your Computer” option.
4. On the next window, click on “Troubleshoot” and then on the “Advanced” Option.

   

5. On the next screen, make sure to select the “Command Prompt” option to successfully launch into the command prompt.

   

6. Provide the login credentials of your account in order to boot inside the cmd.
7. Inside the command prompt, type in the following command to successfully run the check disk utility on your computer.

   chkdsk C: /f (Make sure to replace the "C" with the Drive letter of your partition).

8. Confirm any on-screen prompts and wait for the scan to be fully completed.
9. Check to see if the issue is fixed by performing this step.

Method 10: Disable fast startup Feature

If your computer has been set up to use the Fast Startup feature, you might be getting this error message on your screen because of doing so. The Fast Startup feature is known to malfunction with some operating systems and hardware combinations.

Basically, when enabled, the feature automatically sends some launch configurations to be stored in your RAM to allow for a faster startup as indicated by its name but this configuration data can sometimes be corrupted which can lead to this error on your computer. Therefore, in this step, we will be disabling it completely. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “Control Panel” and press “enter” to launch the classical Control Panel interface.

   

3. Inside the control panel, click on the “Hardware and Sound” option and then select the “Power Options” button.

   

4. Inside the power options, click on the “Choose what the power button does” from the left side.
5. Click on the “Change Settings” option if the fast startup option is greyed out.
6. Make sure to uncheck the “Turn on Fast Startup” option and save your changes.

   

7. Closeout of the window and terminate any unnecessary applications.
8. Click on the “Start Menu”, click on the “Power Options” and select “Shutdown” from the list.
9. This option should completely power down your computer and after performing a complete shutdown, wait for some minutes before turning your computer back on.
10. After the computer turns back on, check to see if the error message is fixed.
    Note: This solution can only be applied if you are able to sometimes boot up your computer normally and are only encountering this error momentarily.

Method 11: Repair Corrupted System Files

It also possible in some situations that certain system files might have been corrupted due to a storage failure or due to some other reason. Therefore, in this step, we will be performing a complete repair of the corrupted system files and then we will check to see if doing so fixes this issue. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “R” to open the Run prompt.
2. Type in “cmd” and then press “Shift” + “Ctrl” + “Enter” to launch the command prompt with admin privileges.

   

3. Type in the following commands one by one and press “Enter” after each to successfully run an SFC scan and a DISM Scan on your computer.

   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
   sfc /scannow

4. Restart your computer completely once these scans are completed.
5. Check to see if by performing these scans, you were able to fix this issue on your computer.

Method 12: Run Windows Startup Repair

Startup Repair is capable of diagnosing and fixing the found issues. For example, it can automatically scan system files, registry settings, configuration settings, etc. and try to fix the problem on its own. Startup Repair is especially useful when your computer is unbootable. Since your computer fails to boot, Windows can boot into WinRE automatically. While, if it doesn’t appear, you can interrupt the boot process three times in a row, and then the WinRE screen appears. Alternatively, if you have a bootable USB medium, you can also set your computer to boot from it and go to Repair your computer to enter WinRE.

After you have successfully booted into the Windows Recovery Environment, click on the “Troubleshoot” option, and from there, select the “Advanced Options” screen. Inside the advanced options, select the “Startup Repair” button to successfully initiate the Startup Repairing process. Windows will begin to diagnose your computer automatically. When the process ends, your computer will restart automatically. You can wait to see whether it can boot successfully.

Workaround: Make sure no additional devices are plugged in before jumping into the command line or Startup Repair, it’s best to try another restart with the fewest number of devices and external drives plugged into the computer. This will make sure that nothing that was recently added to the computer isn’t causing this issue. It would be best to unplug any recent USB drives, CDs, DVDs etc. This includes a memory card reader too. Make sure that all external drives and USB keys or USB jump drives have been disconnected, then try again.