Troubleshooting and Fixing Windows 8's Boot Configuration

Julio Franco

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I had a similar problem to this. I had Windows 8 on my primary SSD, I ordered a new SSD for black friday, so I hook it up to my 'sata 3' port, as soon as I did that Win8 would not boot on my primary, gave me some quick error. I had planned on going back to Win7 anyway. So once I reinstalled Win7 on the new SSD, it worked fine. I just formatted the old primary SSD with Win8 on it, and forgot about it. I thought it was something on my end, it wasn't a huge deal, since I was going back to Win7 anyway.

Glad someone else had a similar issue to me though. Thanks for sharing.
 
Windows since Vista seems to set the boot in an arbitrary way. Your main hard drive may need another drive plugged in to enable boot.
 
If you are setting up windows with any Version younger than XP you are advised to disconnect all drives apart from the one you are going to install to
 
I've had this happen on various Windows installations over the years. I just figured it out myself this year with Windows 8 testing. I was installing OS on third disk in boot order from bios. Windows will always write the MBR to the first disk's primary active partition. If that disk disappears, you do not boot.
 
The problem might not have happened if you had done a restart before altering any hardware.

However, given the problem and the error message Reboot and Select proper Boot device, probably the best thing would be to boot to the BIOS where you can choose the Boot device. (If you have more than1).
 
To fix os boot to the required disk can be done from EASYBCD in repair section.
you can reset bcd config, repair or recreate boot files or simply change boot drive.
Simples
 
I know this is an old post, but I just want to put on record my experiences with 8. I downloaded on line with my Asus laptop. No problems. I used 8 for a few weeks liked some features hated others. So I decided to uograde my second laptop an Acer. Had 2 days of woe until a microsoft on line techie sorted it out. Have used both laptops for a couple of months and apart from the odd booting struggle I have managed quite well. I came to the conclusion that the benefits of windows 8 out weighed its short comings, until yesterday when the Asus wouldn't boot no matter what I tried. I have the OS on disc but I couldn't find a boot from DVD/CD option. As a last resort I went for a complete reset. I shoved the OS disc in and went to bed. It takes ages for the re set. Next morning I had a fresh install, but all my info files and apps were gone. Luckily I have backed up on a stick, a separate hard drive and everything is duplicated on my other laptop. I have no idea why Windows 8 wouldn't load and I still don't know how to access the boot from DVD/CD options. It's a pain in the *** to have to reset but at least it worked.
 
"Blue" is nothing more than a service pack, due out in August. Your Windows will become Windows 8.1.

The context is that Windows 8.1 "is" Windows 9 as in it is the next release. If you watched Microsoft's conference regarding their rebranding plan, you'd see they're doing away with long development times and big releases. They're adopting Apple's model. There will be a Windows 9 but it'll just be a version number, not a big release. It will take years of regular incremental .1 updates like Windows 8.1 to get there.

The point is Metro will not go away, and that there will be no such things as service packs anymore.

Things have changed.
 
I just want to let u know u r my hero...! I tried everything to fix my corrupt boot problem, got to your site and worked my way down to the last ditch effort section. I was resigned to yet another couple hundred bucks to have it fixed by a professional and lo and behold the very last commands at the command prompt worked...! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU...!
 
This is a very good post, clear, concise, and accurate. I had almost the same problem, a new SSD, new update of Win8, ran for two days, and then an 0xc000000e error on boot. Couldn't do anything. Booted from Installation Disk, but commands have changed in Win8. Your instructions were just what I needed. Works fine now.
 
To fix os boot to the required disk can be done from EASYBCD in repair section.
you can reset bcd config, repair or recreate boot files or simply change boot drive.
Simples
Worked like a charm!

BIG Thank You!
 
I mangled my new Windows 8 installation and luckily I had a separate machine to find this post! It really saved me a TON of time. Thanks for posting it!
 
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