After using EasyBCD: loop on boot manager > PC blocked!

bahari06

Member
Hi guys,

I got a big problem after using EasyBCD: my PC is blocked now, on startup it loops on the boot manager!

I have a Thinkpad T440 20B7 with a mechanical HD and wanted to install my OS (Windows 10) on a Transcend MTS400 M.2 SSD located in the internal PCI slot, to boot from that SSD. I cloned the HD to the SSD and then followed the EasyBCD procedure to make the SSD bootable:
  • Select BCD Store (A:\Windows\Boot\DVD\PCAT\BCD there is also a BCD file in ..\Boot\DVD\EFI, which doesn't change the problem)
  • Add New Entry (A:\)
  • Set New Entry (A:\) as default in Edit Boot Menu
When I clicked Save Settings, I got the error message that it "can't obtain a privileged boot from A:\". I did the procedure 3 times and always got that error message. So I made the mistake to force a reboot, just to try if it works. For that I did
  • change startup order in BIOS/STARTUP to boot from PCI-SSD
Reboot - I am blocked! When I boot, it displays a boot selection menu to ask me to select either HD or SSD. But whatever I select, it loops back to the boot menu, I can't go beyond, the screen blackens for a short moment and then it always goes back to the boot menu.

I took the flash drive out of the slot, changed the boot order again in BIOS/STARTUP, same problem.

I downloaded Easy Recovery Essentials -- paid another 20 dollars for it -- but it does not work either! I copied it to a CD and also used the NeoSmart tool "Creating a bootable USB" to copy it to a USB stick. Same prtoblem, it always loops back to the Boot Manager when starting the PC: Whatever option I select from the boot menu, the screen blackens for a short moment and then it loops back to the boot menu.

How I can save my PC?

Thanks
 
The "live" BCD resides in the \boot folder in the root of the volume (normally C:\boot\BCD) which is a "super-hidden" file only visible with the following folder settings
http://neosmart.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=700&d=1235661652.
The BCD in the Windows sub-folder you picked is the proto-version Setup uses to build the "real" BCD during OS installation.
It's not used at any other time.

Thank you Terry. But the most important question for now, and before I can do what you suggest: how do I access my HD? Whatever I try to boot up the PC, I can't get beyond the boot manager (see initial message)!
 
By your initial "select BCD store" you have not been working on the live BCD, i.e. it should still be there untouched.
By reseting your BIOS boot sequence, you have however stopped trying to boot from it.
Somewhere in the boot sequence should be an option which takes you back to the status quo ante.
If you can't remember where you were initially booting from, try every available option. Somewhere your live BCD should be sitting waiting to boot as before.
 
Terry, thank you for taking the time to reply, but I TRIED THEM ALL, including the initial Boot setting! It always loops back to the startup menu! I attach a screenshot of the f... boot menu. I can't get rid of the |> left to the PCI LAN, but the PCI slot is now empty.
I tried the initial BIOS setting (had noted it down) to boot from the HD, I tried to boot from the SSD in the PCI slot, from the USB, from the recovery DVD (see above for preparation of both): it always loops back to the boot manager.
Perhaps the fact that I'd chosen the wrong BCD now creates this loop. But there must be a solution to force beyond the boot menu, in order to force a boot from the recovery DVD or the recovery USB.
Any idea?
 

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Hi,
what ever happened on the HDD or SSD, the BIOS must be able to boot from another medium. I think the problem that you can not boot from DVD or USB is at the BIOS settings. I do not know your BIOS, but did you try to switch the secure boot off, and legacy boot mode on? Or maybe switch the CSM support on or off.
It does not help your actual problem, but maybe you can boot from DVD or USB.
 
Hi qbit, you saved my day. "...secure boot off, and legacy boot mode on" did the trick! Now it boots from my old HD!
Thanks a lot!
 
Thanks to both qbit and Terry. I will carefully read those docs before I start again. But Terry, my Thinkpad (Windows 10) has no C:\boot

see attached
 

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Last edited by a moderator:
Look in Disk Management for "system". That's where you'll find the \boot folder and bootmgr.
Disk Management flags have the following meanings

"boot" = "this is the system you're running"
"system" = "this is where I found the boot files for the currently running system"
"active" (on the first HDD in the BIOS boot sequence) = "this is where I started the search for the boot files"
"active" (on subsequent HDDs in the BIOS boot sequence) ="this is where I will look if I don't find something in the MBR on the first HDD"
 
Sorry, I must be dumb, but what do you mean by "Look in Disk Management for "system". That's where you'll find the \boot folder and bootmgr."??
The only "Disk Management" I am aware of is to be found in Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Storage/Disk Management
 
Run it and look at your disk map.
Those flags tell you the information about your partitions.
"system" "active" is where the \boot folder is located. "boot" is the system you're running Disk Management in.
Perverse I know, but for reasons best known to them, MS uses "boot" and "system" in precisely the opposite way to Linux (and common sense)
 
If you leave it to its own devices, EasyBCD will automatically operate on the "live" BCD without you needing to direct it, even if it's on a hidden device.
If it can't find the BCD (generally because someone has been moving devices experimentally and the "active" partition on disk 0 is not the right place) then it will prompt you to guide it as it starts up.
Normally it's not ever necessary to select the BCD unless you want to make changes to a BCD which is not the "live" one. (e.g. you're doing work on a guest system's HDD temporarily connected to your PC via a USB caddy)
 
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