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My whole question is in the title. Is it possible to repair Windows 10 BCD using another version of Windows installation disk, Windows 7 in this case? I got the Windows 10 BCD corrupted when I installed RemixOS on a separate partition that I created from an existing free space while booting from the RemixOS installation media.

If this is not possible, what are the alternatives, other than downloading Windows 10 ISO file and creating an installation media for windows 10? I have Kali Linux and Elementary OS installed and I can boot into them. I also have Remix OS installed and running fine. I can install Wine if it is possible to fix the Windows 10 BCD using some Windows application that can allow me to select the BCD file that I would like to fix or something similar.

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2 Answers 2

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You can boot Windows 7 installation USB/DVD.

Go to recovery console.

Run bcdboot.exe from Windows 7 and see if it can fix BCD - format of BCD objects and elements has not changed since Vista.

bcdboot W:\windows

where W: is Win 10 partition, change drive_letter to your mapping.

There are more parameters which you can use when executing the bcdboot command - see Repair Windows BCD for explanations.

EDIT:

As it come out that Windows 10 is on GPT disk it is better to use this:

bcdboot c:\windows /s d: /f UEFI /l en-us

Notes:

  1. You have to boot Windows 7 DVD/USB the UEFI way.

  2. You should map EFI System partition to drive letter d: (or another)

  3. Use language code with parameter /l which is the same as Windows 10 installation language.

If this does not help you can create manually a Windows 7/8/10 loader using bcdedit.exe command: (assuming Windows 10 is on c: and EFI System on GPT is mapped to S:)

bcdedit /store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /create /d "Windows 10" /application osloader

The command creates a loader object and outputs its GUID. Copy this GUID as you will need it in next command.

bcdedit /store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /default {GUID}

This sets the default boot entry to Windows 10.

bcdedit /store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} device partition=c:
bcdedit /store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} path \windows\system32\boot\winload.exe
bcdedit /store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit /store S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /set {default} systemroot \Windows
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  • How do I open the Recovery Console? When I click on Repair at the bottom left of the screen, I get an error that the recoveey options is incompatible with the version of Windows... When I close the pop-up window, it takes me back to the installation page and that's it.
    – Supreme Dolphin
    Commented Mar 6, 2017 at 6:20
  • You can use "Shift+F10" on language selection screen and you get command prompt.
    – snayob
    Commented Mar 8, 2017 at 2:45
  • Okay I did that. The bcdboot C:\Windows command raised an error at first. So I gave the System partition a letter S and then did bcdboot C:\Windows /s S: and that completes successfully. However, I wasn't able to boot. I also tried the /s C: and /s H: where H: is the recovery partition. Still couldn't boot. When I updated grub from Linux, the "Windows Recovery Environment" entry was gone. Instead, there were three entries all "Windows 10." Bootrec /RebuildBcd fails with an error that "required system device could not be found." I'm at a dead end now.
    – Supreme Dolphin
    Commented Mar 8, 2017 at 6:01
  • Is Windows 10 on GPT disk or MBR disk?
    – snayob
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 4:07
  • Windows 10 is on GPT disk.
    – Supreme Dolphin
    Commented Mar 9, 2017 at 8:14
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I did once use Windows 7's automated repair to fix a Windows 10's BCD and it worked. Nevertheless, it is possible that your type of damage is different from mine. Is it really BCD that is hurt?

On Linux, you can use Boot-Repair to repair the Windows boot process. But again, it depends on what kind of damage you are talking about.

From another copy of Windows, you can run Bootice.

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    I'm sure it's a BCD issue. When I try to boot into Windows 10, it gives the error code 0xc000000e and and gives the file \BOOT\BCD. I will try your methods.
    – Supreme Dolphin
    Commented Mar 4, 2017 at 11:57
  • The Windows 7 gives an error that the "Recovery Options is incompatible with the version of Windows" I'm trying to repair. I'll try the Linux options.
    – Supreme Dolphin
    Commented Mar 4, 2017 at 12:27
  • Boot-Repair-Disk didn't help.
    – Supreme Dolphin
    Commented Mar 4, 2017 at 13:27
  • Your last shot seems to be Bootice then. Meanwhile, I am trying to confirm whether the "Recovery Options is incompatible with the version of Windows" message is because of your damaged condition or is something normal.
    – user477799
    Commented Mar 4, 2017 at 13:30
  • Alright. But in order to use Bootice, I need to install Windows 7 on a separate partition and run it? Or is it something I can do on Wine from Linux?
    – Supreme Dolphin
    Commented Mar 4, 2017 at 13:33

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