Backing up & Restoring Windows 7 with ImageX
Problem:
A system with a standard installation of Windows 7 is backed up using ImageX, and when the image is restored, the system won't boot, resulting in this error:
Error: Missing or corrupt winload.exe (0xc000000e) or Status: 0x000000e Info: Windows failed to start, the boot selection failed because a required
device is inaccessible.
Pasted from <https://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/itprovistadeployment/thread/b26a0560-b3a1-4236-b0de-35065ac38575/>
Background: Unlike when restoring Windows XP images captured with ImageX, where this problem does not occur and this process was simple, boot configuration
data components have been modified starting with Windows Vista and Server 2008, resulting in this problem in Windows 7.
Why was there a change to BCD from Boot.ini?
BCD was created to provide an improved mechanism for describing boot configuration data. With the development of new firmware models (for example, the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI)),
an extensible and interoperable interface was required to abstract the underlying firmware. This new design provides the foundation for a variety of new features in Windows Vista (for example, the Startup Repair tool and Multi-User Install shortcuts).
Pasted from <http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc721886(WS.10).aspx#BKMK_bcdedit>
Error Effect: BCD store configuration pointers (for the Windows Boot Manager and the Windows Boot Loader) to the volume C: partition where Windows
is located are shifted to unknown when Windows 7 image is re-applied.
Error Cause: Unknown to me at this time.
I read on the Internet that this problem doesn't happen when one uses ImageX to backup a Windows 7 system that has had Sysprep.exe /generalize run on it.
I verified that this is correct. In that case, one can simply recreate the partitions/volumes and apply the image back down and Windows 7 boots.
When one is using ImageX to backup one's in-use Windows 7 Computer, one will have to follow the procedure below to restore the BCD store entries that reference the pointers to avoid
this problem. (Of course, one could avoid all of these problems if one used Windows 7 Backup and selected the option to create a system image.
Windows 7 backup has no problem with
Solution:
Use bcdedit.exe to restore the BCD partition volume pointers.
Procedure Background: When Windows is running, the WinRE partition (in a default installation - has a label of System Reserved) has no volume drive
letter and the OS partition where Windows is located has the volume drive letter of C: (the first available drive letter).
When the system is booted into WinPE, temporary volume drive letter assignments are made.
The WinRE partition has the first available volume drive letter of C: assigned to it and the OS partition where Windows is located has the next available volume drive letter of D: assigned to it.
When Windows is running, the Windows Boot Loader ID will be {current}.
This can be seen by typing the bcdedit.exe /enum command, or just
bcdedit.exe. When Windows is not running and the computer is booted into WinPE, the Windows Boot Loader ID will be {default}.
BCD store entries from the perspective within a running Windows 7 system before the backup with ImageX begins:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier
{bootmgr}
device
partition=\Device\HarddiskVolume1
description
Windows Boot Manager
locale
en-US
inherit
{globalsettings}
default
{default}
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
displayorder
{default}
toolsdisplayorder
{memdiag}
timeout
30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier
{current}
device
partition=C:
path
\Windows\system32\winload.exe
description
Windows 7
locale
en-US
inherit
{bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence
{6410080a-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
recoveryenabled
Yes
osdevice
partition=C:
systemroot
\Windows
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
nx
OptIn
BCD store entries from the perspective within WinPE before the image is captured:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier
{bootmgr}
device
partition=C:
description
Windows Boot Manager
locale
en-US
inherit
{globalsettings}
default
{default}
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
displayorder
{default}
toolsdisplayorder
{memdiag}
timeout
30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier
{default}
device
partition=C:
path
\Windows\system32\winload.exe
description
Windows 7
locale
en-US
inherit
{bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence
{6410080a-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
recoveryenabled
Yes
osdevice
partition=C:
systemroot
\Windows
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
nx
OptIn
Procedure: Using a bootable WinPE USB drive, for example, boot into WinPE & Backup the BCD store:
- At the WinPE command prompt, type:
BCDedit /export E:\bcd.cfg, where E is the drive letter of the USB drive you booted from.
It's also a good idea, since bcd.cfg is not a text-based file, to type: BCDedit > x:\bcd.txt so that one can refer to it later.
Backup Windows 7 with ImageX
2. Use ImageX to backup the WinRE system partition and the Windows C: partition:
ImageX /check /verify /compress maximum /capture C: x:\T410Win7PROx64.wim "WinRE" "Captured by chad k 01-21-2012"
ImageX /check /verify /compress maximum /append D: x:\T410Win7PROx64.wim "OS" "captured by chad k 01-21-2012"
(Keep in mind that when windows is running the WinRE partition has no volume drive letter, but is assigned C: in the WinPE environment, and that the OS partition volume is assigned to
D: in the WinPE environment. When Windows boots, there is no volume drive letter assigned to the WinRE partition and C: is assigned to the Windows partition volume.)
3. Clean the Disk & recreate the partitions before restoring Windows:
Diskpart
Select disk 0
Clean
Create partition primary size=100
Select partition 1
Active
Format fs=ntfs quick label=WinRE
Assign letter = C
Create partition primary
Select partition 2
Format fs=ntfs quick label=OS
Assign letter = D
Exit
Restore Windows 7 with ImageX
4. Use ImageX to restore windows:
ImageX /check /verify /apply x:\T410Win7PROx64.wim 1 C:
ImageX /check /verify /apply x:\T410Win7PROx64.wim 2 D:
After the images are re-applied to the disk, type
bcdedit.exe to see the status of the BCD store.
Notice that now the device and osdevice entries are listed as unknown:
BCD store entries from the perspective within WinPE after image is re-applied to the system before the solution is applied:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier
{bootmgr}
device
unknown
description
Windows Boot Manager
locale
en-US
inherit
{globalsettings}
default
{default}
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
displayorder
{default}
toolsdisplayorder
{memdiag}
timeout
30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier
{default}
device
unknown
path
\Windows\system32\winload.exe
description
Windows 7
locale
en-US
inherit
{bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence
{6410080a-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
recoveryenabled
Yes
osdevice
unknown
systemroot
\Windows
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
nx
OptIn
5. Restore BCD partition volume pointers:
bcdedit /set {default} device partition=c:
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice partition=c:
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device partition=c:
Pasted from <https://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/itprovistadeployment/thread/b26a0560-b3a1-4236-b0de-35065ac38575/>
Restored BCD store entries from the perspective within WinPE after the image is re-applied to the system and the solution is implemented:
Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier
{bootmgr}
device
partition=C:
description
Windows Boot Manager
locale
en-US
inherit
{globalsettings}
default
{default}
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
displayorder
{default}
toolsdisplayorder
{memdiag}
timeout
30
Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier
{default}
device
partition=C:
path
\Windows\system32\winload.exe
description
Windows 7
locale
en-US
inherit
{bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence
{6410080a-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
recoveryenabled
Yes
osdevice
partition=C:
systemroot
\Windows
resumeobject
{64100808-4536-11e1-8e6b-bdeea22cecba}
nx
OptIn
Windows 7 should now boot properly.
(Disclaimer: Anything I write is subject to error and incomplete understanding.)
