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Difficulty: HardTroubleshooting Windows OS Startup and Boot Errors

A network administrator is troubleshooting a Windows 11 desktop with UEFI firmware that fails to boot after an unexpected power outage. The system displays a blue recovery screen with the error code 0xc000000f stating that the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) file is missing or corrupted. The administrator boots the computer using Windows installation media, navigates to the Command Prompt in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), and uses the Diskpart utility to assign drive letter Z: to the hidden EFI System Partition (ESP). Which command should the technician execute next to copy the critical Windows boot files to the EFI System Partition and recreate the BCD store?

  1. bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFIAnswer
  2. B
    bootrec /fixmbr
  3. C
    bootrec /rebuildbcd
  4. D
    sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows

Answer

The command bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI should be executed.
The correct command is bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI because it explicitly copies the necessary boot files from the local Windows installation directory into the specified target volume (Z:, the mounted EFI System Partition) and configures the firmware environment for UEFI boot.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the system architecture and boot system type.
The system utilizes UEFI firmware and a GUID Partition Table (GPT) structure, which requires an EFI System Partition (ESP) containing the BCD and bootloader binaries.
Legacy BIOS utilities like bootrec /fixmbr or bootrec /fixboot do not repair UEFI Boot Manager structures.
2
Select the appropriate utility to rebuild the UEFI boot environment.
The bcdboot command line tool is specifically built to copy system files and initialize BCD stores for UEFI/GPT systems.
Specifying /s Z: targets the mounted EFI System Partition, and /f UEFI ensures the proper firmware boot binaries are generated.
3
Execute the targeted repair command.
Running bcdboot C:\Windows /s Z: /f UEFI populates Z:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot with fresh BCD data and boot configuration files.
This resolves error code 0xc000000f and allows UEFI firmware to locate the Windows Boot Manager.

Key Concept

UEFI Boot File Repair using BCDBoot
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Troubleshooting Windows OS Startup and Boot Errors

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