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<p style="text-align: left">Get the fix to the <strong>0xc0000428: Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file </strong>boot error message affecting <strong>Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1</strong> and <strong>Windows 10</strong>.</p>

<h2>About the "0xc0000428" error</h2>
<span class="message_body">[kbintro]</span>
<h3>Description and Symptoms</h3>
The error messages, alerts, warnings, and symptoms below are tied to this error.
<h4>Symptom 1: 0xc0000428 error screen on startup</h4>
As a part of <a href="http://neosmart.net/wiki/mbr-boot-process/">the system startup procedure</a>, the BOOTMGR bootloader introduced in Windows Vista and subsequently used in Windows 7, Windows 8(.1), and Windows 10 reads boot configuration data and displays the operating system selection menu. Sometimes, however, when a user installs a newer version of Windows on a top of already existing older one, or installs a service pack, the BOOTMGR entries are not updated properly, and the following message appears:

<a href="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/05/Windows-0xc0000428-error.png"><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-3813" src="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/05/Windows-0xc0000428-error-1024x768.png" alt="Windows 0xc0000428 error" width="980" height="735" /></a>
<pre>A recent hardware or software change might have installed a file that is signed incorrectly or damaged, or that might be malicious software from an unknown source.

If you have a Windows installation disk, insert the disk and restart your computer. Click "Repair your computer", and then choose a recovery tool.

Otherwise, to start Windows so you can investigate further, press the Enter key to display the boot menu, press F8 for Advanced Boot Options, and select Last Known Good. If you understand why the digital signature cannot be verified and want to start Windows without this file, temporarily disable driver signature enforcement.

File: \Windows\System32\winload.exe

Status: 0xc0000428

Info: Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file.</pre>
<h3>Causes of this Error</h3>
This error has been known to occur as a result of one or more of the following:
<h4>Cause 1: BOOTMGR is outdated after system update</h4>
This error may occur if something went wrong during the Windows installation process. If the user has installed a newer version of Windows on top of an older one and the BOOTMGR file is not updated properly, then this error may appear and the boot process halts.
<h4>Cause 2: <span class="message_body">An older boot disk is used with a newer version of Windows</span></h4>
Sometimes the user may install a newer version of Windows on a hard drive, and then connect another hard drive with an old version of Windows to set up a dual boot mode. In that case, however, the old version of BOOTMGR will be used, and the boot process halts.
<h4>Cause 3: BOOTMGR is outdated after a service pack update</h4>
This error may also occur if a user installs a new service pack that changes the BOOTMGR file fails to update an already existing BOOTMGR. If that's the case, an updated version of Windows is left with an old version of BOOTMGR, and is unable to load properly.

<strong>Cause 4: Existing installation disk was disconnected before installing Windows</strong>

As a precaution against the corruption of an existing, working install or to safeguard against dataloss during a system update, many users are advised to disconnect their primary boot drive prior to installing a new version of Windows. However, this advice can cause the system bootloader on the primary boot disk to remain outdated, and will cause the error shown above once the drive is returned to the system.
<h2>Fixing "0xc0000428" on Windows</h2>
[setupcd]
<h3>Fix #1: Repair BOOTMGR via Easy Recovery Essentials</h3>
Easy Recovery Essentials' one-click automated system repair feature incorporates full repair and reconstruction of the BOOTMGR to resolve the "0xc0000428" error, even in cases where Windows won't boot as a result of the error.

[easyre error="0xc0000428" bootscreen="vista-7-8" guaranteed="true"]
<h3>Fix #2: Update BOOTMGR manually</h3>
Since the boot error is often caused by an outdated BOOTMGR, replacing it with the correct version is often a good and effective solution.

Here are the steps to replace the BOOTMGR:
<ol>
 	<li>Boot from the Windows install disc</li>
 	<li>Click on <strong>Repair your computer</strong> after selecting proper language, time and keyboard input.</li>
 	<li>Select the Windows installation drive, which is usually <code>C:\</code>, and click <strong>Next</strong></li>
 	<li>Choose "Command Prompt" when the System Recovery Options box appears</li>
 	<li>Type in the following command and then press <kbd>Enter</kbd>:
<pre>Bcdboot C:\Windows /s D:\</pre>
Where C:\Windows is your Windows installation folder and D:\ is your active boot partition.</li>
</ol>
Here is an example screenshot of what the PC's console output should look like after the BOOTMGR is updated correctly:

[caption id="attachment_4103" align="alignnone" width="800"]<a href="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/05/Win7_BcdBoot.png"><img class="wp-image-4103 size-full" src="https://neosmart.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/05/Win7_BcdBoot.png" alt="Windows 7 BcdBoot utility screen" width="800" height="600" /></a> Windows 7 BcdBoot utility screen[/caption]

<span class="message_body">Note that it isn't necessary to use bootsect.exe to update the MBR or the bootsector, since the fact that BOOTMGR launches indicates that they are both correctly configured.</span>
<h2>More Information</h2>
<h3>Linked Entries</h3>
<ul>
 	<li><a href="https://neosmart.net/wiki/bootrec/">bootrec</a></li>
</ul>
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