0

I have Windows 7 and Linux Mint (19.3, Cinnamon), both 64-bit as a dual boot on my PC. Windows 7 is installed on my HDD and Linux Mint on my SSD.

Today I installed the latest update (from January 14th, 2020). I know that Windows 7's support has ended, but I want to continue to use it on my PC.

When I try to boot Windows I get this Windows Boot Manager screen:

Windows Boot Manager  

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause.  
To fix the problem:

  1. Insert your Windows installation disc and restart your computer. 
  2. Choose your language settings, and then click "Next."
  3. Click "repair your computer."

If you don't have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer
manufacturer for assistance. 

  File: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD

  Status: 0xc000000f

  Info: An error occured while attempting to read the boot configuration data.

Of course the first thing I tried was inserting my Windows 7 DVD and restarting the computer, but unfortunately, when I click on Repair your computer it tells me that the Windows version on my DVD is not compatible with the Windows version that is installed on my PC, so I can't use that to fix this issue. I used Google to find some more help, but most of the search results were about using the (not compatible anymore) Windows 7 DVD, so that didn't help me.

Improve this question
6
  • There was not much in that final update. Did you run out of temporary space for the update and residual update files? I think I reclaimed about 3 GB of space and my Windows 7 machine file (VM) was larger by a couple of GB.
    – anon
    Commented Jan 27, 2020 at 18:39
  • I have two partitions on my HDD, "C:" with about 30 GB of free space and "D:" with about 280 GB of free space. So i think that should be fine.
    – AlpakaJoe
    Commented Jan 27, 2020 at 18:41
  • I think that should be sufficient, so then something in the update collided with something in the base system before update. Hard to say what, the updates worked fine for me (virtual machine) and clients (real machines). I am not sure what you can do if you do not have the DVD to repair the system with.
    – anon
    Commented Jan 27, 2020 at 18:47
  • i downloaded the win7 sp1 image from microsofts homepage and try to repair it with that. Maybe cause i have only a Win7 wihout SP1 dvd.
    – AlpakaJoe
    Commented Jan 27, 2020 at 18:49
  • that didn't worked, too. Even with the Win7 SP1 dvd it says that the windows version on my dvd is not compatible with the windows version that is installed on my pc.
    – AlpakaJoe
    Commented Jan 27, 2020 at 19:10

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

There is also a free bootable live CD/USB called Rescatux that can repair the Windows bootloader. Rescatux has a graphical interface with a menu of operating system rescue tasks. You select the option to repair the Windows bootloader and it tries to repair the Windows bootloader.

Boot options:

  • (>=0.41 beta 1) Update UEFI order
  • (>=0.41 beta 1) Create a new UEFI Boot entry
  • (>=0.41 beta 1) UEFI Partition Status
  • (>=0.41 beta 1) Fake Microsoft Windows UEFI
  • (>=0.41 beta 1) Hide Microsoft Windows UEFI
  • (>=0.41 beta 1) Reinstall Microsoft Windows EFI
  • (>=0.41 beta 1) Check UEFI Boot

GRUB options:

  • (>=0.40 beta 11) Easy GNU/Linux Boot Fix
  • Restore GRUB and GRUB2
  • (>=0.31 beta 4) Update any GRUB2 menu
  • Update Debian/Ubuntu GRUB menus

Windows options:

  • Restore Windows MBR (BETA)
  • Clear Windows passwords
  • (>=0.31 beta 4) Promote a Windows user to Administrator role
  • (>=0.41 beta 1) Reinstall Microsoft Windows EFI
  • (>=0.31 beta 4) Unlock Windows user

Password options:

  • Change GNU/Linux Password
  • Regenerate sudoers file
  • Clear Windows passwords

Expert tools:

  • Boot-Repair
  • GParted
  • OS-Uninstaller
  • Clean-Ubiquity
  • PhotoRec
  • TestDisk

Rescapp
Rescapp is a nice wizard that will guide you through your rescue tasks.

How to make a Rescatux live USB

  • From Windows

    Download Universal USB Installer (recommended at Rescatux Wiki ) and open the Universal USB Installer application, insert a USB flash drive, select your USB drive, and select the Rescatux iso file to write to the USB drive. Be very careful when you select the USB drive that you don't select one of the partitions on your hard drive by accident, which will result in overwriting all of the data on that partition and all the data that was on that partition will be lost.

    Note: If you are working with 0.30 beta 4 (or newer) version you should extract the iso which it is found inside the iso you have downloaded ( boot/boot-isos folder ) and use that instead of the downloaded iso.

  • From Linux

    Follow the instructions at How to make a Rescatux USB.

    To prevent overwriting a partition on your hard drive by accident and losing all the data on that partition, make sure you know which is your USB device before you write the Rescatux iso.

Improve this answer
0

I went through hell on this. Dual boot C:XPpro D:Win7.1 (yes, these are old OS but I need to use a laptop w/ DB9. USB to DB9 often fail when I'm out on a job hanging from a ladder.)

Took a while to figure out that it was Google Chrome updates that were screwing up special settings in the registry and special boot process. To dual boot Win 7 you must make older Windows to not see the Windows 7 partition when booting or it will delete all of the Windows 7 updates.

Fixing the boot for Windows 7 won't fix your problem. Fortunately for me I had an old SATA HDD before upgrading to a SSD.

The Fix that works for me: Install a different hard drive (OS doesn't matter) connect the original HDD as a slave and do a virus scan an the partition that Windows 7 was on. I've only used AVG and it works every time for me. Then replace the original HDD and boot to Windows 7.

No risk of data loss...

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .